The First $1,000 Dollars I Made Online — Exact Process
A $15,000 coaching program (with photos)
I couldn’t believe it.
I opened my email and there it was…
$1,000 USD payout to me.
My bank account.
I was shocked.
I was so frickin excited.
“Please don’t back out and drop the program” was my initial thought.
He had 30 days to refund…
Those next 30 days were full of anxiety as I expected an email to come through saying the money had been refunded.
After all $15,000 is a LOT of money to invest.
But that’s the type of clients my coach at the time was working with.
High net worth individuals.
I was also an affiliate for her program.
But it still seemed too good to be true.
Let me tell you, if you’ve never made money online, let alone $1,000, it’s a game changer for you.
For many reasons.
First $1,000 is a lot of money to most of us to get that much for selling just one program in one lump deposit.
Second, many people can’t fathom earning $1,000+ from just a simple Facebook DM.
Logically one thinks that since the amount is significant it must take a lot of effort and it must happen over a sleazy sales call with a lot of unwanted pressure.
I can tell you none of that is true.
At least not at this level.
Maybe if you’re working with multi-million or billion-dollar companies.
Or the tire kickers (aka those who want everything under the sun handed to them on a silver platter and bitch and moan about everything, and expect it all for $7).
The cheap asses.
You know who I’m talking about.
But if you have a qualified person — meaning they have the means and ability to pay — and are looking for a solution to a problem, then selling becomes much easier and doesn’t require sleazy high pressure calls at all.
The last thing you want to do is pressure someone into something they are uncertain of, tarnish your reputation and your business, and then have buyer's remorse demanding a refund.
So how did I do it?
Grab a seat, your favorite drink, and saddle up.
I’m spilling the beans so get comfortable!
Here’s the exact process:
First let me start off by saying this most likely won’t get you paid fast.
This isn’t a get rich quick scheme or fast path to cash and solving all your financial problems.
As you can see from the small $38.80 payout for the following week.
You’re gonna have to put in the effort and work.
It’s possible that you’ll make money the first time you try this but don’t bet on it.
It takes time.
And no, no one can tell you exactly how much time.
It varies from person to person.
Also, keep in mind that the strategies I lay out here cost $0 in advertising.
It may require a little upfront cash to get started but what business doesn’t?
It’s pretty much all sweat equity.
Meaning you work your ass off!
Next I’ll follow that up with — you need an audience.
This is probably one of the top things you must have in order to be successful.
You can have the greatest product on Earth but if no one likes you, trusts you, or doesn’t know you exist…
Who the hell is gonna buy your stuff?
You’ll literally be starting from scratch at building an audience and followers.
Which isn’t bad, we all start somewhere.
But what I’m saying is this is a crucial part of this online affiliate marketing strategy.
Whether on social media, an email list, or wherever, you need to be connected to people who know, like, and trust you.
And you need to be making connections
Every. Single. Day.
It pisses me off when I see all these marketers and “gurus” talk about making hundreds or thousands of dollars online, which is more than possible, yet they fail to tell you that you have to have an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you.
Otherwise who the hell are you gonna sell to?
Your mom?
Think about it, if you came across a post, video, or intrusive DM in your inbox from someone you don’t know trying to sell you some shit, would you buy?
Hell no you wouldn’t.
That’s why in order to make this work you need to have an audience that’s connected to you.
How big?
No one can answer that.
It honestly just depends on how well they trust you, what product or service you’re trying to sell, if they have a need for what you’re selling, do they see the value in it, can you be confident that it will solve their problem, and can they afford it.
If you can stand behind these, then THIS will be how you can sell with little effort.
You do not have to be a high ticket closer.
Here is another example…
You could have the best smoked brisket (hey I’m in Texas, come on!) in the state but if you’re trying to sell it to a full crowd you’ll struggle.
However even if you’re selling frozen shitty hamburgers to a starving crowd, you’ll do well.
There are plenty of examples of this.
That’s why networking online is so important.
And the only way people will start to know, like, and trust you is to post often on social media and be personal.
Don’t make every post about what you’re selling.
That’s just spammy and no one likes that.
Next you need something to sell.
You can do this with $0 out of pocket.
No product.
No services.
Unless you have your own of course.
It’s called affiliate marketing.
Basically you are selling someone else’s products or services for a percentage of the sales, aka a commission.
That is what I did to earn my first $1,000, the $15,000 coaching program, along with other affiliate programs, as an affiliate.
Looking back that was a low-ball number.
That’s less than 10% of the total price.
You should never go less than 20%.
And once you build up your following and engagement you can command a higher commission percentage.
But at the time I didn’t care, I needed the money like I needed blood in my veins.
There are practically an unlimited number of products and services that you can be an affiliate for.
Almost every company has an affiliate or partnership program.
At least the ones who know what they’re doing on the business or product development side.
Some accept everyone while others have an application process.
There are even affiliate marketplaces like JVZoo, Impact, ShareASale, Commission Junction, and many more that have a suite of products and services that companies are trying to sell.
Some are shit, some are good.
How can you tell?
Just research “how to find good affiliate products on (insert marketplace name).
You’ll find a bunch of articles and videos.
On these sites, companies are actively looking for affiliates.
You get to browse through the lists and apply for what you’d like to sell.
Here is my top tip for this section:
Only apply for a handful of products and/or services to start. And only apply for the ones you can put your name on the line for. Ideally it should be something you have used or are using. It comes across authentic. If you try to fake that you like a product just to make money or if you don’t believe in it or that it works, people will read right through you. It won’t be authentic. And once you get called out publicly on social media it’s difficult to recover from that. Not impossible, but very difficult.
Either way if you choose a marketplace or go direct to a brand, you’ll most likely need to apply to become an affiliate.
Like I said many will have an automatic approval process while others are manually reviewed.
Some brands are strict while others have no restrictions other than you being able to type and breathe.
Once you’ve been accepted you usually get an account with dashboard access to all of your promotional materials such as graphics, affiliate links, rules, etc.
Do NOT violate the rules, be sure to read them.
And be sure to read the community guidelines or platform policies for each social media platform.
Don’t get sent to Facebook jail like I did 😂
From there it’s all about strategic marketing mixed in with your personality and style, aka your personal brand.
Bottom line, find products you like and promote those.
Look around your house or what you use, then apply to be an affiliate for them.
It will make creating content around them much easier since you already have experience using them.
Also consider being an affiliate for higher ticket items, or recurring subscriptions like software.
It’ll take you a lot more effort and sales when you’re selling a low ticket product than a higher ticket product.
Do you want commissions on $7 products or $497 products?
Keep that in mind.
And honestly I’d go for recurring subscription softwares.
One time sale, repeated monthly commissions that stack up each month!
Next up is your tech stack
Don’t worry this isn’t complicated.
First you need a way to get paid.
You can set up a business PayPal account (it must be a business account — it’s free) or Stripe account, either linked to your bank of course.
You’ll need your banking info in other places as well such as the marketplaces I mentioned, or some companies use a third party affiliate company to manage their affiliates such as First Promoter, Impact, etc.
Some of these third party sites will need things such as your business tax ID, business address, etc. in addition to your bank info.
Once those are set up you’ll need something like LinkTree to be able to put all of your affiliate links on.
Linktree is a software that you may have seen on creators social media profiles.
It’s usually the main link in their bios.
If you click or tap on it, it opens up a pop-up with a bunch of buttons that are fully customizable, like this:
Each button can be set up to link directly to the affiliate product’s page you’re promoting.
Or any page for that matter.
And believe me, once people start seeing your posts they’re going to check out your page, including links.
So be sure to have them easily visible and available for people to visit.
One of the golden rules in marketing is, the more obstacles you put in front of someone the less likely they’ll take action which results in lower conversions for you.
That is the reason for this step and why it’s so important.
People you know, and people you don’t know, will find you on social media check out your profiles 24/7.
Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up to email notifications that you’re getting a payout because someone purchased one of your affiliate products or services?
All without you having to do anything...
Lastly make sure you’re on the top three social media platforms: TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, and LinkedIn if it applies.
You don’t have to do all of them but keep in mind the more platforms you’re on the wider your reach.
I saw that…rolling your eyes at TikTok.
Remember that TikTok isn’t all about dancing, half naked women, or 19 year olds.
People severely underestimate the power of TikTok and who’s on it.
And that leads me to…
Creating content for your products and/or services
If you don’t like to be on camera don’t worry.
Plenty of social media influencers create content and never show their face.
If you can that’s better because it helps develop trust and confidence with your followers.
I’m not going to go into the specifics of how to shoot and edit videos.
Download CapCut and browse their resources.
They have plenty, no need to reinvent the wheel.
Or you can get a YouTube education learning how to create and edit videos for social media.
What’s that?
You say you don’t have the time to learn this new skill?
Let me ask you, the last job you took…
Did you learn a new skill in order to make money?
Ok well then don’t bitch.
We all have to be pushed out of our comfort zone, especially when it comes to starting a business.
If you want to make money then there are some things you just gotta do.
Otherwise, outsource it to a virtual assistant.
Now that that’s out of the way, in order to create meaningful and valuable content around your affiliate products you’ll need to think of ways to incorporate them into your life without looking desperate or sales-y.
Be creative and unique.
Use the search feature in TikTok around a product and look at trending videos.
Look at the style, but don’t copy.
Look at the text in the caption, the title they use, even the hashtags and music.
Social media is a beast and this isn’t the place to try and explain social media marketing strategies.
If you want to learn how to do this effectively I’d recommend binge watching Gary V on YouTube and grabbing his latest book here.
The point of this section is to really get you thinking about using social media as a business.
It’s no longer just a platform to post pictures of your cat sleeping or your vegan dinner.
You must now think and act like a business owner because you are.
And that also means converting your social media accounts to business profiles.
Each platform is different so be sure to check them out below:
Once your accounts are set up as business accounts you’ll want to set them up, including your bio, links, about page, profile picture, etc.
Try to use the same profile picture and LinkTree link across all platforms for consistency.
Remember, people will be looking for you on most platforms, don’t confuse them.
For more information on how to get creative with your posts and videos, how many times per day, and strategies, I urge you to grab Gary V’s book.
He literally explains it all. Grab it here. Seriously.
When you create videos don’t think you have to create three separate videos, one for each platform.
No no no.
Create ONE video for three platforms.
It’s called repurposing.
Take one video, upload it into CapCut, make your edits, and then upload it to each platform.
I will say that you should make the videos contextual for the specific platform.
Meaning make sure the video fits the platform.
One video that works on TikTok might not perform very well on LinkedIn because of the different mindset people are in.
Also, use the app's native features such as music, text overlays, green screen, duets, etc. including hashtags.
But most importantly remember that you want to create quality videos that resonate with your target audience.
Don’t get so hung up on the tech that you never post anything.
Just post, evaluate the data, and adjust.
But you won’t know unless you keep going.
Oh, and download CapCut. It’s not debatable. Trust me.
You can get away with the free version but you’ll definitely want the paid version. It’s totally worth it. Plus it has the desktop version so you can edit videos more easily on your computer.
Next up is connecting with people
I mentioned it earlier but I’ll say it again, you should be connecting with people on social media every day.
Think of who your ideal customer is.
Who is the ideal person that would want to buy what you’re selling?
Then go and find them online.
Search Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
Search hashtags.
Follow people and let the algorithms do their job and bring you people, then engage with their content and invite them to connect.
But most importantly do NOT send them DMs right away pitching your products.
That’s the fastest way to get blocked and reported as spam.
Treat your connections and followers as people, because they are!
Engage with them, chat with them, then when the time is right send them a DM to make the conversation more personal.
They’re more likely to be open to hearing what you have to say.
How?
Try this…
Hey thanks so much for sharing your experience. I’ve been using it myself for 4 months and I’ve seen a big difference with just one small issue. Mind if I shoot you a DM?
See how that was more personal with a soft lead-in to send them a personal message?
You said it helped you but also mentioned there was a small issue.
That creates curiosity and might get them to say yes to hearing more about it.
From there you can have a chat just like you would with a friend or relative.
Don’t make it awkward. Talk to them, ask them questions, and provide them with value.
Listen 80% of the time and talk/ask questions 20% of the time.
In other words, shut up! Don’t run your mouth non stop.
The key to selling is asking the right questions to find out their problem, providing solutions, and then showing them how the product or service you’re selling will help them solve it.
In other words, LISTEN.
That’s exactly what I did when I sold my first $15,000 affiliate coaching program and earned the $1,000.
Sales is another ballgame.
I’m not good at it.
In fact I’d rather belly flop into a pool 300 meters up than pick up a phone and cold call.
I’m not good at high pressure sales and I never will be.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, and I know my limitations in both.
I embrace my strengths (such as creating content, copywriting, and helping businesses leverage AI) and try to improve on them.
You should too.
That’s not to say you or I can’t get better at something we’re weak at, but pick what you want to focus on.
Don’t waste time.
If you want to get better at sales read a sales book.
Your process for connecting with people should be a daily habit.
It should be routine just like eating.
If you use LinkedIn you should be maxing out on connections every month or week.
You should be at your max of 5,000 friends on Facebook, and continuously unfriending anyone who doesn’t engage with your content and adding new friends to replace them once per month.
Remember, this is a business now and should be treated as such!
Tracking and follow ups
This is important.
Be sure to create a spreadsheet of some sort to track every prospect and lead you encounter, no matter where they came from.
Not everyone you reach out to will buy right away.
In fact most won’t.
Statistically, it takes between 7 to 22 points of contact before someone decides to make a buying decision.
After you start reaching out to a lot of people every day it’s inevitable that some are going to slip through the cracks.
Reduce those chances by logging each lead and prospect into a data sheet with as much information as you can, including the dates you followed up.
There’s a saying in sales that goes “keep following up until they buy or die.”
Or in some cases unsubscribe and block you.
Either way, tracking is going to be your new best friend.
So make it simple and organized.
Qualifying potential buyers
Not everyone you connect with is going to buy.
And that’s ok.
Maybe they aren’t right now but they may in the near future.
There are many examples but let me use another example of an affiliate product I sold.
Back in 2020 when the world went to shit in a handbasket I was an affiliate for ClickFunnels and a few other courses and programs.
I was posting multiple times per day on various topics; life, business, family, and things to mix it up so I could build better relationships with the people I was connected with.
One day a former coworker sent me a DM asking about this “ClickFunnels” thing and if it would work for his real estate business.
I said yes and began to engage in conversation, doing everything I just told you — asking questions, answering with value, etc.
After about half the day (this was all over DM) he finally signed up.
Bam!
A 40% monthly recurring commission as long as he stayed a ClickFunnels customer at $97 per month!
An easy $38 per month was added to my bank!
A few days later I checked my ClickFunnels affiliate dashboard and noticed he also purchased a $5,000 real estate course and I got $1,632!
I was like fuck yeah!
He eventually dropped ClickFunnels after a few months but I kept all the money of course.
The point of all that is:
- Build relationships with the people you’re connected with, and
- Post consistently and constantly
People don’t know what you do unless you show them.
And they don’t know how you can help them unless you demonstrate it.
That sale didn’t come fast.
In fact I don’t even know how long he had been seeing my posts before reaching out.
But he saw them long enough to know what I did, what software I was using, and demonstrating its features in a way that struck curiosity.
Peter Thiel said most products don’t fail because they’re bad, they fail because of a lack of distribution channels (paraphrased of course).
The same goes for your success as an affiliate marketer.
Most don’t fail because the product is bad.
The company has already proven its success in most cases.
It’s just that the affiliate marketer has poor distribution channels.
That’s why it’s so important to be consistent on social media.
And when you do engage and get people in DMs or on the phone you must qualify them.
Meaning do they have a problem you can solve, is it urgent that they solve it, do they have the ability to pay, and are they willing to pay for the solution.
If the answer to any of the above is no then chances are they won’t buy and you’re wasting your time.
Kindly let them know the product isn’t a fit and move on.
Don’t sound desperate.
They can tell.
And that’s a huge turn off.
You should be in a position that you don’t give a shit if they buy.
Or at least act like it.
Like my previous mentor Dan Lok said, they have the problem and I have the prescription, I’m the doctor. I could care less if they buy, it makes no difference in my life, they’re the one with the problem.
That might sound harsh.
And it might be.
But in a world with practically endless opportunities, don’t waste your time on the tire kickers, the ones who have no intention of buying and all they want is to window shop and get shit for free.
There are plenty of opportunities if you just keep going and don’t give up.
Now, here is where most amateur affiliate marketers stop.
Thankfully you’re reading this…
After the sale
So you made the sale, congrats!
That first one is such a motivator.
It builds confidence and reassures you that you can do this.
At least that’s what it was like for me.
But wait until that refund hits.
Ouch!
To help reduce the chances of that, make sure that whatever company you’re an affiliate for has a great post-sale service or reputation.
In addition to that you can compliment their process by being another layer of support.
In other words this isn’t a one night stand.
Don’t treat it like a wham bam thank you ma’am.
Many buyers get what’s called buyer's remorse.
It’s the period within around 48 hours after purchase that they begin questioning their choice and second guessing their decision.
That time isn’t set in stone so don’t hold me to it, ok?
Help calm their fears by providing your own support system in addition to the companies.
This can even get you noticed by the company and may lead to other bigger opportunities to work closely with them.
One thing I learned from Steve Larsen when he was working with ClickFunnels is that every solution creates a problem.
For example if you bought a grill, you can now cook outside and have delicious fire-kissed steaks.
But the new problems you now have that you didn’t have before the grill are having to buy charcoal, clean it, dump the ashes, keep it out of the rain, buy a cover, etc.
See what I mean?
So think of new problems your affiliate products create that you could create support or solutions for.
It could be as simple as being available for support questions or as complex as creating an entire course or products that complement the original product that the company doesn’t have.
Basically you want to reduce the chances of any refunds and eliminate buyer's remorse by providing exceptional service.
Looking back this is the one thing I didn’t do which may have been the reason he ended up canceling ClickFunnels.
Either way, lesson learned.
Back to the beginning of the article…
Yes, he ended up dropping the program at the 40 day mark.
I got to keep the $1,000 but I wasn’t able to sell that $15,000 coaching program again.
Why?
Because I wasn’t connected to my target audience that would’ve been a fit for my coach’s program.
I wasn’t connected with high net worth business owners who valued coaching and consulting.
See the importance of being connected to the right people who have a specific problem and are willing and able to pay for what you’re selling?
At the time almost everyone I was connected to on social media either didn’t value that level of coaching or couldn’t afford it.
Lesson learned!
Lastly, regardless of whether you’re selling a $7 product or a $15,000 product the effort is almost the same.
In fact the effort to sell a $15,000 product is often less.
Why?
Because generally the people you’re surrounded with when you’re dealing with those kinds of numbers, they know the prices are high, and they often expect the prices to be high.
If they’re not high they question the value and quality of the product.
It’s like going to a Kia dealership versus a Bentley dealership.
You don’t walk into a Bentley dealership and expect discounts, price haggling, and cheap cars.
They’ll tell you to get the fuck out.
But you can expect those at a Kia dealership.
See the difference?
I hope this was helpful.
I love hearing success stories.
Please let me know if you have one!
Anything you would add? Thoughts?
One last thing, as an affiliate you have to disclose that any purchases through links may result in you getting a commission.
I’m not a lawyer so just Google it so you’re compliant.
The last thing you want to do is have the FTC contact you.
And on that note, this article may contain affiliate links which means any purchase you make I get a commission at no additional cost to you.
