Spaghetti Affiliate Marketing

At the end of a spaghetti western, only one man walks away from the bloodletting.

He tosses the saddle bags of gold over his mount or savors the taste of vengeance.

What separates him from those lying in the dust?

It started long before the gunfight. It started with a determination to accomplish a particular objective. It started with a goal.

Collect the bounty. Protect the village. Kill the villainous. Avenge the wrong.

The goals may change, but their presence is inevitable.

That's the affiliate marketing story, too. There are dabblers who may (or may not) make a buck here and there. Then, there are the select few who walk down a dusty main street with a clear goal for success in mind.

They are driven. They need to accomplish their objective.

That's where it starts. Before anyone steals a horse, drinks a shot of whiskey or fires off six rounds in three seconds there is a goal.

Every time...

The "Man with No Name" won. Sabata put down armies.

The spaghetti western is invariably an individual story.

There are those who are part of something bigger. Soldiers in an army, lawmen who answer to sheriffs, henchmen who do their boss' bidding. Those group members, however, don't propel the narrative.

It's the individual that matters. The single soul that enters town with a plan, skill and a goal.

The lesson of the spaghetti western is that one person can get the job done. You don't have to be a cog in someone else's machine to emerge victorious.

That's what affiliate marketing is all about, too.

You are your own boss, making your own rules, succeeding or failing based on your own efforts.

That's the source of the drama and the excitement. Within the narrative, it is also usually the source of success.

Would you rather be a nameless member of an army brigade or "The Man with No Name?"

Thought so...

Spaghetti westerns found a receptive international audience because they were long on action. These were stories of people who had something to do and who didn't waste time doing it.

Within the films, those who take proactive measures always fare better than those who wait for something to unfold before them.

Affiliate marketing has the same storyline. The attraction for participants is the ability to get involved and active immediately.

Meanwhile, the success of affiliate marketers is usually linked to their willingness to take action.

Those who devise a plan and quickly implement it are the ones who walk away with the gold. Those who wait...

Well, they never made a spaghetti western about the guy who sat back and did nothing, did they?

If you enter a shootout with a pea-shooter and a few rounds of ammo, you're going to be doomed more often than not.

If the spaghetti westerns teach us anything, it's that you need to be fully locked and loaded before staring down your enemies.

Even the best gunfight gaze will be helpless if all your packing is that dirty look.

Affiliate marketing's the same way. There are other gunslingers and bounty hunters out there vying for the same money you're going after.

They are armed with the latest information, the best strategies and all of the necessary tools. You can go a long way on attitude and raw skill, but when you're matched against another top gun, you better have something in your holster.