The question was posed to me this week, and it really threw me back and made me think. The affiliate industry as we all know is a BIG TIME business otherwise why would we be in it….right? The competition is fierce, and if you want to be at the top of the food chain you must have that one thing that separates you from the pack.  What is that exactly? I have a few ideas:

WORK ETHIC. Are you willing to put in the long hard hours to get the job done? Are you willing to take your business to the next level? Personally,  I have to love my job to get to the next level. Because I do love my job,  I get to new levels every day and I make huge strides to take my affiliates with me.

PERSISTENCE. Your ability to not stop until the job is complete even if it takes 50, 100, 1000 contacts to get that next BIG client. In my mind, affiliates will only know who you are if you tell them. There is no other way around it. If I’m bugging you, its because I want you to make money!

FOCUS. I was watching one of my favorites TV shows this week, The Big Idea , with Donny Deutsch on CNBC.  On the show he had a very successful Navy Seal and when he was asked what makes him successful, he said, “you have to be totally focused on your goal”. Distractions may slow you down and  take you off course, but if you stay laser focused you will win. With all the distractions of AIM, email, phone calls, company meetings, etc. this business can be very difficult to remain focused.

TALENT. God given gifts that you have been given. Do you use all your talent to reach your full potential? Some might say some people are more talented then others. They may have a point, but I believe each of us do have that one special talent that separates us. Some people find this talent, and some people never do. My talent in this business is adapting to everyone’s personality. If you are hyper; I can be hyper back. If you are quiet; I can tone it down. I feel making people comfortable is key when communicating.

Those are a few of my favorites. So what is yours? Talk to me Affiliates.

What separates you from the next guy or gal out there? There is lots of competition!

What is your work ethic? What makes you persistent? How do you stay focused daily? What kind of talent do you have?

What are your thoughts?

Talk to me,

Chris

A lot of business owners and technology directors think it’s best to buy their employees the newest, coolest-looking, most well-advertised gadgets as soon as they hit the market. This is actually a flawed school of thought, and logic.

Almost every new technology that hits the street comes laden with bugs and irreversible, unpatchable issues that you or the manufacturer won’t be able to remedy. Ultimately, the only solution for this is to shell out another mint for the ‘New & Improved” version of your tech toy a month or two down the road.

In reality, tech manufacturers are using the impulsive business owner and personal user as “beta testers” for their new devices. This is the way it’s always been. The manufacturer releases their new toy, gets an unfathomable amount of groans and moans, and applies the fixes to the next version, leaving the livid consumers in the dust (and a little bit of financial discomfort). Take a look at the first iPhone. It was completely ridden with bugs. The new version is supposedly flawless.

In order to have a successful business, especially one that is based around digital media and communication, stability is imperative when it comes to your technology. In this industry, the strength of your business is directly dependent on the stability, functionality, and efficiency of your technology!

Here at AKMG, we don’t risk our integrity to get the newest toy the day it comes out. We wait a month or two, unless you are the CEO who gets the toy the day it comes out, then hands it to me to fix when it breaks….

In today’s chaotic and demanding world, it is easy to complicate things. We often over think situations and in doing so, lose money, lose trust and in most regret, lose relationships. If we only turned back the clocks of time and reminded ourselves that the most basic events can create the best opportunities. As Robert Fulghum stated (paraphrased), take what you learned in the sandbox in Kindergarten and apply it to life and everything will be much more pleasant.

“Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.”

- Robert Fulghum

All of these simple rules can easily be applied to our daily life and make work more interesting, profitable and most importantly, fun.