I had just finished Valve’s “Portal” and I came to realize that the submissive psychological messages directly relate to affiliate marketing. Yea, I know what you’re thinking, so hear me out here.

Many people jump on the affiliate marketing bandwagon because they assume that they’re going to get a free ride. Money, women, cars, and more money- in actuality, they find themselves working 10 hours a day for a while and constantly tweaking PPC campaigns and learning the ropes of SEO and SEM. Ahh yes, welcome to the affiliate marketing reality that we all know and love. It’s not all puppy-dogs and lolly pops, that’s for darn sure, and if you aren’t careful you’re going to get eaten alive.

At the same time, that’s why we all love affiliate marketing, right? This is truly an industry where those that can do, and those that can’t fail and move on back to their real-world jobs. I’ve seen it happen a million times and I don’t doubt that I’ll see it happen a million more.

Still, I can’t help but wonder how all of these people feel when they realize that the eBook that they just bought or the article that they just read is totally inaccurate. I can’t even count how many eBooks I come across on a given day that proclaim never ending peace and happiness as the result of a $49.99 purchase. In this case, the eBook is the cake and it is very clearly lying to you.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy some of its sugary goodness and icing laden exterior.  Rather, you can, but only if you play your cards right.  Want to survive in this business?

• Work  - At no point is it acceptable to stop working.  Work until you have carpal tunnel in both wrists and your fingers have nearly fallen off from exhaustion.  Once you have $50,000 sitting in a bank account you can rest, but until then you work and keep working!

• Learn - C’mon, I don’t need to explain why this is important, right?

• Experiment - Try new things, start new campaigns, and see where it all takes you.  You never know what the end result may be.

• Reinvent the wheel - If you don’t someone else will, plain and simple.