Stress Management for the Affiliate Marketing Newbie

When you’re just starting out as an affiliate marketing newbie, you might find yourself completely overwhelmed by all there is to learn and all the things you want to accomplish ASAP to be successful. How do I know this? Ha!! You should see my “to do” list. What I realized over the last few weeks of filling my poor brain with info on SEO, keyword searches and Google Wonder wheels is that you can definitely overdo – and take on a lot of unnecessary stress in the process.

Stress can never be completely avoided in life, but as an affiliate marketing newbie you can deal with it better if you know why it comes up. When you find yourself overwhelmed with the stress of the new learning curve you’re on, just remember this saying from the famous Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu that:

“The journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step.’

Simply put, it is better that we finish our tasks one at a time rather let them overwhelm us to the point that we don’t make progress at all.

Here are a few ways to manage your day to reduce the stress of trying to juggle a number of different and unfamiliar tasks at one time:

1. Plan your day out. Know what needs to be done and follow the time-frame you set for each task. Stress occurs every time you don’t keep with your schedule and postpone work that piles up and ends up taking longer to complete.

2. Order your tasks. Figure out what needs to be done first, whether it’s article writing, keyword research or searching for great backlinks. Establish your own guidelines that allow to prioritize upcoming tasks. This way you’ll be able to focus on what needs to be done first, next and so on. Even though you’re an affiliate marketing newbie, you’ll soon learn how to best schedule your work so it all gets done – even the grunt work that you don’t enjoy!

3. Know when to delegate or outsource. There are always people who have the skills that we don’t have. Take me for example. I have worked to set up one niche affiliate marketing website. It took forever. I’m great at adding content but the technical part of putting a website together is just not my skill-set. I’m glad I learned this early and am prepared to outsource this kind of work when it comes up. When you realize that you need help to get something done, find a free lancer who can help.

4. Limit distractions. Some people work better with the radio blasting, others need complete silence. Whichever one you are or even in between, make sure to surround yourself with a comfortable environment that will help you concentration and inspire you to be more productive.

5. Know when to take a break. Nonstop work without a break cause stress that will catch up with you pretty quickly. Everyone has a saturation point. If you reach yours, it just means that you need to give mind and body a rest. Taking a break, spending time doing something you enjoy will help you refresh and come back to your affiliate marketing newbie tasks with renewed focus and determination. As my mom always used to say:

Take care of yourself!

These stress management tips can really help you make the most of your learning curve as an affiliate marketing newbie. And here’s one last suggestion. Surround yourself with people who can be part of a strong and ongoing support system. I’m lucky that I’m part of an incredible mastermind group that includes my sister and two good friends – each one an affiliate marketing newbie. We talk regularly and support one another to minimize stress and maximize our joint success as we learn online affiliate marketing.