Affiliate Marketing Programs – Did I choose Him or Her?

Apologies for posting a day late, I had to help my dad. He is now struggling to walk and has had a few small slips and falls. For this reason stairs are a complete no no, therefore we brought the bed downstairs which made things a lot easier for him. He had a good sleep and the bathroom was only a few steps away. Old age is a very scary thing, if you are blessed enough to still have your parents and grandparents around please look after them. Spend time with them, help them in every way and their prayers for you are priceless.

On the TikTok front, views are growing and are now at 1,249 followers. Thank you all for being part of the journey.

At work I have completed a piece of work for a client and have secured an extension which is great meaning we have sold more work.

Having tried many affiliate marketing programmes and systems/software and not really gotten anywhere I was thinking, maybe this is not for me, maybe it’s not a good idea. How wrong was I?

I found Him

Through browsing on Instagram and facebook I saw Dean Holland’s ad for the Ice Berg Effect. I thought here we go again another person promising all sorts of stuff in affiliate marketing. Promising huge income daily and monthly taking lots of money off you and then nothing coming of it…….. Hang on a minute, something was different. Something was welcoming and comfortable and trusting. It was different……..what was different?

Dean was different. Dean didn’t jump around the screen saying how brilliant he is and how much money he made or how rich he is. He didn’t point at different corners of the screen showing huge amounts of money that were made in the last hour or overnight. He didn’t brag about how much money he made since January. He wasn’t driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini saying look what I’ve done. He didn’t come across as arrogant a bighead or belittling you or looking down on people. He was real, he was normal. It was like he was like me.

It was also what he spoke about, he spoke about how traditional affiliate marketing is dead and that most affiliate marketers online either don’t know or won’t tell you the truth. But he was willing to tell you the truth and was also willing to show you the right way and to help you. So this was quite unconventional that the very thing he was trying to promote, he was telling me was dead.

This was really intriguing to find out what was wrong with the affiliate marking because in my experience so far I had found a lot wrong with it and now somebody who mastered it and who is teaching and coaching is also telling me that there’s a lot wrong with it. This was a key thing for me, because he had been there and done that so he knew what he was talking about. The second thing that really hit home with me was the fact that he had a book in his hand. It was an actual paperback book which would get sent to your house anywhere in the world for this fixed price for $7.96 postage and packing. He said he would tell you in the book what’s wrong with the current way and also what is the secret behind it. And that’s what I wanted to know.

What Dean managed to achieve in the ad was make himself reliable, appear trustworthy, come across knowledgeable and experienced in his niche and create a need I had which he could fulfil. I think this is the lesson we should all learn with our videos and ads as a formula for your audience to know you, like you and eventually trust you. So well done, Dean you nailed it.

I wish I still had the ad or screen shot/screen capture of it to show you. It gave me comfort that I have found someone that has done what I want to do, done it successfully, knows the right and wrong, good and bad of affiliate marketing. Someone who I could, no should follow and learn from.

I clicked the ad and it showed me a video of Dean talking about affiliate marketing and that traditionally it’s dead. He spoke about the Ice Berg Effect book, how he got into a lot of debt and then met Alex Jeffreys and his life changed. I felt like I was Dean meeting Alex accept that I was Dean and he was Alex. This felt good, it felt right.

The video was followed by information, recommendation and feedback from people Dean had been helping, They had made money and said amazing things about Dean. You can see that information here and get the FREE book if you want to. There were also 3 bonuses:

You get the FREE Ice Berg Effect Book (you pay S&H $7.96 anywhere in the world) plus:

1. The Audio version of the book narrated by Dean, available immediately while you wait for the paperback version to be posted to you
2. A masterclass training session with Dean teaching you the basics and lessons
3. 7 days of email insights and advice direct from Dean.

All of that for $7.96 so I had to give that a try, so I ordered.

The book took a few weeks to arrive but I had the audio version and the masterclass to be getting on with. The book arrived and I read it in one day and not only did it change my life BUT also ‘Corrected my course on MY journey to Affiliate Marketing’. I reviewed the book in an earlier blog post, you can read it by clicking here.

Dean’s Masterclass

I logged onto and registered for the master class, I was sent details to access the portal and training videos. They were really good and not only did I learn a lot, I also got to know Dean more and more importantly, that I wanted to know MORE and learn MORE.

The Masterclass covered these areas, which no one had explained to me before:

1. Preparation
2. The Core Four
3. The death of traditional Affiliate Marketing
4. The Ice Berg Effect
5. Get the money

When you get the book and go through the class, let me know your learnings and thoughts in the comments or email me if you have signed up the my FREE Email Newsletter.

Dean also sent me 7 days of emails and guidance and information. Having completed the book and the Masterclass I was hooked and became a sponge, I wanted to learn more and absorb everything.

The ultimate position to be in is to be a student of Dean’s in his coaching programme, where you learn in detail the what, who and how of Affiliate Marketing. I applied but unfortunately the coaching programme called ‘Internet Profits Accelerator’ was a little too pricey for me at that time. I understood the value of it and I wanted to do it BUT I couldn’t at this stage.

However, Dean had an alternative programme that was a lighter touch version called the ‘Quick Start Challenge’ (QSC). Having done that, looking back It was absolutely the right thing to do for me before going all in to the ‘Internet Profits Accelerator (IPA)’ program where you get certified as a partner in the programme.

The quality of Dean’s programme and methodology shone through as I learnt about the QSC and IPA. I thought this guy knows what he is doing. I signed up to the QSC which developed my knowledge and training in Affiliate Marketing even more. It covered the following:

It was a 6 day course and the challenge was to complete it and start your Affiliate Marketing business;

Topics Covered:

Day ONE: The 4 core areas, niches, Life by design, what’s you number and more

Day TWO: List building engine, lists, tools and assets

Day THREE: Automation, K-L-T, email address, auto responder and setup

Day FOUR: How income is made, the ICE Berg Effect, the ultimate funnel, Affiliate offers, multiple streams of income and connecting everything together

Day FIVE: Traffic, traffic temperatures, traffic systems

Day SIX: the master plan introduction, what is required and choosing your adventure

This course blew my mind. It was thorough and was very easy to follow and doable. I felt confident and followed and completed ALL the steps and requirements.

The Struggle

Having completed the QSC I knew this is what I wanted to do, I knew Dean was the right person to teach me BUT I was struggling with TRAFFIC and getting people on to my list. The moment of realisation was that I needed to be COACHED, this won’t work unless I had access to Dean and his coaching. It was just a fact!

If I had a driving instructor and I learned all the theory from him/her, watched videos on how to drive and how to make manoeuvres and learn the road signs and theory. I would know how to drive and what to do. I could without an instructor get in a car and start the engine, and drive BUT I would not have his/her guidance and experience. I would stall, go the wrong way and would have the occasional bump. The chances of a crash or driving on the wrong side of the road would be very high. With an instructor, they have dual controls to stop you before you hit something. They talk and guide you through each and everything AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS; You can ask questions which they will answer. Direct 1:1 coaching and direction. This is worth paying for and without it you can go around in circles and you argue and reason with yourself alone and that has no outcome.

A coach stops you, guides you, helps you and gives you contacts, software, courses, books and information that helped them and that will now help you. When you find someone that has done what you want to do, done it successfully and taught others how to do it, you need to grab that person by the coat tails and don’t let go EVER. This is Alex Jefferys’s advice. Dean has had him as a coach for 15 years. I intend Dean to be my coach for at least the next 15 years!!

However, the reality was that I couldn’t afford the coaching. It was a stretch each month anyway let alone a substantial spend on coaching. I tried to carry on alone with what Dean had taught me in the QSC. I came up against challenges that I couldn’t fix or get around. Getting traffic was something I was finding difficult. I tried and tried but really needed a coach. I almost gave up!

I found Her

I thought there must be other coaches that have done affiliate marketing who could guide me around the traffic and issues I was having. I saw many shinny products but still required a coaching program and the funds for having it. I spent time on facebook looking at affiliate marketing groups (which was something I learn’t on the QSC). I found a lady that was an affiliate marketer and looking at her videos and content she seemed very genuine.

I am not going to mention her name or and links as I have not asked her if she wants to be mentioned or to promote her etc. If you are interested I can send you her details via email if you want them.

She had a coach, surprise surprise and was promoting his programme. She was very genuine was available for zoom calls to talk though what you needed help with. She would tell you that you have to create content, build an email list, drive traffic and get sales.

She offered;

1. 6 month coaching calls (2xPW)
2. Learning portal access
3. Teach you strategies she uses
4. Done for you slides/templates
5. Private Facebook community
6. Sales role play – with feedback
7. Weekly report on progress
8. Challenges, practice and rewards
9. That she will continue to coach you until you get 4x ROI

This sounded really good and I had 2 zoom calls with her. She was great with answering questions and was an identifiable as a wife, mother and online business mum working from home building a lifestyle for her kids.

Even though her charges were 3 times less than Dean’s the programme was just one way of doing things in terms of traffic. It was based on creating social media content using specific scripts and what sorts of things to say. It was fixed and restrictive.

So, I had a decision to make:

A – Go with her who I know I would make money with, was cheaper BUT had to do strange videos with a script

OR

B – Go with him who I wanted to go with BUT would cost a lot of money

So, what did I do? The first thing I did was change my way of thinking, my MINDSET. I was chasing money and was avoiding the cost of coaching.

What I SHOULD have been looking at this was, don’t chase money, chase the end vision of being financially free with the lifestyle I wanted for me and my family. The second thing was to stop looking at things as a COST, instead thinking of it as and INVESTMENT in me, my knowledge and my business. This would then lead to money once things are setup properly.

Important lesson is:

Be and become the version of yourself that manifests what you want to be. Create the behaviours, attitude and mindset required to be an affiliate marketer first.

I found a Peacock!

I concluded that I want to go with Dean and join the ‘Internet Profits Accelerator Program and become a certified partner. A place were I would learn from Dean and build the best affiliate marketing business that I could BUT how can I pay for it………?

In March at work in my 9-5 job, if you performed well in the year and your clients gave great feedback you would get a bonus. As it happened I got a bonus and was able to pay for the coaching programme with Dean. I believe that Allah (God) has a plan for us all and if we please him, ask for help, pray and help others our prayers are answered. Opportunities are presented to us when we least expect it.

With that I was enrolled on to Dean Holland’s ‘Internet Profits Accelerator, Certified Partner Programme’. I can’t tell you how excited I was. Life was about to get gooooooood!

Next time, I want to talk to you about all the different systems and software/apps etc. that I was bombarded with within my Affiliate Marketing journey. I’ll explain each one, what they are, what they do and links to them for you to explore for your self.

Please let me know in the comments any thoughts on what you’ve read here and what you think you’ve learnt and what you think you’ll start to do different. What will you stop doing now and what will you start doing? I’d love to hear from you, so please do leave comments below.

Thank you for reading, I hope it helped you in some way. You are only a few steps behind me!

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Until next time, take care.

Atif

#Atif’s Academy