As I posted a few days ago, the Holiday shopping season is officially here. Shoppers are hitting both the malls and the Internet to purchase gifts for the upcoming Holiday later this month. According to a comScore press release, Cyber Monday saw $733 million in online spending, representing a 21-percent increase versus last year.

Given this, companies, affiliates, and marketers are turning up their creativity to see how they can get a piece of the pie. Netflix is one company that is already doing something very creative. They’re mailing all of their subscribers a “Happy Holidays” card along with a plain white envelope [see image below]. The card contains details on how to obtain a “free trial” of Netflix and is meant for me to send the card to one of my family members/friends as a “Holiday Gift.” Brilliant idea! I really enjoy my Netflix subscription and I’m thinking about sending my card to one of my cousins who is currently in college. I think he’d really enjoy the service as well.

This creative marketing campaign is a great way for Netflix to exponentially increase their subscribers. According to their corporate website, they currently have more than 11 million subscribers. If Netflix mails out these cards to every subscriber and can convert at least 1% into new subscribers they’re looking at a possible $984,500 (at $8.95/month) a month increase in profits!

It is creative ideas like this that separates successful marketers. With Internet marketing, we want to use this Holiday season to be creative like Netflix and be able to increase our profits by $XXX,XXX a month! Are you being creative this Holiday season?

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves about working online is people think it’s a quick way to instant millions. I know Richard has touched on this in many of his posts, but recently, I received a Facebook message I decided to share with everyone. Before I begin with my rant here is the message:

OK so here’s what got her attention. When I purchased my new Mercedes Benz CLS550 I posted some pictures on my Facebook. I’m not the type of person that likes to brag about things, but like most people, I have family spread out across the United States. They all wanted to see my new car, so the easiest way was to upload a few pictures to Facebook (since then I’ve removed them). I knew that it was very likely I was going to receive a message like this.

The girl that sent this message is a pretty nice person. I knew her back in high school, but haven’t talked to her a day since I graduated (in 2002). Seven years later she emerges on Facebook to try and “pick my brain.” I’m sure many of you reading this that currently work online have been asked this a million times! People hear work + Internet/Online and think automatic, easy millions. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you’re currently sitting behind your computer reading this and are not yet making money online, don’t let me discourage you. It is VERY possible to begin making LOTS of money online. But it’s not going to come without hard work. Working online is no different than starting a “bricks & mortar” business. While you need to be prepared for several long days, you also need to have a clear plan, set goals, have money to invest, and be willing to take risks. Success often does not come without failure. Before I became a successful affiliate, I failed. I built HUNDREDS of campaigns that all tanked. But I was willing to work hard, invest money, and I wouldn’t accept failure. I cannot tell you the many nights I went to sleep discouraged with Richard yelling at me about how much money I burned through on Google Adwords.

Just like any other business, you get out of it what you are willing to put into it. This young lady that messaged me wants me to give her a shortcut to quit her secular 9-5 job to “work online” and “travel”. I really wish I knew what she meant by “travel”. Sure, I get to go on business trips as well as trips with networks, but when I get back in the office I cannot tell you how behind I am. I wish I could lounge around a 5-star beach resort every week and check my email once or twice a day, but it simply does not work like that. While some of our campaigns do go on a certain “autopilot” mode, that doesn’t mean that we’re not working hard everyday looking for the next successful campaign. And guess what? We still fail on some campaigns even to this day.

I’m going to close this with one more example. Two years ago I was laying out at the local resort pool near my home. A neighbor of mine said “you work online full-time?!?” I answered politely “yes, I have for several years.” She said “make me a website; I have a great idea, blah, blah, blah.” I kind of laughed it off, only to get back to my computer to see her husband had sent me a message on MySpace explaining to me how good he was with his computer and Photoshop. Richard was even asked once, “So does this website make enough money to live on?”

Successful people did not become successful instantly. They did not become successful without failure. Besides being able to work out of your bedroom in your boxers, working online is no different than opening a “bricks and mortar” business. Work hard; don’t accept failure, and when you think you can’t work any harder, work harder. Don’t be influenced by people who don’t want to see you prevail. You CAN do this, you CAN build a successful business, and you CAN become a multi-millionaire. Now, how bad do you want it?

I stopped watching the news shortly after the United States Presidential race concluded last year.  Why?  Things are so depressing with the economic crisis and the latest recession, the news is unbearable to watch.  No matter what your favorite cable news network is – CNN, FOX News or MSNBC – they are all reporting the same thing; more doom and gloom.  There are serious issues when it comes to the current state of the economy with the high rate of unemployment and issue over health care.  However, not everyone is suffering from the recession.

Ryan, John and I have been able to successfully grow our business in the midst of one the biggest economic crisis’ since the Great Depression.  That is because advertisers are looking more to affiliates rather than traditional advertising because affiliates produce a direct response.  We, as affiliates, do the demographic research and build campaigns geared toward offers.  So that leads me to an interesting question – does a recession benefit affiliate marketers?

The answer, unfortunately, is no.  However, affiliate marketing is a way to produce a more than livable income regardless of the current economic condition (unless the entire economy was to collapse, which if it does, we are all seriously screwed).  For those thinking of getting into affiliate marketing, understand it is not an instant goldmine.  Affiliate marketing is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever done; however, the benefits far outweigh the risks.

The biggest thing when it comes to affiliate marketing is setting a realistic budget.  Once you’ve got the money to invest, you have to be willing to take the risk.  A lot of people trying to break in either do not have the money or are scared to spend the money.  This is why I spend so much time talking about the Super Scared Affiliate.  If you’ve got the money to spend and are serious about getting into affiliate marketing, the time is now.

There is a multitude of ways to make money through affiliate marketing.  You can use pay-per-click if you’re on a limited budget or media buying if you have more capital.  There are all kinds of offers to promote and with a little practice; you’ll be making money in no time.

If you do not take anything else away from this blog post, understand you have what it takes to make money online.  Yes, you have what it takes.  Don’t find yourself getting zoned out to the news, feeling hopeless and depressed.  People are still making money regardless of what the media is reporting.  Today I give you hope, now get out there and make it happen!