The latest episode of my video diary which  is now available to watch on YouTube.  Please click the link to view or if you prefer to read a full transcript is shown below.

Hi everybody, Steve here again with a regular update on my exploits in the affiliate marketing field.

As usual, I’m recording this outside on the veranda here at my home in West Africa, Gambia. There might be a little bit of background noise now and again.  The kids is off school at the moment, so you we won’t  hear them shouting and screaming about.

As I always say, a time-saving tip that I think makes me sound better is if you play this at one and a half times the speed. There’s a button somewhere at the bottom with a cog on it; if you press on that, click on that, it’ll give you the option to select x1.5 speed.

It’s a quick watch and also makes me sound better, I believe.

Anyway, the period between Christmas and New Year is a dead period, obviously not much happening in the business world, so what I’ve decided to do in this video is just a recap of the past year, so 2023 I guess. It helps me to see the progress I’ve made and plan for next year.

We started the year, unfortunately, back in the UK. I like to be here in January, but we live in a holiday home in the UK, and we’re not allowed to be there in January, which is not normally a problem, but this year we had to renew my wife’s Visa, so we had to be there and wait for that to get processed, which didn’t get done until the end of January. So we had to go in Airbnb places, which was hardly conducive to running the business.

So, basically, not much progress, not much happened in January. I did finish the Facebook advertising training that I did in January. So, I started advertising for clients for that, and that was about it really for January. You know, it was just one of those months where it was very difficult to settle into work due to not being in a place where I’m used to working, if you get what I mean. Anyway, that was January.

So, end of January, we moved down here straight away because we encountered some cold weather. I don’t like it these days, my wife’s African and obviously she finds it difficult to cope with the really cold weather. So February, we’re back down here. I actually stopped drinking in February last year, quit alcohol for a month, but unfortunately, after the month, I started again. Sometimes wish I hadn’t really, but one of those things. I have to say that the reason I stopped for last February was I was getting too good at it, too good at drinking alcohol, and had to prove to myself that I could stop it. I stopped it for a month, started it again thinking that I could control it, but as we’re going on, probably I can’t, probably ought to think about that again and address that issue.

Anyway, February, February I joined aa affiliate program called RPM, rapid profit machine I think, which was okay, there’s plenty of stuff there to learn, but I don’t know, didn’t feel right for some reason. I went off promoting it using mainly solo ads for that, got this sort of building up. So that was sort of February.

March came along, and I started getting clients for the advertising agency, a little bit of money coming in obviously always helps. I will admit that my main client is my offline business, but I’m sure my directors and myself would not tolerate paying me if I wasn’t producing the results. Obviously, that helps, but having outside people coming in as well also helps.

I also launched an online training program in February for my window blind business. I wrote a book many years ago that tells people how to start and run a window blind business in the UK. The online course is a continuation of that. My first effort on it, it’s not the most polished thing, but it gave me some practice at putting together an online course. Yeah, so that was that. March,

Yeah, right, in March, I actually made my debut on TikTok, that’s my first time on film online. But I now recall that I did a YouTube video about 5 years ago, but I didn’t talk on it, I was just demonstrating a window blind. I just pulled the blind down and put it back up again. That was my first, but yeah, March this year, TikTok, I started TikTok and I was talking and being on screen at the same time, so that was a lot of effort, a lot of persuading myself to do it, but I did it and I’m pleased I did, and actually getting to quite enjoy sitting here rambling on. Hope sometimes it makes sense, but maybe sometimes I don’t, who knows.

Anyway, on to April and bad news came through from my brother that Dad had a stroke, a TIA I think they call them. So, back to the UK for that. It turned out he didn’t have a mild stroke, it was quite a severe one. So, we had a couple of bad months really. He was in hospital for a long time, not close to home, so it was a 40-mile round trip to visit him, which was tiring. But he’s my dad, my brother’s dad, and that’s what you do.

Things kept changing, they said he’s going home next week, then they said he’s not, trying to get the care package sorted. Eventually, we got him settled in a care home. He loves it there, although he’ll never be the same man again, his memory’s all mixed up, but he’s happy. That basically wrote off two months there. (a very stressful and emotional time!)

So, June, I met a man called Dean, who’s gone on to become a major influence on my business life. I’d actually ordered Dean’s book back in February, didn’t arrive in time for me to take to Gambia. When I went back to the UK, I picked it up, read it, and it made sense. I did his quick start Challenge and then signed up for his mentoring program, a significant investment but worth it. Dean Holland, his company’s Internet Profits. He’s one of my main mentors. If last year was the year I met Paul, (Paul O’Mahoney) this year was the year I met Dean Holland. You’ll find links to his book on my blog. I consider it (his mentoring program)  an investment in my future. The mentoring and support from him and his team are incredible. He’s the only person in his position I’ve ever had a phone call and chat with.

So, I started affiliate marketing in the middle of July, actively promoting with paid Facebook advertising, because as a Facebook advertising expert, it would be hypocritical not to use Facebook for my own business. The advertising is going well, I spend about $6 a day and currently getting an average of seven to eight new leads per day. The quality of the leads is improving, and I’m reasonably happy with that system. July, I started recording these update videos.

There’s a gap because I stopped doing TikTok for a while, but now I’m back to doing these videos once a week and a 60-second TikTok video every day.

That’s my leads and August, came back to Gambia for a break. September, I started redoing my email sequences and looking at that particular area. I do have an issue coming from an offline retail environment where we used to visit people in their homes. I’m trying to find a way to get what I used to do selling window blinds in people’s houses online.

October, went back to the UK to see family and close the holiday home for the winter. It’s nice to have the best of both worlds. Hopefully, I want to enhance this lifestyle a bit by having our own place here in Gambia.

November, came back to Gambia and started doing short videos again on TikTok, which I now do every day. That’s the shape of my future plans, one paid advertising source, Facebook, and the rest organically produced traffic from social media.

December, set up the blog that this video appears on as well as on YouTube. It’s not perfect yet, but you know, get it going and get it good is the motto I swear by.

I’ve started seeing some results from my list. I started (in Affiliate marketing) really in July, so about six months in. Somebody told me recently that YouTube channels usually take off about 18 months after launch, so it’s all about patience, building the right foundation, and keeping to the plan.

So, that’s my 2023 done, looking forward to 2024. It’s been a challenging year, and I think many people in many walks of business have had challenging years, maybe it’s the post-COVID realizations and the state of the whole world’s economy.

Onwards and upwards, 2024 is going to be brilliant.

Both of my mentors have got exciting stuff coming up next year, and I’ve got some exciting plans too. If you’re watching this anywhere other than my blog, pop over, sign up for my newsletter, (If you’re on my blog there’s a box in the left column) and you’ll be in the loop.

Thanks for watching, and I wish you a Happy New Year in advance.

 

19 thoughts on “My Year in Review – My 2023 in online and affiliate marketing”
  1. wow what a year!
    I tried Facebook ads once and made sure I followed the rules, but still got shut down with no notice, I would love to know how people make it work…maybe I can talk to you about that… I will drop you a line .

    Anyways i hope this is a better year for you and your dad.

    All the best,

  2. Hi Steve, Yes, life happens. And we must learn to step away from all the drama to get done what we need to accomplish. Others may or may not understand.

    As for the alcohol, have you read Matthew Perry’s book? “Friend, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing”? It reminds me of a scared straight exercise. Addiction is tricky and asking for help is the best solution.

    Happy New Year!

  3. What a year you’ve had!

    I hope 2024 brings you lots of joy and success in your business.

    There will be more ups and downs to come, I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t have challenges. It’s how you deal with them that really matters.

  4. Steve,
    I like your suggestion of listening to this at 1.5. One of my mentors told me to do thing a couple years ago and I use it all the time. It takes a bit of training the mind to do it but once you get use to it, it’s fantastic. I have managed to listen to somethings at 2x.

    Though the year didn’t go exactly the way you wanted, Stop and count the wins and blessing of the year and then double down for 2024.

    Look forward to your success in 2024.
    CJ

  5. Hi Steve,
    Great post and yes, life definitely has its ups and downs. Being able to take it all in stride and go forward by learning from the good & the bad experiences is the best way to go!
    Wishing you & yours all the best in 2024!

  6. Steve, you certainly have had an eventful year. I am glad your father is doing ok. I too am going to try Tik Tok and You Tube videos for my business. I would love any tips from you.
    Happy New Year.

  7. Hi Steve, what an amazing journey you’ve had this year! I am most impressed with your venture into the online video world. May you have continued success in 2024. All the best!

    1. Hi Andy. Many thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Yes, getting on video online was a major hurdle for me but I did it.
      Feel free to revisit an if I can be of any help to you just reach out

  8. Thank you for sharing your journey in 2023. Rapid Profit Machine sounds familiar. I think I heard of it before. Is it a marketing system to promote Builderall?

    1. Hi Alan thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment. RPM is an affiliate marketing programme and yes its very much Builderall focused,
      Please drop in any time and of I can be of any help please let me know

  9. Hi Steve
    Great blog and i love the video. It sounds as though you have got quite alot going on, between spreading your time in 2 continents and a blinds business as well as affiliate marketing. Looking forward to hearing what comes next

    1. Hi Tim. Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment. Yes, sometimes I wonder if I take too much on but I like being busy, Keep me out of mischief, Look forward to you dropping in from time to time. Don’t hesitate to reach out of I can help you in any way

  10. Thank you Steve for the update.
    You had a busy and challenging year.
    I am glad you found the time to make progress with affiliate marketing.
    I was thinking about using Youtube to record my blog posts, so far just done one short video, but will get there.
    Happy New Year!

  11. Steve, great blog and idea to summarise your year. It’s great to look back and see what you have accomplished. I hope your Father is better and doing well. My Mother died in July 2022 and my Father has dementia, they are the most important people and business comes after. I like that you have TikTok and YouTube going and Facebook leads ads on the go. How did you learn Facebook ads? I wish you a great 2024 and all that it will ring. Talk soon. Atif

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