Before I became a full-time copywriter, I worked as an editor and copywriter for the most popular publications in my city. And even before that, I also did editorial work as part of publishing houses in Australia and New Zealand for over 20 years. But I had always noticed super affiliates are more focused on their partners than those less successful. The kind of relationship they have in the beginning, is like “let me show you how to do this” and “I’ll keep it on my mind for at least a few days”.
I think the key thing is that they find people who share the same values…who believe in the same brand and what they believe in, even if they don’t really realize it to be true. They often go through many stages of growth but the point when they know things is more important than knowing them and they always start with someone who has a shared background with them or believes in a similar set of principles but not exactly aligned by the same beliefs. So after some time, the relationship turns into collaboration, sharing ideas and ideas about projects, working together in other ways to achieve the goals of both parties.
What do you need to find a partner? What is your approach to finding these super affiliates? It can be difficult sometimes, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. There are so many websites, and apps which promise super affiliates just by searching for their names and asking for a job. Just take your pick and wait for the right one. You will probably find out pretty quickly, that it is easy to be wrong — not always. And then you will get there one day just like me.
So I decided to write down how I started doing research for potential partners and try to get my work published. Here is what I think (for people who are interested in starting a business, not a career in writing). To start the process, I would say you should look for keywords which match:
A person with a common name
Similar job experience, and
Interests. As much as finding a perfect candidate is great for building trust, you need to know more about them to build relationships. You need to find their interests and hobbies. Even it seems hard to find those things without researching before because there are lots of websites dedicated to connecting people who want to start something great together.
You may find it difficult to find that ideal person but if you are committed in finding your dream people, you should work a little bit harder, since most of the times you don’t know what good people are and you shouldn’t compromise too much yourself to find them. A good way of finding your dream people is looking for places where other people were before you, for example if you like watching movies and books, you can look at places like Goodreads (see the picture below) and look for book lists or movie lists, for example. Then you can ask yourself these questions:
How will your work differ from what they are already doing?
When and where can I talk to them?
If they are interested in getting paid and if you are willing to pay.
So once you have found your dream people or super affiliate people, you should try to be patient. Most of the time, they don’t come to you straight away but you should give them time to adapt to your style or style of working. Don’t push all your energy on them until they will start to see what you like and what you value to offer. In general, you shouldn’t expect immediate results, sometimes they take longer to start accepting what you tell them from what you told them before, but gradually you will see what works best for you and what you feel confident to try.
Don’t assume any type of contract either for your work or theirs. Unless you are sure about their behavior you shouldn’t force anything if it changes with no notice and sometimes this is not about trusting or giving 100% to a person you are talking with. Sometimes you will still have a meeting about the expectations and you might want to check your calendar twice to make sure you made the appointment time for.
The only thing you are really looking for is someone of your background and your work. When you get such an opportunity, it can sometimes feel very awkward so try to remember that this is something special and you should treat every invitation as a possibility to learn something new. This is an exciting opportunity as well as daunting when you don’t have any experience. Be ready to change if needed, especially in small ways and find solutions instead of giving up on something. At each stage of development, everyone has its own problems, struggles and doubts to deal with, so make an effort to help them out.
To conclude this article, I would like to emphasize the fact that all great writers have experienced failure. Writers who make it big are the ones who have been hurt. These are the ones who have been rejected, they didn’t reach their expected audience and they didn’t like what they were going to do. If you are ready to write and have the desire to achieve success in your writing career, then you will end up making mistakes again and again. You won’t know what tomorrow can bring and you won’t be able to know what you need to stay strong.
But you can always learn from them and start applying what you have learned to your personal life. Don’t let disappointment ruin the moment. If you are ready, you can always succeed in whatever you are trying to accomplish. Remember that everybody is unique and the road to success has no clear path at the beginning. Don’t focus on perfection but the satisfaction that comes with discovering new opportunities.
