A couple weeks ago while attending Epic’s Playboy Mansion BBQ weekend event, my wife and I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. Which brings an end to a series I have really enjoyed over the years. Right before I went to see the final one, I watched the entire series again. I highly recommend that to anyone who has not done it.
***SPOILER WARNING**** I tried to avoid this but there is a few spoilers with the last couple points. You have been warned so no crying in comments =P
Surround yourself with People you trust (and who are smarter than you).
Throughout the Harry Potter saga, we see his trusted band of friends. Even thought they have issues from time to time, Ron Weasley and Hermione are his saving grace.
Affiliate marketing is such a lone wolf career, we all keep our cards close to the chest. In this industry, the common thought with affiliates is to not share what you are doing or working on. While people can succeed using these tactics, most success is very short lived.
You really need to build a trusted network of friends that you can bounce ideas off of or ask for help to go into battle (get higher payouts).
Don’t Discount The Weirdo
In several of the Harry Potter movies we come across the Luna Lovegood character. While most write her off as some fruitcake. Harry actually gives her the time of day and is rewarded for it. As we come to find out as the story progresses without Luna’s wacky advice Harry could not have gotten anywhere.
5 years ago I went to a conference event where a guy was on stage speaking about all these internet domains that were floating out there that had back links from edu, gov, and military web sites. This guy came off as a little bit anti-social and people were laughing at him like he did not know what he was talking about. One person asked a question about how many of these could their possibly be out there with all these new services that snap up domains quickly when they lapse.
He said, “millions”.
Everyone laughed at him.
As soon as I got back I wrote a spider (in bash no less) that searched google for sites ending in .edu with a random dictionary word to mix up the results. Then I took those urls, spidered them, looked for outbound links, did a whois on the domain and if it was not found I programmatically registered it with Godaddy’s API.
When I woke up the next day I had registered over 4,000 domains. ……. Some had THOUSANDS of edu links.
To do a test I 301′d any domain that had the word poker in it to my poker affiliate website. Within 72 hours it was ranking #1 for “texas holdem” and about every poker term under the sun. (someday I will go into the mechanics of why this worked (and why it still is very effective today)).
Long story short I estimate I have profited well over 1 million dollars from those domains… probably one of my most profitable discoveries of all times.
I have found and registered for less than $10, past presidential campaign domains, super high profile domains, and lots of other domains with tens of thousands of links pointed to them…. just floating in cyber space.
The point is DON’T count out anyone. This little idea, which everyone else dismissed and laughed at, turned out to be huge.
If you are running around on your high horse thinking you know everything then your doomed.
Be brave.
Countless times throughout the series Harry jumps in head first to face his fears.
I have written many times about how lots of times I am scared shitless.
If you want to succeed you have to be willing to do what your competition is not. In the affiliate industry I have seen TONS of people start a blog… get a small following, then fizzle out. They can’t take the heat. Those who stand the test of time (and criticism) are always rewarded. But thats just in blogging.
When I think back to all the cutting edge, gray (some would say blackhat) areas where I have made money, I thought my door was going to get busted down any minute. I did a lot of tactics with search engines that everyone said would get my money sites burnt to the ground. But they made tons of money.
I started a company called AuctionAds when there was 8 other competitors already doing exactly what I wanted to do. Yet we found a way to grow rapidly AND make millions of dollars per month only months after launching.
Be brave and be true to what you believe.
If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.
In the final installment of the series Harry Potter goes to Helena Ravenclaw for help in defeating Voldemort. She responds by saying “If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.” WOW! I loved this and immediately saw a connection between it and the number of new people to the industry trying to figure out the “secret.”
The real secret (in my opinion) of course is “passion.” But if you have to ask then you will never know what “passion” means.
When you have a passion about a subject money comes easy.
People Want You To Fail
Unfortunately there will always be people out there that are praying for your downfall. Some will even come off as your friends.
The bigger and more successful you become, you will notice a relative amount of people who are eager for your failure.
But as Harry Potter came to find out, persistance is the key to defeating your enemies. Even when your biggest enemy can lie within yourself.
About the author...
Jeremy Schoemaker – who has written 2424 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Your right that you must keep pushing that big rock until it starts to roll on its own..their is no other way around it.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Sure, Jeremy, Harry Potter is a great role model for internet marketers. But the author J.K. Rowling is a real-life role model. Dedication, belief in her product, persistence in the face of publisher refusals… she never stopped believing. And look how it turned out for her.
Hope you have a happy day !!
Very inspiring list!
I especially like “Don’t Discount The Weirdo”. Keeping your ears/eyes opened and paying attention to other people even (or should I say especially) if they are disregarded by the crowd. Anyway, the crowd is generally either late or wrong.
Love the first picture explanation.
My 2 favorite quotes pertaining to friends and colleagues are:
“You are the average (in all aspects) of the 5 people you spend most of your time with.”
and
(Expectations of others + Expectations for myself) / 2 = All of my accomplishments
Fear is a deal breaker for most. I will need to re-read “Are you Scared Shitless”
Great article, i love the comparison’s.. By the way how did you come up with this analogy? lol
Thanks Jeremy for the awesome article, I haven’t seen any of the movies, but I might now..
thanks
Funny and Wise.
Harry Porter is used as Bible of Present Time – everything can be explained by reading or watching Harry Porter.
Loved the post.
Nice analogies. Around my house lately it’s been all about Harry Potter. We also watched all the prior movies before heading to see the last one.
Hadn’t considered how to apply the movies to AM, but this is a good start. Thanks.
Wow! great way of relating Internet marketing and Harry Potter. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I love this article! Funny and clever. I especially liked the section called “Don’t Discount the Weirdo” the weirdos always have the best ideas!
Yowza! No wonder you’re still king of the blogging mountain after all these years. Besides being rather aptly written and entertaining (to a point even JKR would approve of), this piece of content shows remarkable insight into the workings of a brilliant mind. I especially liked the story about the astray .gov domains…. very impressive indeed.
You sir, have just inspired me to reach out for greatness: I will draw a full circle by thinking of a topic that you approve of, and turn it into a guest post suitable for publication at this website. Please stand by for it.
All the obvious but do we ever implement it?
great article. thanks for sharing. its interesting to relate internet marketing with harry potter
Jeremy,
Powerful article and movie if folks truly “know” and need only ask! Follow their heart and passion while sharing as the world has plenty of abundance has certainly been the “secret”. Yes occasional burn job who then gets black balled but most folks learn that if you give it all comes back around full circle. More so if you truly do develop relationships and surround yourself with sharp folks pt#1 who are having fun doing a task that is not your passion but is to them!
Love your point not to discount the weirdo as found years ago in building a business you never know what is in a person’s heart and how bad they want to succeed! We shouldnt be judging others anyways but looking for the good in them.
Your points are all key and well taken so if people truly pay attention you have just shared a gold mine with them. Congrats for having the jewels to go for it even when you were scared shitless! You went right through your fear to the top! Thanks again for sharing!
hi jeremy,
fantastic article, as usually – have been reading them but didn´t comment much so far. i love your idea to compare harry potter with internet marketing. but there are a lot of valid points!
the article is worth a read …… never thought of a relation with HP and Marketting ..
Very good article and you use the Harry Potter story very well in explaining that some of the best ideas shouldn’t be dropped so quickly when others think they are wrong or odd. Instead you just need to go with your gut and move forward as it can pay in the long run.
your comparison is too good. where it is powerful article to know about the internet marketing and for entrepreneurs.
I like this: If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.
Hi, I am really happy I’ve found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossip and internet stuff and this is actually irritating. A good site with exciting content, that’s what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I will be visiting again.
What better way to learn about internet marketing than to read an article with harry potter involved. Great information here I learned a lot.
the snape Rule: you may look like the bad guy but in the end your the good guy, but no good deed goes unpunished!