Deep Thoughts about marketing online… Never thought I’d belong to a ‘gang’… but…
I, along with 500,000 others belong to a very elusive yet blatant group of digital entrepreneurs known as todays digital cartel or mafia. We still operate on the right side of the law, and 99% of us are simply trying our best to work from home and be a soldier in the affiliate marketing arena. Equipped with complex distribution systems, lucrative and attractive recruitment systems, stealth training in the art of influence, global outreach and addictive products - we account for billions of dollars that are spent and earned each year on the internet.
It’s almost too close for comfort when you compare this industry to any world renowned underground movement.
The Top Tier: The Networks - always taking a cut from everybody - the merchants setup fees, to transaction charges, to affiliates earnings, to your earnings, to penalties, etc. etc. - they will always be the biggest earners and rule makers. Rightfully so as they are the most important ‘organizers’ of our world.
The Production Houses and Product Lines: The people behind the manufacturing and assembly of any widget you can think of both on and offline (we’re still thinking on the legal side of the tracks here). They are next most important element in this world - without stuff to sell, there would be no point in any of this right?
The Bosses: These are usually known as your AM’s (affiliate managers). They are always keeping close watch on their chapter of the gang, ensuring a proper role is made and met by each individual in their chapter. When it’s a sensitive chapter, new members must be accepted individually and many are denied access and membership time and time again. Most AM’s are praised for their leadership skills and knowledge base when it comes to our world. Some are unfortunately also participating in secret alliances within their own eco-system robbing the gang blind. AM’s are often also responsible for recruiting, in fact many times they are rewarded for getting their chapter to recruit another tier of members, as is each member that does so successfully.
The Soldiers: Ahhhhh the soldiers. You can NEVER have enough soldiers. These are the 450,000 work from home enthusiasts who either make or break the bank with their time and efforts trying to move the product pushed down through the hierarchy above. If the bosses were expected to move this much product worldwide on their own, they would grow old and gray before they accomplished 10% of what the soldiers accomplish in a day. Soldiers are the ones that really drive the fiscal earnings for the hierarchy. Without them, our eco-system would also die.
The Customers: Well, no brainer here, the entire tree above is rendered irrelevant if there are no customers right? There needs to be a demand for your gangs product. If there is no demand, you need to influence one, you need to create awareness, give some product away for free - get the word out about getting your fix quick with a new and better solution than the last one… it ALWAYS gets better, and when mass awareness is generated, mass appeal is created, and demand is instigated. Much like bombarding teens with alcohol ads, the brands that reach them the most often and relate the deepest, are the ones these teens will stay loyal to for generations… influencing awareness/appeal/demand is very much alive in any eco-system of profit.
The MONEY: Now that you’ve gone through the most important parts of the hierarchy, it’s time to look at the most of important part and whole point of this gangland fraud infested digital warzone of an eco-system, the benjamins… the food that gets shared among all the predators and prey… All of this stuff above is a huge puzzle of odd shaped and complex pieces, that when put together - paint a very detailed and organized flow of profit/food at each level. It’s not just the average computer thug that is a part of this circuit of warriors either. We are doctors, lawyers, teenagers, teachers, moms, students, and anyone in the world that is connected to the internet. We are not a rare breed, rather a very intelligent one. We understand and analyze very complex scenarios in our battleground and create road maps to money, to defeating rival gangs or pushing more of your local mass appeal products… . .. It’s a beautiful honeycomb, filled with different levels of order, everyone working against each other yet together because we realize the importance of each role in our eco-system.
Often times each level of order and conduct expected is flawed, and though the ranks of the ladder are willfully grown climbed slowly - many are plagued with disease and soldiers gone wild, or cooked bosses and policy enforcers… Some common scenarios:
The initiation: This is just like entering a gang, instead of getting your A** kicked for 30 seconds, you get the label ‘newbie’, and must endure great agony via absorbing and dissecting countless bulls**t ebooks, videos, audio guides, reading forums, discovering how the eco-system works before you start learning what soldier boot camp even means…
The first hit: You finally got through your newbie days and got your first stripe by assigning yourself your first contract and task for your gang - to go out there and create an awareness campaign for your chosen product to push - and finally - you successfully converted your very first customers. You now understand and have proven the system is indeed real and alive, and thus you pledge allegiance that this gang is worth the blood in blood out… errr.. the money/time in - money out risk, you decide to dedicate the next phase of your life into this. By now you are usually close with an AM or a boss, have shown loyalty to a network and a production house, and have many allies/soldiers you have created alliances with.
Your first bit of real food: You’ve been hungry, you’ve been through fluctuations, you’ve set a big return on your hits and finally - you got your first check in the mail that’s worth mentioning or showing proudly to your mates/family - this is your first badge of honor. Your first reward worthy of an ear to ear smile and a little celebration before heading back into the battlefield.
Your brilliant idea. You’ve been a great soldier and one day get hit with an idea like a brick at your head - YOU are going to become a boss… and you will either step on toes and come out on top as one of the self appointed leaders with loyalty - OR - you will get shot down by other leaders, or by networks, or by soldiers, or even by no fault of your own however the ‘demand’ part of the equation above just doesn’t fall in your favor - so you crawl back into your soldier uniform and give it a few more big contracts before attempting THAT again.
Getting Robbed: Not at knife point, and not for your shoes or wallet… not at night in an alleyway either - EVERY single part of our eco-system gets robbed in many shady and carefully planned ways. For every smart CEO and security specialist, there is an equally smart dark side leader - just itching to get in on your loopholes, your products, your earnings. It’s simply a part of our nature. Some robberies are much worse than others, however luckily there is no violence or life loss in our jungle - simply bandwidth, virtual losses, financial losses and reputation, the odd time the robbers end up in jail however usually they are just kicked out of the gang with no help from bosses, and are left hungry/stripped of their recent rewards and food.
Getting out of the game: It’s tough, it’s an addiction, it’s all some know and want to know. Getting discharged as a soldier in this field sucks, but that doesn’t make you want to stop usually… Making money on the web is more than a hobby to most, and is a full time living to many. While it has it’s rude awakenings and comes with a need of a strong stomach and will to survive - it can be QUITE a lucrative journey if you belong to the right chapter, are loyal to your bosses and respect the morals/ethics and rules of the top tier organizers. None the less the turnover rate in this eco-system is HUGE, and is mostly among the soldiers, hence the constant and never ending supply of new gangs and bosses keep showing up trying to recruit to their gang - many fade quickly along with their whole chapter.
Even deeper than money: What thrives all this buzzing around above that goes deeper than the green monster? The yearning to set yourself free from the modern day slavery, as even sitting in front of a computer writing on this blog is not as beautiful as the beach and palm trees I should be sitting at. The keyword here = SUCCESS. << As long as there is the ability to be better and more stable than the next person, and as long as there is awareness/influence/demand/instigation, there will always be an uneven and viral influence of greed, hunger, growth, and addiction to success. As much as I preach it - I too, am still hungry for more, content but truly looking forward to the days I can spend less time in front of a screen and more time enjoying this planet and its wonders without the need of ANY eco-system but the one I create for myself at will… Cheers to that day, and may each and every one of you reach it too.
Bless you all, take a deep look at yourself and figure out what role you play in this - and if you’re new and have no clue what I just rambled about here - chances are it’s a good thing today, as this shark infested pool we call marketing is a rollercoaster ride, and fear will eat away at any man that entertains it - so if you’re looking to get into this eco-system please bring back up (time and money), please bring patience (willingness to learn and grow, and get scammed, and fail, and and and), please bring your A+ game, and please play by the rules of not only the top tiers, but of the unspoken rules of the digital streets too.
Norb Czufis.
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Hacker: A person(s) that uses sensitive information or gains access to such via backend shifty, shady, black hat ways… Otherwise known as: Spammers, Phishers (phising is still strong), Crackers, Crackz, Serialz, and I could go on… ..
