I woke up this morning feeling really well rested.
After a solid breakfast and a strong cup of coffee, I got on my indoor bike for my usual cycling session. Then I headed out for my regular morning walk.
By the time I sat down to start working, I already felt like the day had begun well.
Then I noticed something that made it even better.
I had gained a new subscriber to my email list.
My list has now grown from 10 to 11 people.
Eleven subscribers is obviously still a very small email list. But the story behind this particular subscriber reminded me why I increasingly believe that relationships matter just as much as numbers when building an online business.
Affiliate Marketing Relationships Are Still Human Relationships
My newest subscriber is someone I have got to know through Substack.
She is active in a completely different niche from the make money online space.
We regularly like and comment on each other’s posts. We also chat occasionally about what we are working on and try to help each other make progress with our respective online businesses.
There is no complicated strategy behind it.
We simply support each other.
Recently, she mentioned that she is planning to create her own courses.
That made me think about the ClickBank Profit Club.
I thought seeing a structured system around affiliate marketing, list building, email follow-up, and online offers might give her useful ideas as she develops her own business.
So I mentioned it to her.
She decided to join, which also added her to my email list.
If you are trying to build affiliate income but feel overwhelmed by funnels, emails, pages, follow-up, and all the technical pieces, you do not have to figure out every part on your own.
The ClickBank Profit Club is the beginner-friendly, list-first system I am currently using. It is built around keeping the lead, following up, and creating a real relationship instead of hoping every affiliate click immediately turns into a sale.
When you join through my link, you will also be added to my email list and receive my future updates as I continue testing, learning, and building.
Helping First Changes the Relationship
The important part of this story is that I have no expectation that this person should buy anything from me.
That was never the reason I recommended the system.
She has already given me plenty through our conversations, comments, likes, and support on Substack.
If ClickBank Profit Club gives her a few ideas she can use when creating her own courses, then that is already useful.
Online business can sometimes look extremely transactional from the outside.
Clicks.
Leads.
Sales.
Commissions.
Conversion rates.
All of those things matter.
But there are still people behind every number.
I am increasingly convinced that building useful online business relationships is one of the things that can make everything else easier over time.
What 11 Subscribers Actually Tells Me
My email list now has 11 subscribers.
That number alone is not impressive.
But there is another number I find much more interesting.
I had already earned almost $200 in affiliate commissions when my email list contained only eight people.
I want to be careful about what that means.
It does not mean eight subscribers automatically produce $200.
It certainly does not mean someone else will get the same result.
My results are personal, and a sample this small cannot tell us what will happen as my list grows.
What it does show me is that a small but relevant email list can already have value.
The offer matters.
The emails matter.
The follow-up matters.
And the trust that exists before someone clicks matters too.
That is why email list growth has become such an important part of my affiliate marketing journey.
Building the System One Day at a Time
The rest of today will look fairly familiar.
I will continue my normal content distribution across X, LinkedIn, Substack, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Every piece of useful content is another possible entry point into the blog and another opportunity for someone to discover what I am building.
I also need to prepare for my coaching call on Thursday.
Having experienced people to learn from gives me more confidence that I am moving in a sensible direction.
John Thornhill has built his approach around affiliate marketing, list building, and follow-up, and it feels reassuring to have that experience behind the system while I continue learning.
I am still a beginner.
That is exactly why I document the process instead of pretending I already know everything.
In my previous update, I shared more about where the journey currently stands:
Read my previous affiliate marketing progress update here.
Build the List Before You Lose the Click
One lesson keeps becoming clearer to me.
A visitor who clicks an affiliate link and disappears may never come back.
A subscriber gives you the possibility of continuing the relationship.
That does not guarantee a future sale.
But it gives useful content, trust, and email follow-up time to work.
My own list was only eight people when I had already earned almost $200 in commissions.
Again, that is my personal result, not a promise of what anyone else will earn.
But it was enough to convince me that I want to keep building the list instead of relying entirely on one-time affiliate clicks.
If you are currently sending people straight to affiliate offers and then losing them after the click, I would change that part of the model first.
This Is a Marathon
There is always a temptation to want everything to move faster.
More traffic.
More subscribers.
More commissions.
But today my list moved from 10 to 11.
Tomorrow the progress might be a better article, a useful conversation, a stronger Pinterest pin, or something I learn during coaching.
All of those pieces matter.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
Eleven subscribers is only the beginning.
But I would rather build relationships with 11 real people than chase a much larger number that means very little.
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. My results are personal, and individual results vary.
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