Why the Small Things Matter

The "Birkin bag" is an exclusive, luxury product.

The price tags start at $12K-$50K, while the upper ranges will set you back by more than six figures.

And yet, the story of how this coveted accessory came about is really quite mundane.

In 1984, actress and singer Julie Birkin happened to be seated on a flight next to Jean-Louis Dumas - the chairman of French luxury design house Hermès.

Following the frustration of accidentally spilling the contents of her bag while grappling with an overhead locker, Birkin and Dumas spent the rest of the journey sketching some designs for alternative solutions.

There and then, the Birkin bag was born.

Think about that for a moment.

Hermès most sought-after product was conceived in a chance meeting by two perfect strangers etching on the back of an airsickness bag.

I mention this only because it shows how relatively minor or insignificant events can lead to great outcomes.

What if Dumas and Birkin were not seated next to each other on that plane?

What if she hadn't spilled the contents of her existing travel bag?

What if the flight had been delayed?

This past week, one affiliate commission I earned caught my attention because of how the customer arrived on the sales page.

If you are a seasoned subscriber, you'll know that I send you weekday articles, each of which covers an internet or affiliate marketing topic.

I try to keep these articles relatively light in terms of promotion so as to focus on the content.

I do, however, include a link in the footer to what is usually my biggest, current promotion. 

This week, one of you was kind enough to click on that link. Ten minutes later, I received notification of a purchase of the offer.

And this was not just for a little $10 eBook - rather, it was a mid-ticket commission of more than $500.

This got me thinking:

What if I didn't bother producing articles each day?

What if I wrote articles but didn't send them to my list?

What if I sent you articles but omitted the footer?

In any one of these scenarios my bank balance would presently be lighter by a few hundred dollars.

In marketing, big results can turn on small but persistent efforts.

You see, a sale from writing articles, or from a footer, comes in very rarely.

I could easily just give up because they "aren't working" to earn me money.

Far better to sink my teeth into the more juicy realm of web design and writing big, promotional emails than into churning out articles, right?

But had I taken this attitude, I would have lost hundreds of dollars - probably more, given that the precise offer entitles me to lifetime and two-tier commissions from further purchases.

The same will be true with all of your marketing efforts.

You might feel right now that anything you do yields no results.

You might feel that you are expending a lot of energy for very little reward.

You might feel that there's no point in remembering things like a "P.S." or signature at the bottom of your emails.

You might choose not to bother to respond to a lead who has emailed you with a question.

"Just click and buy, dammit!" 

But if you persevere with these little things - taking care to add value to your audience - then you will get results eventually.

And true enough, these little things may not form the backbone of those results in a strict monetary sense.

But they could lend you the encouragement you need to keep going.

Or - better still - they could one day mean the difference between tenth and top place on a leaderboard.

So don't forget to press on with the little things - your success at affiliate marketing may well depend on it!

*   *   *   *   *

Show me something else