How to Become an Affiliate Marketer - My Story

For 26 years I worked as an account executive for the publisher of a local magazine. It was a fun business and it was very rewarding personally and financially. Then my life truly changed, on April 3, 2006 I suffered a heart attack.

This is where my story begins....
It was one the first warm days of spring in Minnesota where I live. By Minnesota standards that translates to around 50 degrees.....Or in other words time to put the snow blower away and get the lawnmower ready. It was a typical day and by noon I knew my day was going to be a short, at least I thought so.

All of the sudden I felt this pain in the center of my chest. It felt like an elephant was stepping on me, it was a feeling that I will never forget. I was almost certain I was having a heart attack, when I realized both my arms were numb, that removed any doubt.

I had recently been reading about heart disease, I quickly pulled over onto the shoulder and shoved my van into park. I needed to get my head on straight and thought for a moment, then put it in drive. I was just a few minutes the Emergency Room at the local hospital. Yes I drove, was it stupid, I would say no. I didn't want to be that guy who dies on some road and every year people place flowers at the roadside in his memory.

Once inside, things seemed to move fast, before I knew it I had wires attached everywhere. It was just like on TV with the guy laying on a gurney and all these people rushing to get him into another room. I remember staring up and seeing the ceiling seem like lights flashing and hearing several voices as we rushed through doorways and hallways.

Somewhere in the process I lost all sense of time and found myself on my back having an angiogram. I can still remember exactly what the Cardiologist said "son you have too many blockages to do stents, we will schedule for bypass surgery ASAP" This guy was my age and calling me son!

The next thing I remember was lying in a bed in a room full of medical equipment that was hooked up to me. I was told that I was scheduled for surgery in 2 days, but the following morning, very early I was awakened and told that someone passed away overnight and I was taking his spot in surgery, I felt lucky! NOT! Wow, I was scared but really felt inside that I was going to make it through. It seemed very cold on my way to surgery and also inside the operating room. I do remember the first two or three minutes of preparation, there was a lot of activity with the staff.

The next thing I remember was waking up in an intensive care room, with hoses and wires everywhere, including a large tube down my throat. That tube was very uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable for what I think was about two days. I remember having my fingers poked what seemed like every 30 minutes by a nurse. It really was not that often, but it was frequent and as I found out later, it was because I was now a type II diabetic, which throws another complication into the matter.

It turned out that I had six coronary artery bypass grafts, AKA cabbage surgery, or "I joined the zipper club" Two milestones worth mentioning, first was getting that big tube taken out of my throat and second was the removal of the big drainage tubes in my stomach. I was up and about in about 3 days, as you can imagine my body was in shock. Some physical therapy and short walks and soon I would go home. There were many visits from staff members educating me on what my diet should be and about exercising.

It was now seven days later and I was given a large red heart-shaped pillow with a heart and arteries printed on it. Why a pillow you may be asking yourself, well it is used for grasping and holding firmly against your chest as you roll, sit up and try to get out of bed. Normally a simple task, but I came to find out a few days later at home that it was impossible to do on several occasions without help.

After my hospital stay I spent a week at home recuperating and trying to adjust to a new lifestyle. The following week I went back to work expecting to continue where I had left off. Was I in for a surprise, when I arrived I was met at the door by the owner. He shook my hand and gave me a hug and informed me that he was going out of business that day. No severance pay, no thank you, no gold watch for 28 years of building his business, nothing! I was devastated; this was a job I had worked for more almost half of my life!

I spent the next several months thinking about what I would do for income. Now at the age of 50, I started to apply for jobs that seemed of interest to me, only to find out that age discrimination is a reality. I soon became very depressed with a feeling of being worthless and not being able to provide for my family. I was really starting to doubt myself and REALLY did not want to work for anyone again.

To start paying the bills, I soon took an entry-level job which paid $9.00 per hour. This was about 20% of my previous income and was just not enough. Being back to work felt good, but seeing my first payroll check just about put me in shock. I knew this was not enough to keep my "head above water", there had to be more...a better way!

I began searching for a way to create income that would not require me to work for someone else. I failed, even after all the money I invested in information, reports and software, I still had nothing to show for as far as income.

There was no giving up, I continually searched for a program, I needed education starting with the basics, not an Internet Marketing 101, but rather, Internet Marketing 001. I was a total NEWBIE! Then on