Angela Naomi

Ever hear the term “high ticket affiliate marketing”? If you’re not sure what it means, let’s get into it.

In short, affiliate marketing is when the product owner gives a special link to affiliate marketers and when a customer buys through that link the marketer receives a commission. These commission can vary from 100% to 10% of the total cost of the product. Usually, when it’s 100% commission the product is a part of a sales funnel and the affiliate marketer is only receiving commission on the front end product (the first product in the funnel). I could go on and on about that, but I’m here to explain high ticket affiliate marketing.

High ticket means the product is worth a significant amount of money. The payout for high ticket products range anywhere from $500 commission to over $1,000 commission. Sounds too good to be true? It’s not. The products themselves are sold for thousands of dollars. It’s legitimate and many people do this. Think of it as high ticket business sales. If I’m selling yachts, my commission is not going to be $300/sale. If I’m selling 15 room mansions, my commission is not going to be $700/sale. That’s how high ticket affiliate marketing works.

Is it easy? I’ll be honest and say no. You’re not going to be able to jump into it without getting some training in affiliate marketing. If you can find a high ticket affiliate offer that comes with affiliate training then go for it! Follow the steps and branch out into other affiliate marketing training.

High ticket affiliate marketing is a good way to make money. You’ll be able to work as much or as little as you want. You’ll be able to work from anywhere. And if you really hit the ground running, you’ll learn how to automate your sales funnel and all of the work will be automated.

Whatever you choose to do, be it high ticket affiliate marketing or regular affiliate marketing, I wish you much success!

How many times have you searched, “easy way to make money online” or something similar? If you’re like me then you’ve searched it more times than you’d like to admit. There are several easy ways to make money online. I have tried a lot and I have lost a lot of money over the years. Thankfully, I’ve made money too. One thing I wish I had done earlier is learned the skills needed to make money online. You can join the #1 opportunity and still fail if you don’t know what you’re doing.

I know now that I need my own website. This site is hosted by Global Domains International (GDI) and I’m an affiliate too. I can earn extra money by selling websites and domains. Having your own website is important. Take a lesson from B. Scott a.k.a. Mama Muffin. He had an Instagram account with thousands of active followers. Someone filed a copyright complaint on ONE picture and Instagram shut down his account. They wouldn’t even accept his offer to delete the picture. If B. Scott was running his entire company on Instagram it would’ve been gone. Thankfully, he has his own website that generates income. If Instagram took down a nationally known blogger, you know they will take you down. Don’t play reindeer games, get your own website.

The next thing I need is an affiliate offer. Affiliate marketing is an easy way to make money online because you’re promoting someone else’s product. Sites like Warrior Plus and JVZoo are packed with affiliate offers. The risk is low because you’re not paying money into a company. Affiliate marketing is commission only. I like to promote products that are evergreen; meaning the content is relevant for a long period of time. I used to promote a product for Fiverr, but Fiverr has changed their setup and the training is no longer relevant.

I use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote affiliate offers, and my Shopify store WiFi and Pajamas. The skills needed to do this, I learned from various courses. There’s more to promoting offers online than posting a pic and a link. There is a method to the madness. You can find 1500 easy ways to make money online but if you don’t know how to promote those offers you won’t make any coins.

Sure, the bells and whistles of big-ticket commission products may entice you, but you need the skills. I speak from experience. I have joined a couple of companies over the years that had great payout, however, I made no money because I didn’t know what I was doing. And other times I wasn’t putting in the work needed to yield the results I wanted. I’m in a totally different mindset and position now. And that is why I want to help others learn how to make money online.

I don’t know everything so I will have bring in others. Stay tuned!

The power of saying, “NO” is a wonderful power to acquire. I’m going to be personal in this blog post and talk about myself. I went to college with the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship not because I truly wanted it, but because I didn’t know how to say NO. I could’ve gone to college for free because of my dad’s disabled veteran’s status. But all eyes were on me and I was too afraid to say, “I don’t want to be a teacher.” Teachers at my school and my mom’s school were excited for me and I felt that I would disappoint everyone if I didn’t take the scholarship. After all, this scholarship was awarded after an essay and an interview. I won it fair and square. 

I went to the University of NC at Greensboro as a dance education major. I had to audition to be able to declare dance as my major and was good enough to do that on the first try. I didn’t truly want to be a dance teacher. I wanted to major in Theater and become an actress. But whenever I brought this up I was met with a lot of negativity and I didn’t have the power to say, “NO”. I figured being a dance teacher would give me a chance to be involved in the arts and still have a “real” job. 

That was short lived. I injured my hip muscles at the end of my sophomore year. My choices were to take a medical leave and return as a dance major or drop my major and choose something else. Remember, I still had that Teaching Fellows scholarship. My parents advised based solely on their personal thoughts and disregarded what the school suggested. No medical leave for me. Injured and in physical and emotional pain I hobbled to the academic classes I had left. I never returned to the dance building. I remember the day I told the secretary to just give me F in all my dance class because I’m not coming back to retake any of them. She didn’t try to pressure me into changing my mind. Looking back, I can now see that she saw how broken I was and just let me be. 

My GPA was too low to keep my scholarship even though I switched to Sociology Education. I had devised a plan to earn that degree then teach for 4 years in whatever county would take me then quit. I looked at it no differently than serving 4 years in the military solely to get the education benefits. Suck it up and move on. I ended up dropping the Teaching Fellows Scholarship which meant paying back what I had used. My parents made comments about having to pay it back, but I truly didn’t care; I was at least free from having to be a teacher. I finished with my degree in Sociology and had no clue what to do after graduation. In my eyes, I had completed my indentured servitude and was free. I even had my degree shipped to my parents house because, “That’s your degree. I didn’t want that. I wanted Theater. Enjoy it.”

The years that followed college were full of job searching, low end jobs, and teaching dance. Ironic, I know. Did I enjoy teaching dance? Superficially, yes I enjoyed it. I liked seeing my students excel and win trophies. I loved seeing the how dance helped my students with motor skills, team building, time management, and other social skills. Deep inside, I was miserable because I would have rather been the one performing. But I took on more and more dance jobs because I needed money and didn’t have that power to say, “NO”!

Plenty of times I have wondered what my life would’ve been like if I had said no to the scholarship, used my dad’s VA benefits, and majored in Theater. I won’t lie and say there’s no sense dwelling on the past. There are times when reflection is imperative. It’s in that reflection that I realized my inability to say no lead me into a college experience that I’m indifferent about. I also realized that inability also had me doing a lot of work for free. I saw it as doing favors for others. Once more, looking back, I realize I did not benefit from these favors. I did things from the kindness of my heart with little to nothing given in return. 

Now, I have zero problems saying no to things I don’t want to do. I can’t pin point exactly when the power came to me. It was a series of events in my late 20’s and early 30’s that put this power to the test. I passed every single one. Even in my Navy career, I stand firm in the pathway I want to follow. I’ve had offers to switch pathways and I say, “No, that’s not going to put me any closer to my ultimate goals”. 

The power to say no comes from within. I can’t tell you how to find it. When you do find it you will know. The best way I can describe it is as a subtle rush of adrenaline. Your instincts wake up and tell every fiber of your being that you need to say, “NO”. I used my story of college as an over the top example of what can happen when you don’t harness this power. Let it bless you. Let it inspire you. Let it help you find the power within to say, “NO”! 

Survival jobs for actors are necessary. As Mo’Nique always says, “I love us for real”. Now that I let you know I love you, I want you to get a job. I speak from experience. I will not tell you anything I have not already been told by others and stuff I told myself. Over the years I have worked many jobs. At one point, I considered myself a professional job hunter because I couldn’t find work, but I wouldn’t stop looking. 

Heart broken, embarrassed, broke, tired, and depressed I found myself in and out of all sorts of jobs. I did this because I was told to, “get a real job” because acting is a hobby. I wasn’t encouraged to pursue acting. In fact, I wouldn’t tell my parents I was at an audition if they asked how my day went. I was anxious about what they would say when they found out I drove from Raleigh to Atlanta to audition for AMDA. Bottom line is that I have always known that I needed a real job until acting could sustain me. 

I took a hiatus from acting and only crept out to do a few shows at The Henegar Center. My hiatus was for more reason than financial. For the purpose of this blog, I’ll focus on the financial. I make no apologies for growing up in a financially stable home. Both my parents paid their dues for us to have what we had and still have. My mom has been teaching for 3 decades. My dad is a retired Army Ranger. Not familiar with the Rangers? Google them. Trust, dues have been paid. Living a life of poverty is not on my agenda. It’s one thing to be struggling and another to be stable then make conscious decisions that lead to you struggling.

My fellow actors again, I love us, but we need to get jobs. I understand that working traditional hours takes away from our time to audition and be on set. I get that. I understand that everyone is not going to join the military as I did. Heck, that’s not going to happen in the general public either. What I don’t understand is why more actors aren’t taking advantage of internet marketing, direct sales, and freelancing to bring in the extra cash. 

 

Some survival jobs you can do:

• Affiliate marketing
• Online tutoring (many of you didn’t go to college for acting, you went for something else so put that knowledge to use)
• Refurbish furniture and sell it 
• Clean houses
• Dog walk
• Pet sit
• House sit
• Babysit
• Tutoring in music or dance
• Open an Etsy shop
• Instacart
• Drive for Uber or Lyft
• Copywriting
• Errand running
• Customer service jobs
• A job in whatever your degree is in…stack your money then quit
• Military reserves. Hell yeah, I said it. Join the reserves and pocket your money.
• Lawncare
• Dropshipping
• Sell eBooks (Write your own or sell PLR)
• Create a course and sell it (Don’t get greedy and sell some dumbass course for $397. You’ll eventually be outed that your course ain’t worth $397 and the money will dry up.)
• Monetize a YouTube Channel (Click here to learn how)
• Go through your belongings and sell everything you no longer need, want, or can’t fit. Let it go!
• Resell things you find in thrift stores. You’d be surprised by what people toss out. Go to thrift stores near the rich side of town.

Balancing life and entrepreneurship is different for everyone. I admit that I struggle to find balance. Often I’m told that because I’m single with no kids that I shouldn’t have any problems balancing. Welp, here’s the thing, because it’s only me the tendency to be a workaholic is strong. I am an entrepreneur, a reservist in the Navy, an actress, and a dance and acting instructor. All of that is work. And many times I have found myself doing nothing outside of work. Where is the balance? At least someone with kids and/or spouse/relationship can put work to the side and do something with them.

I have felt guilty for taking vacations although when I think about it I’ve only had 1 vacation this year that wasn’t work or family related. I went to NYC in June of this year for a bit of leisure and to see Anika Noni Rose in Carmen Jones at Classic Stage Company. I even got to spend some time with her while there. Did I feel guilty? Yes, I did. Was I still doing work? Yes. I don’t regret going because I hadn’t seen 2 of my friends in over 5 years. Wondering the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn with my friends was relaxing. Actually, it was therapeutic. This was the moment I realized how I lack balance in my life.

After my trip to NYC, I had travel to NC, FL, and Bahrain. My plan was to do work while on these trips. LOL! My ancestors had a different plan. While in Bahrain, I was going to complete a training course, but the internet was not strong enough to stream the videos. However, it was strong enough to stream Netflix. How could I be mad? I binged on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Rick & Morty. The long flights to Bahrain and back to the USA were spent watching movies. Is this what leisure feels like? Yes, yes it does.

Incorporating leisure activities into my schedule has now become a priority. I’m teaching myself to find balance without guilt. As I find this balance, I also realize that volunteering is not leisure to me, it’s still work. So, I don’t count volunteer time as leisure. Finding balance between life and entrepreneurship is a conscious action. I’m still working on it. I schedule it into my day. This is new for me, I’ll keep you posted on the results.

**UPDATE**

I’m no longer in the Navy. I served my time and collected my DD-214. Work life balance is still off, but I’m making progress. Instead of looking for the big activities that bring me joy, I’m focusing on the small ones. I’ve decided to get back to playing the piano. And not just playing the few songs I know how to play. I’m going to dig out my old books and return to the basics. I’ll be putting my Oktav subscription to use. Playing the piano makes me happy even when I mess up. 

Voice acting is making a steady move forward. I needed to clear out some other things to truly make room for what it is that I want out of my career. 

Perhaps 2023 will be the year that I accomplish things that I’ve always wanted and the year that I learn how to balance work and life. 

Wanderlust is taking over many. I support it. I encourage it. See the world! Explore your home country! Knock yourselves out. Before I dig into why solo travel is not for me, let me explain my travel background. I’m an Army Brat. I grew up outside of the USA and in 4 different states. Due to my dad’s MOS we did not move as frequently as other Army families. However, we were still away from family and road trips were always on the schedule. College, I didn’t take trips other than the 2 mandatory Teaching Fellows’ trips and a visit to my family in Puerto Rico. I preferred to go home to Virginia to my Granny and Pop-Pop on Spring Break. The years following college, I had a few road trips to Charlotte and NY with my BFF, theater tour (cast total 4), cruise with 4 friends, and 1 road trip to NY with another friend. The rest of my travel has been alone and some of the travel happening in between what I listed was alone. My Navy career has lead me overseas twice. Traveling to Central Asia alone is long and extra long. You read that correctly.

 

Alrighty now that I have all that out of the way, listen, solo travel is not for me. Don’t get me wrong, group travel is not either. I don’t need 7 people with me. What bothers me about solo travel is the loneliness. There’s nothing exciting to me about exploring a foreign country alone. Heck, I don’t want to explore the USA alone. I know some people who adore solo travel, but when they talk about their previous travel, they did a lot of group trips. Or they’re the type of people who simply love to do things by themselves. Welp, I’m kinda tired of hanging out with myself. It’s been me, myself, and I for years and I’m getting on my own nerves.

 

I have seen travel bloggers that hype up solo travel. They market it as some spiritual epiphany having type venture. Listen, I meditate daily, I’m good on the epiphanies. They say you can find yourself. Listen, I’m not lost. I know where I am physically and mentally 24-7 365/66. I never lost my groove so I don’t need to go find it. Nobody dumped me so I don’t need a cut my hair and cry in the ocean type trip. Nobody fired me so I don’t need any eat, pray, love adventures. Mid-life crisis? Nah, not having that either. Tired and annoyed by years of group travel? Never experienced that. Yeah, solo travel, that shit is for the birds.

 

The long flights and drives don’t make solo travel any easier.  I’m not a huge fan of talking to strangers domestic or international travel. Navigating unknown territory alone is not fun for me. Sure, I feel accomplished when I get to use my gift of being a polyglot in training, but it’s a wee overwhelming. And nothing more nerve wracking than hearing an announcement in French or Arabic, translating what bit I can understand, and waiting anxiously for the English announcement. It would be nice to have a travel buddy sharing the anxiety with me.

 

I did get invited on another cruise with a group of military women I know. It’s a family and friends trip, but I can’t justify paying the price and there’s no casino on the ship and no special amenities that I can’t get on another cruiseline for a lower price. And I damn sure can’t justify inviting a friend who would have to pay airfare to get to Florida on top of the cost of the cruise. But I want to go on another cruise! See why I don’t do groups? LOL!  

 

As of right now the next trip I’m working on is Christmas 2019 with my best friend. Both of us have had our fill of family Christmases. I have NEVER missed a Christmas with my family, but other people in the family have missed Christmas. It’s my turn to say, “Merry Christmas” from a distance. I love to travel and perhaps in my former life I was a nomad of some sorts. I don’t know. All I know is that this world is massive and experiences, like food, are meant to be shared. I don’t foresee myself taking leisure trips alone. This is not an open casting call for a travel buddy cuz I am picky and remember what I said about strangers? Yeah, a lot of you reading this are strangers. You get in line for a group networking event, I’ll see you there. If we have mutual friends or have met before then we can chat about it.

 

What are you thoughts on solo travel?

Reasons to visit Atlanta. Hmmmm…. honestly I’ve not had many reasons to visit this city. I had heard tales of this city from my eldest god sister who had gone to Freaknik, but I had yet to go. My first trip was 1996. We were traveling from NC to AL to visit my dad; he was stationed at Ft. McClellan.  My sister and I were too young to help with driving so mom had to do it all. We passed through ATL and mom made sure we were awake. She slowed down enough to keep the speed limit while still giving us a glimpse of the setup for the 1996 Olympics. Then that Army Wife put the pedal to the metal and didn’t stop until Alabama. 

I didn’t see the city again until around 2008, I came face to face with the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. WHAT IN THE FRESH HELL? I was traveling from NC to FL to visit my parents. The family I was a nanny for had hooked me up with a buddy pass and luckily I was able to get into first class seating. I should write another blog post about my adventures in this airport. Something always happens. Anyhoo, ATL and I met again in 2011. I was auditioning for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). I had a great audition then went out to dinner with my HS friend. We ate at Frank Ski’s it was decent. Nothing to rave about. 

The airport and I met some more between 2011 and 2017. Thankfully, my most recent encounter, I was too tired from coming back from Bahrain to even realize if something was annoying. Even standing in the long line waiting for my bag to get checked and holding a lady’s 6 month old baby while her formula was inspected didn’t bother me. The baby smelled like lavender. Heck, I wasn’t even bothered by having to carry ALL my bags from the baggage claim to be checked again for the rest of my journey home.

Alrighty, November 2017, I was in Atlanta for The Fearless Reloaded Conference and stayed at the W Midtown. I was able to hang out with my same friend again. Shout out to my girl Tiffany! And yeah that’s about it. Say all this to say, Atlanta is just one of those cities that doesn’t call my name and I’m usually there for the airport and business. I’ve been telling myself that I would start making it a travel spot due to the Orlando airport and ATL airport being hubs; flights are cheap. Anyone who knows me knows that food is life. As long as I’m fed and had an enjoyable eating experience the entire trip can go to hell in a hand basket and I’m good. 

The gawds and gawdesses must have heard my silent prayers.  A retweet comes across my TL from a young lady who says she is going on a date with a married man and wanted restaurant recommendations. And she wanted intimate spots without all the hype and flare. This spoke to my soul as someone who likes to eat in peace. While others judged her for her dining reasons and company, I scurried down the rabbit hole of her mentions in search of recommendations. This is what I found:

 

• Rays on the River (Get a table in the back room. Go through the curtain down the stairs and face the river.)
• Henry’s
• Park Tavern
• The Canoe
• Eco
• STK
• Marcel
• Umi (opt for the private room to maintain privacy)
• Hal’s
• Aria
• Restaurant Eugene
• The Optimist
• Copeland’s 
• Watershed
• The Sun Dial (apparently it’s busy but the atmosphere keeps people focused on their business and not yours)
• Six Feet Under (Be not turned off by the name. It’s dim on the roof for an added layer of discretion)
• Cafe Intermezzo (Go after 10pm)
• Marcel (opt for the late menu)
• King + Duke (go to the patio)
• Dantanna’s (Dim lighting and cigar smoking if that’s your thing)
• Agave
• Urban Licks
• No. 246
• Eav Thai and Sushi
• City Winery
• Pashcal’s
• Negril’s Village
• Scales 925
• St Regis (The guy who tweeted this says he takes all his girls who have boyfriends there. He’s yet to be caught.)
• Manuel’s Tavern

Bon appetite y’all!

 

I wish I was the type person whose best ideas came to them at 2pm. Instead, I’m the type whose best ideas accost me at midnight and if I’m lucky 3am. These ideas aren’t the outlandish ones like, “If I build a slide in my house that drops me off in the kitchen, how can I get back upstairs without having to use the stairs?” Oh, how I wish those were the ideas. Nope, my ancestors decide to bless me with epiphanies and structured business ideas during the wee hours of the morning. Personally, I think it’s their way of testing my ability to jot down a few notes then go to bed versus my old habit of staying up until the project was completed. At times that meant I would stay up for over 24 hours straight.

 

I am not ashamed that I’m an entrepreneur, digital marketer, affiliate marketer, actress, writer, dancer, singer, teacher, and professional napper. I wanted one spot to showcase all of this and have been scratching my head trying to figure out the best way to do it. The answer was in my face the entire time. USE THIS DAMN WEBSITE!

 

That’s exactly what came to me. This site has been underused and I’ve been tussling with how to blend everything together. I want to share my story and keep readers up to date. A few years ago I made the decision to put my acting and modeling career on hold. There is a stereotype of actors always being broke and riding the struggle bus; the starving artist. I don’t want to be that and I don’t have to be that. I know how to make money online. I’ve been doing it on a small level for a few years. And now I’m getting out of my own way to share these experiences with all of you.

 

Yes, the site is under construction. Yes, I will still be posting and sharing content. Yes, I welcome you to share and comment on posts. Yes, I hope that one day a brilliant idea will come to me at a reasonable hour until then midnight epiphanies it shall be.

 

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