So you want to do the Amazon Influencer Program, but you feel weird about it. You’ve never been the person in front of a camera. On work Zoom calls you kept the video off. You can see the opportunity clearly — you know there’s money in this — and there’s still some part of you that feels anxious, nervous, maybe a little embarrassed to tell people what you’d be doing. I want to talk to you specifically, because that feeling is the single most common thing standing between people and a real income.

In This Article

The Two Things Holding People Back

I’ve been talking to somebody recently whose life just changed, and they’re looking at this because of me. They know roughly what I make from content creation. They believe it’s real. And they still can’t jump in with both feet.

There are two separate things going on, and I have this conversation constantly, so I know it’s not just them.

  • The camera thing. They’ve always had regular, quote-unquote regular jobs. Never been on camera. On a work Zoom they wanted the video off. They like being behind the scenes doing the thing they normally do. Now they’re being asked to become comfortable, overnight, with something they have never been comfortable with.
  • The embarrassment thing. This one is way more common than people realize. Even if it works — especially if it takes off — how do you explain it to somebody without feeling stupid?

That’s all normal. I get it. I’ve been around this long enough that I don’t feel those things too often anymore. Sometimes I do. But not typically. It wasn’t always that way.

I Didn’t Know What to Say at a Wedding

I’ll be honest with you: on the outside, all of this sounds kind of stupid. I’m in it. I know it’s not. But I know how it sounds.

After I lost my job last year, I was basically only doing content creation — a little bit of Oink at that point, but mostly content. I went to a wedding, and somebody asked me what I did, and I didn’t know what to say. Part of that was that I genuinely wasn’t sure how to quantify what I was doing. But part of it was a slight bit of embarrassment, because I knew that to the average person it was going to sound like something that isn’t real, or like I was getting taken advantage of.

I’m telling you that so you know I’m not talking down at you from some place where I never felt it. I felt it at a wedding, with a drink in my hand, less than two years ago.

You’re Holding On to a Version of You That Isn’t Real

If you’re feeling either one of those things, here’s what I think is actually happening. You’re holding on so tight to some version of yourself — or some version of what you think your life is supposed to be — that you can’t pick up anything new.

And most of that stuff isn’t true in the end. The idea of who you think you are probably isn’t as accurate as you believe it is. There have been stretches of my life, especially when I was younger, where I was certain I knew who I was and what mattered. You look back and go: I didn’t really know that much. There’s a good chance that’s where you’re at right now.

You know some stuff about yourself, sure. But some of what you “know” is there because it makes you comfortable and it keeps you from stepping out of your comfort zone. It feels more like reality than it actually is, because it’s a protection mechanism. Safety. Comfort. That’s a fine thing for a nervous system to do. It’s a terrible thing to build a career decision on.

What People Actually Say When You Tell Them

You think if you tell somebody, they’re all going to laugh at you. They’re not. Maybe one of them might. Generally speaking, they’re not.

Here’s what I’ve actually learned across the Amazon Influencer Program, the affiliate program, blogging, and my YouTube channel. When I tell people about this, the resounding, predominant response is: “That’s actually pretty cool. I can’t believe that’s real.” People want to know more about it. They get curious. And the moment they find out you’re making some money at it, they get really intrigued.

I have that conversation constantly. “Man, I’d love to get into that.” That’s the dominant reaction — not the mockery you’re rehearsing in your head. But if you’ve never had those conversations, all you can imagine is the other person thinking you stupid idiot, you fell for an MLM. They just don’t.

These Programs Don’t Require You to Be Special

If you think this requires some special pizzazz, or the it factor, or a personality that lights up a room — it doesn’t.

The majority of people winning at these programs are not winning because they’re special. They’re all special because they’re humans, God bless them. But that’s not why they’re winning.

I know a lot of people doing the influencer program, blogging, YouTube channel stuff. I’m not sure a lot of them are what you’d call talented. I’m not sure a lot of them have the it factor. What they have is a consistency talent — and honestly, that’s worth far more than being able to walk into a room and land a dad joke.

Consistency Is the Real Talent

You should want consistency any day of the week, because you can reliably make money with consistency. You can’t always make money with pizzazz, or sparkle, or sex appeal. Those are lottery tickets. Consistency is a system.

And consistency is the one thing in this business that is fully within your control. It’s showing up on the days you don’t feel like it. It’s filming the boring product. It’s working the queue instead of waiting for inspiration.

That’s most of why I built Oink the way I did — around systems that keep you moving. The 5 Pillars, Storefront Cross Check, the Comparison Video Schedule, Unavailable Video Matching. None of that requires charisma. It just requires you to open it and do the next thing on the list. If your advantage is going to be consistency, you should be running a setup that makes consistency easy.

You don’t have to be special. That’s probably the most special thing about these programs. All you have to do is show up, have a desire to learn, and commit to it.

Stepping Out Into Something That Sounds Stupid

I’m in a strange spot in my life right now, and it’s entirely because of decisions I made four or five years ago — randomly stepping out into stuff that frankly seemed stupid and fake and scammy from the outside. I stepped out anyway. My life changed because of it. I feel very little embarrassment about any of it anymore. Back then it was certainly more present.

You never get to the spot where you look back and go, “man, I’m really glad I did that,” unless you step out sometimes and just say, let’s do it. That’s the whole mechanism. There’s no version where you think your way to the other side of it.

And there’s plenty of proof of concept out there. Bozos and ding-dongs like me made this work. I’ve said it a hundred times: if I can make it work, that should tell you something. I’m not special. I’m not sure I’m smart. I know I can’t do math. I’m just consistent, and I’m consistently learning and doing stuff all the time. If I can do it, you can do it.

Don’t Hold On So Tight

Don’t restrict what’s possible for you because of who you think you are, or who you think other people expect you to be. Those are two stories, and neither one of them is paying you.

Don’t hold on to yourself so tight that you can’t grab what’s coming for you.

If you’re ready to stop debating whether you’re the type of person who does this and just start doing it consistently, that’s exactly what Oink is built for. Head to oinkforinfluencers.com, get the system in place, and go film the first one.

I'm an Amazon Influencer since 2023 and blogger since 2021. My goal is to help you succeed in the Amazon Influencer Program.

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