First of all, what is affiliate marketing? I like to describe it in this simple way. It’s bringing a person and the thing they were looking for together. Here’s a more detailed and thorough explanation. Warning: you might fall asleep before you get to the end. It’s that boring.
Let’s do a quick example. Let’s say you type “baseball bats” into Google’s search bar. And then you click on one of the search results that pops up. If you then decide to click on a baseball bat on that page and make a purchase through it, the person running that site will likely get a small commission.
What’s So Good About Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is truly a win-win-win. The person searching wins because they get what they’re looking for. The company selling the product or service wins because they got a sale. And the affiliate marketer wins because they just got paid to help someone find something they were looking for.
4 Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer.
- You are helping others. You are providing them with information and details about something that they’re searching for. You’re helping them make an informed buying decision.
- You get to set your own hours. Being an affiliate marketer is running your own business. You work when YOU want to. I especially think this is a great business for moms. You can work around your kids’ schedules.
- You get to focus on things you like. In affiliate marketing, there’s generally quite a bit of writing involved because you’re providing education and content for people. But what’s great is that you choose what you want to focus on. Do you like bunnies? Great you can write all about bunnies and everything they need! Do you like fish tanks? Good! People need to know how to take care of them. There are endless opportunities for things to sell out there! (Read this article: There is Too Much Opportunity Online, Not Too Little.)
- You don’t have to do any of the hard stuff. You don’t worry about inventory, customer service or any of that stuff. Instead, you’re simply pointing people to other companies that take care of all that.
I personally love affiliate marketing because it gives me an opportunity to be creative and to talk (er, write) about the things that I love to talk about. I get to use my brain, be creative, help people and get paid too! It is truly the best of all worlds.
4 Downsides of Affiliate Marketing
Yes, there are a few downsides of affiliate marketing.
- There are shady people using shady tactics that make people not trust affiliate marketers. Listen, if you get into the affiliate marketing game, do not be a shady marketer. Be in it to really help others. You will benefit so much more in the long run.
- Setting your own hours can be tough. I absolutely love having the flexibility to work when I want to work. However, you have to be disciplined enough to actually sit down and work and not be distracted by everything going on around you. Consistency is the key to accomplishing anything in life, and being an affiliate marketer is no different. If you’re consistent, you will succeed.
- There is no guaranteed income. This can be tough, and I understand that. With a regular 9-5 job, you’re guaranteed to have a paycheck come at least a couple times a month. It’s something you can rely on. You’ve got to consistently (there’s that word again!) work at affiliate marketing to build up your income. And it could take quite a bit of time to get that going. However, what’s great is that it’s something you can do on the side of a regular job until you build it up. Another great thing is that unlike a regular job, your income isn’t limited. You’ll never be capped at a certain income level. It’s really up to you how much you want to make!
- There’s a lot to learn. You don’t just proclaim to be an affiliate marketer and then wham! Start rolling in the big bucks. No, no. There are a lot of steps to the process and a lot that you’ll need to learn. You’ll have to learn all new skills. Isn’t that fun though? I think so!
If you see websites out there with those fancy cars and houses saying how easy and fast it is to make millions of dollars with affiliate marketing, run away. Run far, far away. They want to take your money – and lots of it – and leave you high and dry. These are the dudes that make the rest of us look bad.
It takes time. It takes effort. It takes consistency. But it’s completely worth it because it’s a fulfilling and satisfying career.
Learn More about Affiliate Marketing
If affiliate marketing is something that interests you, I would love to help you get started in the right direction. I personally belong to a training site called Wealthy Affiliate that I recommend highly. Without this site, I wouldn’t know how to do a thing!
OK, I can hear the naysayers out there already. “She’s an affiliate marketer and she gets paid to recommend people to Wealthy Affiliate.” (See? This is what you might run into from time to time!) Let’s set the record straight on this.
Yes, I do make a commission when I refer someone to Wealthy Affiliate. That’s my job! 🙂 I only recommend things that I think will help someone. I can personally attest to Wealthy Affiliate being helpful, as they have helped me immensely. (By the way, you can join free – no credit card required – to check it out.) If it’s not for you, that’s 100% ok. I would never want you to do something you don’t like. That’s not going to benefit either of us.
Click Here to See My Wealthy Affiliate Review &
Peek Inside My Member Area
Can you learn everything you need to through YouTube videos and websites? Probably. But how long will that take? My guess it that you’ll give up before you even really get started. The other great thing about Wealthy Affiliate is that it’s an entire community of like-minded people. There is always support there when you need it. You can’t really get that from a YouTube video.
I don’t know. I really like affiliate marketing, and I think it’s a fantastic option for people. Getting (and keeping) a great job is not that easy anymore. You can create your own high-paying, flexible career just by writing about things that you love to write about. Seems pretty good to me!
What do you think? Do you think affiliate marketing has a lot of benefits? Does anything scare you about it? Leave me a comment below and let’s discuss.
Great article! I do see a lot of potential in affiliate marketing, hopefully more people can read your posts and find out about it! It can be a great asset for someone who sticks to it and works hard!
Thanks for supplying this great information!
Anna
Thanks, Anna! Affiliate marketing definitely has its drawback, as mentioned in the article. But I think the upsides outweigh the downsides, for sure! I really just want more people to know about it as a great career option.
I love how real you are with this. I hate when I’m bombarded with offers from the “get rich quick” guys that make online business seems like such a breeze. I’ve tried the watching YouTube thing and there is a ton of info out there. However, it’s nearly impossible to organize all the info from YouTube in a way that makes sense.
I recently joined Wealthy Affiliate and have really enjoyed that the info is organized in a step by step method and that there’s such a great community to help you out!
Hey TJ! I’m glad you’re enjoying Wealthy Affiliate. It’s a great training platform AND a fabulous community of people.
I think affiliate marketing is great! It was scary at first, and it does take time and effort. But it is totally worth it. I find that I can stay home, do what I love, and work at my leisure in the comfort of my home. We are providing information and services to people looking for them. I think that anyone can do it and be successful given they give it the effort and time….and have some patience as earning an income from it can take some time.
Yes, patience is definitely key! Anything worth achieving takes patience, persistence and training. But it’s always worth it in the end.