Affiliate marketing is the next big thing on the internet. But is it the best thing? Can you really make any money with it? The answer is yes and no. Yes, some people do make money with affiliate marketing but I would dare say that they had to put in a whole heck of a lot of hours and money before they started showing anything substantial. So no it’s not the best thing if you want a lot of money fairly quickly.
Affiliate marketing consists of signing up with the owner of a product to help sell this product for a commission. You don’t have to develop the product or create sales letter. After the sale is made it is up to the owner of the product to handle delivery and any refunds that may occur. It is your job to market it.
Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Okay, now for a dose of reality.
First of all, you have to be able to get your ad in front of a lot of targeted traffic. I do mean a lot. Let’s look at some numbers. This is just an estimate but only 2%-4% of the people that see your ad will actually click on your link. Of that 2%-4% only 1% will actually go on to buy the product you are advertising. It takes 7 or 8 exposures to your ad before people will click on it.
(Yikes! That doesn’t sound good, does it?)
Now let’s say that you don’t have a high traffic website to place your ad on. Most people who are starting out don’t. How do you get your ad in front a lot of people? The answer — pay to advertise in other people’s ezines. This will usually cost you on the average of $70 or around ₹4000. This can get expensive and you aren’t guaranteed sales with this method.
(Again… Ouch!)
You could start your own ezine but it takes a lot of time to get a large number of subscribers. I’m talking probably a couple of years.
If you want to put in large amounts of time you could start writing articles and submitting them to article sites with an affiliate link in your signature. But there are a few article sites that won’t let you post an affiliate link. So then you would need your own website to link to or you could link to a blog site. Building a website takes additional time and money. Starting a blog can be free but it does take time.
Now let’s say that you start making sales. Things are going along pretty well when BAM! Sales come to a screeching halt. Your merchant has closed down his program and taken off. He didn’t bother sharing this information with you. To top that off he owes you some commissions. You know you’ll never see that money.
(Still, like the idea of selling for *other* people?)
When you are doing affiliate marketing you are at the mercy of the merchant. You have to use his banner ads, his sales pages, and his graphics. You have no chance of making the product stand out from the rest. There is also a risk of your affiliate accounts being high jacked and someone else getting the commissions that you worked your butt off for.
So if you are willing to spend some money, put in a huge amount of time and risk what commissions you do get being stolen, try affiliate marketing.
Is there an alternative? Absolutely!
You could just develop your own products and sell them and keep 100% of the profits. It’s up to you.
Now, are you looking for affiliate marketing ideas? Join Digital Marketing Institute in Delhi
