There are quite a few challenges that you’re going to face when you first start affiliate marketing.
There is a lot of misinformation on what works and what doesn’t.
It isn’t something that you can apply to the local college for and go take some classes on as it’s very multi-faceted and all online.
This means you’re pretty much left to your own devices, figuring it out as you go or learning from others who’ve had some success.
(Almost everything on this blog is about affiliate marketing if you’re ever wanting to learn more!)
So How Difficult Is It To Earn Money From Affiliate Marketing?
It can be very difficult to achieve enough to supplement a full-time income from affiliate marketing, as you’re going to need a significant amount of sales to generate enough revenue. A way to stand out from all of the other affiliates that are promoting the same products and a means to generate consistent traffic to your affiliate offers.
So what are you supposed to focus on and what will give you the best chances of making a significant amount of money from affiliate marketing?
Throughout this article, I’m going to cover the most difficult parts of being an affiliate marketer and how you can overcome those challenges.
Related Post: Is Affiliate Marketing A Pyramid Scheme?
How Difficult Is It To Earn Money From Affiliate Marketing?
There are 2 main challenges that will inhibit the ability to make money from affiliate marketing.
- Traffic – Getting enough traffic to your affiliate offers is by far the most crucial part of being a successful affiliate marketer. Not the product, or the program you join. If you don’t know how to find people that will buy that product consistently then you’ll never actually generate enough revenue to make a full-time income online.
- Competition – As every business model is competitive, affiliate marketing is extremely competitive, and you’re not only going to have to stand out from people who’re promoting the same products as you in very efficient ways, but also figure out how to differentiate yourself from the people who’re promoting those same products unethically.
Building Traffic
Building traffic is by far the most important part of every business really, without customers they won’t survive, and affiliate marketing isn’t any different.
And just because you’re not having to brand your own product doesn’t mean that you aren’t building a business.
Which is what makes affiliate marketing such a beautiful business model, because you can build a traffic source and a following around something that you truly love and find affiliate programs and products that align with that instead of building your entire business around a product.
There are various options when it comes to generating traffic to affiliate offers and products, from free forms to paid advertising and ones that you could see results from right away, all the way to one’s that wouldn’t even start peaking until around 35 weeks.
I would highly recommend starting with a traffic source that you personally spend a lot of time on. As it will be easier for you to learn (Digital Marketing has quite a big learning curve) and if it’s something you enjoy spending your time on, it will come naturally for you to create content on.
Check out this case study where 36 Affiliates Reveal How Long It Took For Them To Make Their First Sale!
The Competition
Affiliate programs very rarely have a wait time to join, let alone a screening process of who can promote products.
So as you could imagine, some networks are very saturated and competitive.
You’ll not only be competing with successful marketers but also with people who don’t have clue what they’re doing or are promoting things in unethical scammy ways.
Both are just as challenging to overcome, on one hand, you’re really going to have to provide value and stand out from the people who’re experienced marketers.
And on the other, you’re going to have to differentiate yourself from the people who might be promoting that same product by spamming their link wherever they can. (Which doesn’t work, by the way, I’ve tried. As most new affiliates tend to gravitate towards)
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?
If you’re looking for an online business that is going to have you rolling in cash quickly, then no.
But if you’re looking to build a long term sustainable income, based around something that you’re passionate about, then yes.
Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative if done correctly, but in my opinion, the opportunity to generate substantial revenue is just a by-product of being able to do what you love.
There are very few business models out there that give you the freedom to build something that revolves around your joys in life and will give you the option to make a living from it as well.
Affiliate marketing makes this possible because there are virtually products and programs throughout every industry that you could imagine.
If you enjoy fitness, you can create content based around your journey with fitness and promote affiliate products to people as they start to follow you and you build rapport with them.
Or wealth, relationships, cooking, agriculture, you name it.
Below is a list of dedicated networks that have products throughout every industry:
- Clickbank
- JvZoo
- WarriorPlus
- Share-A-Sale
- Amazon (Yes you can get paid to promote products on Amazon)
Related Post: Is Affiliate Marketing A Pyramid Scheme?
How Difficult Is It To Earn Money From Affiliate Marketing?
It isn’t something that is going to make you a ton of money overnight unless you’re experienced with running paid advertising.
However, it can be very lucrative over time and is a realistic way to create a passive income stream, as there are affiliate programs that offer recurring commissions. (Monthly Payouts)
If affiliate marketing is something that you’re interested in starting I would shift your focus away from the money aspect of it.
As it is nice and necessary to generate some type of revenue, it shouldn’t be the sole focus or reason for joining an affiliate program.
Being an affiliate has amazing perks that aren’t offered in other businesses, and that is the freedom of making money whilst creating content based around things you enjoy.
Check Out This Post: How To Make Money Writing About Things You Love!
How To Start Affiliate Marketing?
- Identify what platform that you want to create content on. Preferably one that you spend a lot of time on personally. A blog, Starting a Facebook Group, Youtube Channel, ETC.
- Create Content, a lot of it, provide as much value that you possibly can to everyone that sees your content without the hopes of monetization.
- Find products and affiliate programs that are relevant to your following and the content that you’ve already created. Find products that the people who’re following you will be interested in.
- Recommend those products, review those products, help your followers use/gain value from what you’re promoting to them.
- Make Money!
Related Post: Is Affiliate Marketing A Scam? Debunking The Myth.
Here is a list of my favorite affiliate programs that offer recurring commissions! Which means you’ll get monthly payouts for referrals!