The Pros And Cons Of Affiliate Marketing – You Need To Know
Understanding The Pros And Cons of Affiliate Marketing is necessary in order to make a proper decision.
“Should I get involved in affiliate marketing?” many people wonder.
And with good reason.
However, making money from affiliate marketing is not as easy as many people or online”gurus” make it out to be.
Although affiliate programs can earn you a bit of extra money, there are some cold, hard facts you need to understand regarding affiliate marketing.
There are tens of thousands of affiliate marketers who earn a full-time income from home because they use a platform that has helped them to build a successful online business.
However, contrary to what many are misled to think, the process of actually seeing some earnings does not have a simple how-to guide as some may lead you to believe.
Success with affiliate marketing often comes with consistency.
By using a system that is currently trending and by making sure that you are performing these methods accurately, you can begin to see regular earnings.
The system I use and is in use by hundreds of other successful affiliate marketers is Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate Quick Facts
- Name: Wealthy Affiliate
- Owners: Kyle Loudon & Carson Lim
- Website URL: www.wealthyaffiliate.com
- Training: Outstanding training for individuals with no online marketing experience
- Support: Excellent support
- Website Builder: 4.9 out of 5.0
- WordPress Hosting: Great WordPress hosting
- Price: The price is very affordable: Starter Member (free), Premium Membership ($49 a month or $359 per year)
- My Rating of Wealthy Affiliate: 4.8 out of 5 Stars
Similarly, there are other platforms that will teach you how to make money online as well, but the one I was comfortable with was Wealthy Affiliate.
That’s my opinion. You may feel differently.
What I want to discuss next are some hard realities regarding affiliate marketing.
The Pros And Cons Of Affiliate Marketing: The Hard Reality
The reason why I wanted to write a blog post about the pros and cons of affiliate marketing is that there are huge misconceptions about it.
Affiliate marketing isn’t a system where you can start making money from home quickly or easily in the beginning.
There are thousands of online scam artists and dishonest individuals who will have you believe that affiliate marketing is a quick fix.
There are many so-called “online gurus” that say you could be pulling in a six-figure income in a matter of a few months.
Some “gurus” say you can “get rich quick” by following their system.
Unfortunately, this does not happen the way many portray it on the internet.
The idea of creating an affiliate site and watching it print money “quickly” or “easily” is just not a reality.
It just isn’t true.
Affiliate marketing works like any other business.
The reality is there are a number of people who have been extremely successful at online marketing and are able to pull in six and seven figures.
Likewise, there are many other affiliate marketers that are able to earn a reasonable five-figure income.
Finally, there are a lot of wannabe affiliate marketers that have made very little or never made anything, got discouraged, and quit.
The problem with most people who try to make money online and fail at it comes down to these three factors:
- They fail to treat online marketing as a REAL business
- They underestimate the amount of time required to start generating revenue
- The platform they’re using is not teaching the proper way to build an online business.
Here Are The Pros And Cons Of Affiliate Marketing
If you have a desire to get into affiliate marketing so you can make money online, it can be a viable income option.
However, it ultimately comes down to whether or not you can make affiliate marketing systems work for you.
Most importantly, are you willing to do the hard work that’s required to make your online business successful?
Here are the pros and cons of affiliate marketing as a business:
The advantages or “pros”:
- Affiliate marketing has always been a proven home business option.
- It has a super low cost to get started in many affiliate programs are completely free to join. This means you can create a business for almost no cost.
- You can work from home to add an income stream and do away with your commute.
- There are many streams of income in affiliate marketing from blogging/promoting, to coaching other people with your skills, offering information e-books and helping people create websites/content.
- Some affiliate marketing strategies include passive income where your viral content will help you with consistent earnings.
- You can work anywhere and at any time as long as you have access to the Internet.
- There is no need to stock or ship products or handle customer service. You are just going to be marketing products.
The disadvantages or “cons”:
- It can be challenging to put yourself in a routine of working from home. You need set hours, especially at the beginning of your business.
- It often takes weeks or even months to generate the traffic that you need to start earning an income.
- Choosing the wrong affiliate can ruin your credibility as a business and potentially put you at a deficit.
- Competition is high and affiliate hijacking is common with some affiliate strategies. Your content could be making someone else money.
- Zero control over the brands that you promote. You could end up promoting a business or product that falls strongly in public opinion due to a controversy. This could damage your income.
- There is risk and reward that comes with taking on any new affiliate.
- Some new affiliates may give you great commissions but take a long time to pay because they are in the early stages of their program. More established affiliates have higher competition but pay quickly.
- Tracking analytics can be a struggle if the customer sales page belongs to the merchant.
- If you are using a “done-for-you” system, it’s difficult to know which sales you are making on the product and what you can be re-marketing for sale.
How to Generate Success in Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing may seem like a very attractive business opportunity because it doesn’t require too much money to actually get started.
You don’t have to worry about product inventory or extensive customer service.
In the case of digital downloads, product delivery is easy and instantaneous.
The overall concept of affiliate marketing isn’t hard, the problem is there are so many more people involved with it than ever before.
Let me make one thing clear for you:
MOST of the “make money online” products you see will ALWAYS paint a positive picture of affiliate marketing because they want you to buy their product.
They’re never going to tell you what I’ve just told you because they want you to buy their product!
The truth of the matter is affiliate marketing is HARD!
You ARE NOT going to make big money in a matter of months.
That’s just not how it works.
Back in the eighties and early nineties, it may have worked that way.
However, to make job-killing money as an affiliate marketer is VERY HARD.
Can it be done? Absolutely.
There are people who are making five, six, and seven-figure incomes from affiliate marketing on a consistent basis.
SO it really can be done.
But if you are in need of financial help NOW, or need an infusion of money in the next six months to 1 year, forget it!
If you don’t have a job, STOP reading this post and intensely focus on finding a job.
If you already have a full-time job, go find a part-time job to supplement your full-time job.
Affiliate marketing, AT BEST, is a long-term solution; it’s NOT a short-term fix for helping you pay your bills!
If You’re Still Reading This, Where Do You Go From Here?
I’m assuming if you are still reading this post, you are determined to give affiliate marketing a try.
If you’re going to give it a go, you need to have the right tools in place and work hard to establish yourself as an online presence.
It requires proper planning and an ongoing effort in creating new content for your websites or blogs to build an income.
Unlike other services, Wealthy Affiliate does not promise that you’ll make millions, and they don’t promise overnight results.
Instead, they offer real guidance and help you build your own affiliate marketing websites from scratch.
Please keep this in mind:
Wealthy Affiliate is simply a platform that is set up to help YOU learn how to make money online.
YOU have to do the work necessary.
If you’re going to get involved with negative viewpoints and unfounded suspicion, then don’t waste your time.
Additional Resources
- How Easy Is Online Marketing – Are You Being Lied To?
- How To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams And Not Lose Money
You CAN Be Successful with Wealthy Affiliate
If you are going to be starting an affiliate marketing business, you need to work at learning everything that you can that is involved with making your business a complete success.
If you do decide to start an affiliate marketing business you are going to need to continuously learn, build and grow.
Just remember, the process of affiliate marketing is not a quick or easy way to make money.
It requires hard work and perseverance not just at the beginning, but over a 1 to 3 year period. (YES – It can take that long to replace your income through affiliate marketing!)
You read correctly – it can take as little as 1 year up to 3 years, depending on your niche and how hard you are willing to work.
I find that Wealthy Affiliate meets all the needs stated in this article.
If you want to test out the platform before you make a commitment, you can sign up for a FREE trial, no credit card required.
Signing up for the free account will allow you to try out Wealthy Affiliate to see for yourself how it can benefit YOU.
Ultimately the success that you have depends on your ability to FOCUS on your goals and get the necessary work done that allows you to make a life-changing income.
At this point, I want to address a few criticisms about Wealthy Affiliate.
What About Criticism That Wealthy Affiliate Is Not A Good Program?
I wanted to take a few minutes here to address this.
From time to time I’ve read comments from individuals who say that Wealthy Affiliate is not honest when it comes to making money online.
They say that the only ones making money are the owners, Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim.
Another criticism is that in following Wealthy Affiliate, it takes too long before you make money and the money you do make is insignificant.
I’m going to give you some hard facts you need to know:
Fact #1: Wealthy Affiliate Is Designed to Help People Become Affiliate Marketers .
That’s the sole purpose of the Wealthy Affiliate platform. Period.
How long it takes for you to make your first dollar completely depends upon you.
There are too many individual variables for the admins at Wealthy Affiliate to address.
Their business is to provide you a platform to learn. No more.
Fact #2: People Who Complain That It Takes Too Long Are Looking For Quick Bucks, Not A Long Term Business .
However, did you realize that most people who try affiliate marketing FAIL?
Do you know why?
Because they don’t have the patience to build a business and these same people need financial help NOW.
They want QUICK results because they need quick results.
They have some situations going on in their lives that require cash right now.
These are individuals who won’t take the time to properly build a long-term business.
Therefore, telling these people that it could take 2 to 3 years to build a profitable business is not what they want to hear.
So then they get on the internet and say that programs like Wealthy Affiliate are SCAMS and misleading.
They have NO patience and they want money NOW!
That’s just NOT how online marketing works!
Here is the TRUTH about online marketing:
- Online Marketing is HARD WORK
- Before You See A Profit, You Will Fail More Than You Succeed
- Many Times You May Want To Give Up
- Online Marketing is Very Time Consuming
- Finally…Finally…After 1 to 2 years (maybe sooner if you’re a grinder and a hustler) You Start To Make A Profit
- HOWEVER…The MONEY You Make Is Worth All Of The Hard Work You Had To Endure!
Most people or online “gurus” aren’t going to tell you what I just told you because they don’t want to scare you away.
Likewise, they want you to sign up for their program knowing full well you’re going to fall flat on your face.
98% of these so-called “gurus” know that the majority of people buying their products are going to flat-out FAIL.
Just read some of the Disclaimers on the sales pages and you’ll see that the expectations for those buying these products
Well, guess what I want to do:
Fact #3: I Want To Scare You Away!
I want to scare you away if you:
- Are a lazy bum
- Aren’t man enough or woman enough to deal with failure
- Are looking for a “magic bullet” that will propel you to instant profits
- Want “quick” or “fast” results
- Don’t want to make the necessary sacrifices
- Are always complaining and whining about not getting results fast enough
- Listen to negative, critical jackasses who are always telling you what can’t be done
There are more I could list here, but you get the point.
The time it takes for you to make money online depends on the niche, or area of interest, you choose.
The hard fact is it’s going to take between 6 months to 2 YEARS on average to start making decent money online!
How fast you see consistent profits really depends on the amount of time you can devote to your business on a daily basis.
Do some achieve their financial goals sooner: Yes a few do.
Notice I said A FEW.
This is a FACT.
Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is flat-out trying to pimp your wallet.
If You Still Want To Move Forward After Reading This Post, Here’s What You Can Do
With Wealthy Affiliate, not only will you learn everything you need to create a profitable online business, this business will generate income for you and your family for years to come.
Also, what I like about this platform is you won’t be hit with additional one-time offers because everything you need is included with your membership.
There are no annoying upsells that make you feel you won’t be successful if you don’t buy them. (I HATE that!)
All of the software and tools you need to build your business are included, so there’s no guessing or wondering if you have what you need to build a successful online business.
Furthermore, the best part about Wealthy Affiliate is you can open a free account, no credit card required, which will allow you to actually try out the platform with 0 obligations on your part!
In conclusion, if you understand that affiliate marketing is a process and NOT a short-term financial solution, then you can be successful.
If you understand that you will FAIL many times and make mistakes, and you are going to have to put in many hours writing content and building your business, then you can succeed.
Check out my detailed review of Wealthy Affiliate so you can see how ordinary people are making extraordinary incomes.
Wealthy Affiliate is the right platform…The rest is up to YOU…
You CAN Do This!
Talk Soon,
Howard
