What is Affiliate Marketing

There are definitely some great pros and cons when it comes to the affiliate marketing business game. In my experience online affiliate marketing has been my favorite due to the versatility and independence. It allows you to chose from tons of products in various niches.

Affiliate marketing is basically earning commissions for selling other people’s products. You pick a company and a product, promote it, and make a commission. Commissions range anywhere from 10% up to 75% depending on the company.

80% percent of businesses offer affiliate marketing. Some of our favorite companies such as Amazon, Apple, Target and many more have affiliate programs. So why not benefit from great products and great companies.

The Assets of Affiliate Marketing

So you could say there are some assets to affiliate marketing once you understand how this beast works.

Learn 10 awesome facts about affiliate marketing you didn’t know

1. You can be an independent entrepreneur. Affiliate marketing allows you to create a platform for yourself and sell other people’s products generating an income from commissions. Instead of going through the lengthy hassle of creating products for your business, you can research companies and products that best fit your customer or clientele.

2. It doesn’t take a lot of start up money. This business takes a couple of necessary tools to get going which are the basics to having any business online. It’s definitely much lower than starting a brick and mortar business that comes with permits, licenses, rent and so much more to get going.

3. There are plenty of products in various niches. With 80% of businesses offering affiliate marketing it is pretty easy to find a company and/or a product that best suits your customer’s needs. Fitness products for a fitness brand, beauty products for a beauty brand and so on the list goes on. Google your niche plus affiliate or affiliate program and get ideas of what products you can use to get started.

4. Compound your income with MSI (Multiple Streams of Income). This is one of my favorites. Affiliate marketing creates opportunities to have multiple streams of income by having numerous affiliate products that coincide with each other. For example, if your a beauty entrepreneur with a blog and YouTube channel even a Instagram, you can promote multiple products of your blog such as a mascara and a lip gloss and on your YouTube channel do the same thing. This how your automation starts. Just think how many customers will read or view your videos creating real estate online and also income streams from every post, video and social media platform.

The Drawbacks of Affiliate Marketing

Now with everything there is a contrast. So with all the assets of affiliate marketing there are disadvantages that would stop some from taking advantage of this style of business.

1. You have to be willing to learn something new. They say there is a learning curve so depending on how teachable and trainable you are will determine how successful you are in getting results. Learning things like getting a domain and setting up hosting, or even creating a  YouTube channel and copying links could bother someones patience if they’re not ready to get out of their usual box and start something completely different. Finding a great Affiliate marketing program and mentor to get started will cut through all the frustration and confusion. YouTube and Google can be both be bottomless pits.

2. It doesn’t work unless you work. This is a performance based business which could be a good and bad thing. If your a go hard personality and you want something that is yours and you’re willing to do the work then it’s a benefit. However if you’re thinking it’s a push button business and you’ll leave it without doing the work and it’s going to work for you… Wrong! The most important thing is creating a platform so that you can become an independent entrepreneur and eventually automate your affiliate system which will allow it to generate income for you when you are sleeping but until the blood sweat and tears of building it, it’s not happening.

3. It’s Marketing. It is about putting yourself or your product in front of customers and clients that need it, so it can be intimidating. There are many styles of marketing as you can see with social media grabbing someones attention from all the advertisement noise can be difficult. People and brands are willing to do all sorts of things to scream about their product or service. Once again learning and working are the two things that make this affiliate beast run.

Learn how to create your own affiliate marketing system

Are You Ready

Well I hope this gave you good insight about affiliate marketing. It is a gem and still a baby in the online world. This is something we should be teaching our kids in this generation because it’s easy enough to show them how to set up their YouTube channel and use affiliate products to monetize it. Wink, Wink.

If you’re interested and want to learn more check out The Four Percent’s Live Webinar sessions to find inspiration, resources and tips on building your own affiliate empire.

Ciao for now.