Does affiliate marketing really work? Can you really make money with Affiliate Marketing? After all, affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry. A business model being leveraged by average people like myself.
The answer is Yes and No because it all depends on you.
Affiliate Marketing can be very lucrative if you’re successful, but it can also be very challenging when you’re a beginner with nothing under your belt.
During my first 12 days with Wealthy Affiliate, I earned a total commission of $0.00. In fact, my only referral was my own brother.
What I’ve learned is, if you want affiliate marketing to work, you must focus on delivering value to your audience. The money will soon follow.
Here’s my experience as a car salesperson. People don’t buy from you just because you tell them to. You have to build a relationship first and the same applies to affiliate marketing.
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Why should someone take your recommendation and make a purchase online? What kind of problems are you helping them solve?
As you begin to create helpful content, you’ll start to build a relationship with your audience. Some of these audiences will eventually become your loyal visitors.
If your priority is to make money, then you should save yourself some time and click the [X] button on the top right-hand corner of your browser.
Money should be at the very bottom of your list no matter what stage you’re at. The first thing you should have in mind is what kind of content you want to deliver to your viewers.
In this article, I want to provide you with a few short scenarios showcasing affiliate marketing the right way and the wrong way. Without further ado, let’s get started!
(Scenario 1)
Bob figures, there is so much free information on the internet. It makes no sense to pay $49.00 per month for Wealthy Affiliate.
Therefore, he decided to spend around $15 dollars per year for the website domain and $10 per month for web hosting.
From researching the internet, Bob was able to figure out how to set up his website and proceeded to apply for affiliate programs within his niche.
Many of Bob’s applications were denied because he lacked content and traffic. Eventually, he was approved by affiliate programs that didn’t require much.
However, because Bob didn’t learn things the right away. He ended up spamming his blog by placing flashy ads everywhere in hopes to generate a sale.
Legend says… he’s still trying to make his first dollar.
(Scenario 2)
Bob knew that he had lots to learn, so he decided to join Wealthy Affiliate as a free member. With the free membership, he was able to complete a few basic training courses as well as set up his very own website.
He was astonished by how quickly he could create 2 websites. In fact, it took around 30 seconds each with Wealthy Affiliate.
Thanks to the free limited certification courses on Wealthy Affiliate. Bob was able to understand the art of affiliate marketing and how to effectively work his way toward success.
Make-believe person started going over the site tutorial which led him to the certification courses. He was dazzled by the amount of content presented to him.
Choose An Interest → Build A Website → Attract Visitors → Earn Revenue
He took the time to post content that was relevant to his niche and answered every comment that was submitted to his blogs. Eventually, he started noticing an increase in website visitors and eventually landed himself his very first commission.
Now do keep in mind that your success is dependent on you, so there’s no set time for everyone.
Now Let’s Recap On The Scenarios
I know what you’re about to say! The scenarios presented are make-belief and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Well, it’s not so much of whether it’s a real scenario or not. What’s really important is the lesson behind the scenarios.
In Scenario 1, Bob made his own website and found his own web host. That is totally fine because you are not obligated to join Wealthy Affiliate or any other networks. The problem started when he didn’t care about his content and only thought about money.
Money is important, but why should someone buy from a random person like you? Let’s say you stumbled upon a website filled with flashy banner advertisements. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? I’m sure it’s not clicking one and making a purchase.
In Scenario 2, Bob understands his lack of knowledge is going to give him a hard time when it comes to affiliate marketing. So instead, he joined Wealthy Affiliate as a free member to better understand how everything works.
He took the time and focused on the content first. He realized without consistent visitors, he wouldn’t make consistent income.
How does content make an impact on your overall revenue in the future?
- Captivating content promotes return viewers and subscribers.
- Good content promotes sharing on Social media which brings you more visitors.
- Good content will open the doors to future opportunities such as Adsense from Google.
- Good content will get you Search Engine Indexed for more organic traffic.
So How Long Does It Take To Make Money?
This is probably one of my #1 frequently asked question! But I hate to break it to you. There is no actual answer to that question because it all depends.
- How much time are you going to dedicate yourself to your website?
- How much effort are you going to put towards your blog?
- Are you going to try to help solve other people’s problems?
- Are you here to educate and teach people about the niche you are promoting?
Let’s look at an example:
Facebook: Facebook was founded in 2002 by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.
During this time, social media MySpace was still fairly popular, so how did Facebook take over?
The answer is dedication and persistence. Their billion-dollar empire didn’t just happen overnight! They went through countless hours of programming and fixing issues within their system. What made them successful was the fact that they never gave up.
Competition When It Comes To Affiliate Marketing
There is a lot of competition in affiliate marketing, but not everyone is successful. Why? Take a look on google and search for anything! Chances are, you will be directed to relevant pages that can go up to hundreds and thousands. Let’s say you get your website indexed and you’re on page 152.
What is the likelihood that someone will see and click your website?
Almost none, because you wouldn’t click-through hundreds of pages to find what you’re looking for. You should be able to find what you need within the first 5 pages.
That is when Wealthy Affiliate can become a very useful resource. They have certification courses that will teach you how to increase your ranking on search engines as well as increasing overall traffic.
You need to think outside the box and not be part of the majority. The majority of affiliate marketers are doing the exact same thing. What can you do that is different?
Are you willing to dedicate hours and hours to your work? Are you willing to create unique and helpful content that will really help someone?
Do you have a mentor to help you? This is very important because the well-established affiliate marketer already has the experience and knowledge, but what do you have being a total beginner?
Hiring a mentor can be very expensive, that’s why I recommend joining a network to get your feet wet before you pursue this career. Any help is better than going out blind and just finding tutorials on YouTube.
Back to Question 1: “Can you really make money with Affiliate Marketing?”
If you really put the time and effort and not give up. You will make money in the future. It might not happen right away, but at least you have a chance.
- Do you want financial freedom?
- Do you want to be your own boss?
- Do you want to fire your current boss?
- Do you want to spend more time with your family?
- Do you want to work at home?
If any of the above questions apply to you. My word of advice is to give it a try and don’t give up!
Now let’s say you want to be like the make-believe person in scenario 1. You shouldn’t even waste your time. You should click the [X] button on the top right-hand corner of your browser because you will not make any money.
Now that you’ve heard what I have to say! You don’t have to join Wealthy Affiliates if you don’t want to. You can make and host your own websites, but make sure you put your viewers first and focus on the contents that you write.
Talk to your viewers as if you’re talking to a friend! Be informative, be helpful, be creative, and most importantly have fun while doing so.
If you want to check out Wealthy Affiliate though, please click the banner below ↓
Thank you all for taking the time to read this super boring blog and I wish you all success in your current and future endeavors.
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