Affiliate marketing is massive. Really massive.
However big you think it is right now, double it. Quadruple it even, and you’re still nowhere close.
More than 40% of Amazon’s revenue comes from affiliate marketing – and 40% of all online purchases are made on Amazon.
And then we haven’t considered all the marketplaces devoted exclusively to affiliate marketing.
Even e-learning is a multi-billion dollar industry. Practically all online courses and digital products have affiliate programs.
So the amount of money is just mind-blowing.
And it’s easy to see why affiliate marketing is so attractive, especially to newbies.
It’s a great way to bring additional revenue into your business, if done correctly.
I teach affiliate marketing to most of my students, so they can learn the ropes. They learn valuable skills that can be applied later on, when they start creating their own assets.
In my opinion, affiliate marketing is just the first step on a long journey.
The ultimate goal is to create a high traffic authority site, that has multiple revenue streams.
The Danger of Affiliate Marketing
There’s a flip side to affiliate marketing.
Sure, you don’t have to create your own products, you don’t have to write brand new sales copy, you don’t have customer support issues to deal with.
In most cases, you’re not building an asset.
If you’re doing things the smart way, you’re building an email list, at least.
But here’s the trap a lot of people fall into.
They invest too much time and energy into promoting other people’s products, instead of building their own sales system.
And then, even when the small percentage manage to create their own products, they believe they are dependant on other affiliates to promote it for them.
This creates a cycle of non-stop promotion, regardless if you believe in the product or not.
This landed in my inbox the other day:
Mick, I think I’m trapped. For the last year I have been making my own products. Affiliate marketers promote them for me, and I promote theirs in return. Most of the products I’m expected to promote are junk. But I’m worried if I stop promoting their products then they won’t promote mine.
A lot of people end up in a situation like this.
It’s the main reason why I avoided going ‘all in’ to the affiliate marketing business model.
What’s the Solution?
Ultimately, it’s your business and you should decide what’s acceptable for you, and what’s not.
If you don’t want to promote a product because you don’t believe in it, then don’t. Your reputation is worth more than a few thousand dollars in commission.
Why do we build online businesses in the first place? For the freedom it gives us, right?
So there’s no point in just switching the kind of chains you wear.
You might take a hit later on, but if your EPC is good enough and the numbers work for them, no sensible affiliate is going to let their emotions cloud their decision.
In either case, you should be looking at the bigger picture; multiple revenue streams.
To become truly successful, we need to diversify almost everything in our businesses. Income sources are no different.
Affiliate marketing should not be your only source of income.
There’s no shortage of revenue models, so there’s no reason to become trapped, longterm.
For me, I intentionally use service that restrict the amount of affiliate commission I can make, or refer. This forces me to find other ways to monetize my websites, which ultimately makes my business stronger.
When it comes to monetization we’re spoilt for choice; coaching, providing services, advertising, product creation and probably a bunch more that I forgot.
So, now there’s no excuse for you to feel trapped in any single business model.