If you have only just heard about affiliate marketing and think that you would like to get involved, then we’re here to give you a quick breakdown of the pros and cons of becoming an affiliate marketer, to ensure that you make the right decision.
Quite often affiliate marketing is described as an easy way to make good money quickly. This statement is both true and false and for someone thinking about getting involved, expecting money to come flooding in on day one of your first campaign would be naive at best. Affiliate marketing can enable you to make healthy profits but, it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Affiliate marketing takes time and effort and, if you are afraid of taking risks or often find that your level of dedication to a task quickly runs out, then affiliate marketing may not be the right path for you. With that being said, however, there are some tactics which you can utilise to work affiliate marketing into your everyday life. For information on these, check out our article on The Everyday Affiliate.
If you are about to start thinking more seriously about starting up a career in affiliate marketing then here are the main pros and cons to consider before taking the leap.
Pros
It’s easy to get started The first step of affiliate marketing is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is find an affiliate program that interests you or that you would like to use as your niche. The more you know about what you are marketing the better, so try to stay within range of your interests. Remember, that your belief in a product will enable you to better sell it when the time comes. Once you’ve found the right program you can sign up and use their services to track promotions.
No marketing knowledge necessary If you don’t have a marketing background, no problem. The vast majority of programs will provide you with everything you need to handle all of the running of your business.
Larger target audience By signing up to an affiliate program, you will also be signing up to their audience, meaning your campaigns will be much more widely presented than if you start out alone.
Worldwide Marketing You are not limited to a local target audience. Affiliate marketing enables you to sell goods anywhere in the world.
Quick to scale If you find something which works, you don’t need to hire extra employees to earn more money; you can simply scale up your current work.
Low cost Most affiliate programs work earn money off of the back of your success, and this is a win win scenario. The more money you make for them the more they will try to help you make even more. Similarly, if you’re just starting out and not making massive profits, the amount charged will be minimal. There are usually no sign up fees for joining an affiliate program, so they come with very little risk.
Make a good living As you become more comfortable and confident in affiliate marketing, you will start to see that you can make a really good living off it. It is also possible to build up your skills so that you can do it part time.
Cons
Not every con will be a con in affiliate marketing. Most of the downsides are subjective, but it’s worth being aware of the problems most people have within the industry.
You don’t have total control Due to each program’s offers and services, you don’t usually get to choose the offers available. Therefore, some programs can be limiting. However, limiting means specialisation, and it’s often far better to become an expert in your area rather than a jack of all trades and master of none.
Going Unnoticed There are a lot of affiliates in the world and every day the market gets more and more competitive. Therefore, every click costs more, every lead costs more and standing out in the crowd can be difficult. One way to ensure than you don’t go unnoticed and are able to take on the competitions is to reach out to your affiliate manager. For information on how to do this, check out our article on Making the Most Out of Your Affiliate Manager.
Payment on sale You only get paid for the sales which are made, so even though you may drive a lot of traffic to a merchant’s site, if you aren’t making the conversions then you’re not making any money.
Risk of not getting paid It’s always better to work with a stable and reliable network like ConvertingTeam. Even if an advertiser doesn’t pay us, we always pay our affiliates.
Delayed Payments It can take a while to see a return on your investment and this can be a problem if you want to turn campaigns around quickly.
If you’re not afraid of taking a risk and jumping feet first into the world of affiliate marketing then why not join one of the fastest growing affiliate networks in the world? ConvertingTeam have over 8 years of experience in affiliate marketing and we always aim to provide you with the best offers available, as well as informative articles and newsletters here on EPCMatters.