Many freelancers take advantage of affiliate marketing as a way to increase their income. When considering affiliate programs, it is generally best to go with the ones you know and trust. Regardless of where you go on the Internet today, you will find somebody who is promoting one affiliate or another. As you may be aware, I’m not a particular fan of the typical “affiliate marketing plan”. In fact, for the most part I avoid them.
There are a couple of exceptions. I have had Google ad sense program’s running and not just my blog, but also in Hub Pages and Squiddo pages. I can tell you that Google ad sense works. Unlike some affiliate programs, they do not promise you $1000 a week, a month or even a year. My entire first year using this program netted a grand total of $108.
This isn’t to say that Google ad sense doesn’t work. What it tells me, is that I failed to properly market and utilize the tools that are provided free of charge. That’s my shortfall not Googles. This seems to be the one area that people do not understand about affiliate marketing.
Passive Income
One of the things I quickly discovered was that this “passive” source of income was like every other passive source of income. It flat out is not passive. The pure definition of passive is when you sit back and do nothing and things happen. I’m not a particular believer in the theory that doing nothing is going to earn me money. In fact, I’m convinced that doing nothing gets you nothing.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to sit back and wait for money to come to you, let me know how that works out for you. One of the bigger issues that I have with affiliate marketing, for the most part, is the “boilerplate” approach. All too often, these affiliate programs provide you with a “canned” website template, a series of “one-size-fits-all” approaches, and pretty much assure you that once you get the ball rolling, money will just come in. I have serious doubts about these types of programs.
Easy Ebay Affiliate Stores Video Training
I’m not saying that some of these programs don’t work for somebody. But in my opinion, the only person making money off it is the person you are paying for the program. Your success as an affiliate marketer depends on building up an extensive list and hoping that a fair number of them subscribe to the same program you are subscribing to. As far as I’m concerned, this is nothing more than multilevel marketing on the Internet.
Unless there was an actual product, that is being purchased by a consumer, nobody makes any money. This is where I see that programs like ad sense and Amazon make sense. With ad sense, advertisers are paying Google, your posting their ads to your blog, website etc.and when people visit your site are seeing the ad. With Amazon, in order for you to make money somebody physically purchases a product. This makes sense to me.
Summary
I am not going to suggest to you that every affiliate program is bad that would be foolishness on my part. All I would suggest to you is that before you get involved in one make sure there’s something real involved in it. If you are goal is to make money, find a niche, create a website or blog, and go for it. Don’t depend on others “expertise” to make money for you. Chances are, this will lead to nowhere.
Make no mistake about it, marketing is hard work. Even after you’ve set up a website or a blog, you still have to market it to make ad sense and Amazon work for you. This means producing good content, realistic expectations, and having a plan to market. Gone are the days when if you build it they will come.
About Doreen Martel
Well-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid to write sites and revenue sharing sites. Doreen is legally blind and has worked at home for more than 10 years. She uses the lessons learned from this experience to enhance her writing and share information with others.
Contently Portfolio
I’ve been earning my living online since 2003. I remember the first site I made, and when I made my first dollar. lol I was thrilled!!! I’ve recently found a new way to get tons of visitors to my site for almost free. I use these cheap visitors to sell affiliate goods to and am banking really well with it.
Appreciate you sharing, great blog.Thanks Again. Will read on…
Very informative article… Looking forward for more articles on your blog
Very good blog and info…..keep up the great work..
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by doreenmartel: New Blog Post: Safe Affiliate Marketing http://freelancingandmore.com/2010/02/11/affiliate-marketing-myths/…
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Hi Doreen,
Another great post and one I feel that I have to respond to as an affiliate marketer.
I have to say that I understand your prospective on the affiliate marketing world, I mean who hasn’t been stung with some shiny opportunity to “make money online”
The key to succeeding as an affiliate marketer is truly understanding the role of affiliate marketers. You must understand that keyword research is everything, then finding the correct niche and how to bring those that are searching for solution together with those offering the information being sought.
To understand a little more about what really works in the real world of affiliate marketing Visit affiliate buddy. Find out which affiliate training programs are worth considering and what affiliate tools help will you succeed as an affiliate.
Fore sure in summary there are a lot of affiliate scams out there so getting the “heads up” on how the affiliate business works is of benefit to you.