5 Affiliate Marketing Facts of Life

Marige O'Brien

Affiliate Marketing (AM) is fast becoming a major trend in online business.
With the internet still in its adolescent years, it has already established
itself as an extremely viable career opportunity, bridging the advertising
gap for companies, while providing much sought-after work at home revenue.

With the boom in affiliate marketing, however, there is a growing wave of
new marketers that become easily discouraged when the initial hype wears off
and they don't understand what to expect in the business. For those just
entering the arena, here are a few Facts Of Life about Affiliate Marketing:

1) YOU WILL HAVE TO INVEST SOME MONEY
Affiliate marketing being a hybrid of the independent contractor & the
self-employed small business owner, it is inevitable that some money be
invested. While a contractor might earn a base pay + commission, they also
have little or no control over product, promotion or price. And, while a
self-employed owner controls all these, they also pay all the bills.

But an AM is neither. They don't control price nor, once they sign up,
product. But they do control promotion. And, unlike a self-employed
worker, they bear only a fraction of the costs. The advertising fraction.

So, the bad news is affiliate marketers do have to invest some money, at
some point, even in the best programs or scenerios. But this has also
become a growing trend in all sales positions, as well as positions in all
industries. Many positions include a certain amount of investment. Any job
that requires a uniform, for example, means investing in special clothes.
Plus most realtors must pay for their own advertising.

The good news is that, unlike other sales positions (but similar to small
business), the AM controls that cost because they decide on which
advertisements to invest.

The best news is that many companies, like Plug-in-Profits (
http://trackermo.com/pips.html), now offer great affiliate support and will
guide the new AM until they understand the business and can stand on their
own two feet.

2) YOU WILL HAVE TO INVEST SOME TIME
Affiliate marketing works on the slide-rule effect. That is, the more
effort the AM invests, the richer the dividends. And, like a microcosm of a
career, the AM works their tail off in the beginning-- then works less and
less as their sales build. But this can be measured in months, rather than
years (thus, the mirocosm).

Still, many enter the AM arena thinking all they have to do is sign up as an
affiliate, then sit back and reap the rewards. And that's just when they
should be getting busy. The rewards will come, but not until they've put in
their time.

The bad news here is to expect to eat, drink and sleep marketing-- at first.

The good news is that, according to experts in the field, an affiliate can
expect to see a return on their investment within the first 3-9 months,
depending on how much time they spend at it on a daily/weekly basis.

3) YOU WILL GET BURNED ONCE OR TWICE
It's inevitable. Either by paying astronomical fees for hosting, for leads
or for some other service (not to mention, the existence of scams), it
happens. That's why "expert" and "experience" have the same root word. It
takes experience to know what's going on, how to spot a scam, and to know a
good opportunity when it arrives.

The good news is, experience is the best teacher of all. And a new AM will
soon learn from their mistakes.

4) YOU WILL HAVE TO UPDATE YOURSELF
The internet has been called the most fluid industry ever. That's a poetic
way of saying it changes more easily and more often than a body of water.
Engineers call it expotential growth, though it's more reminiscent of growth
on a cellular level: Rather like a baby starting as two single cells and, in
nine short months, becoming a fully formed infant. Or, like a pyramid
scheme that really works!

Whatever the analogy, the point is the internet is constantly, incessantly,
(sometimes annoyingly) changing. What was vital two years ago (SE
placement, keywords, Pay-Per-Click), is now becoming passe, replaced by new
types of more effective marketing techniques (PowerLinking, Opt-in lists,
pay-per-buy).

All of which leads to--

5) YOU MUST BE PRO-ACTIVE
To keep the revenues up, AMs must find good resources to monitor the
business. Newsletters, forums and affiliate resource pages all become vital
to watching the latest trends. They are filled with the latest information,
the latest ideas and the newest concepts in advertising.

Also, in the case of the AM with their own website, that must be updated
occasionally, too, while the affiliate landing page is kept up by the
company. But when an AM opts for their own page, they must be aware that
every few months or years, a new enhancement takes off. Right now, the
latest is audio and or animated spokespeople.

Once an affiliate marketer arms themself with these facts of life, they have
a very good chance of succeeding in this new arena.--mo

Marige O'Brien has worked as a writer, web designer and, most recently,
internet marketer. Her own website can be found at http://www.trackermo.com


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