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.

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 faster 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

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