subject: Affiliate Marketing In 2011 [print this page] Affiliate Marketing In 2011 Affiliate Marketing In 2011
It's no secret that the internet has revolutionized the way marketing is done. What once took thousands of dollars in advertising can now be done for pennies on the dollar........with instant results. There are several major advantages to affiliate marketing that make it a wonderful opportunity to earn extra money. First and foremost, there is no inventory to keep. This alone can save lots of precious time and money. Advertising is free and/or low cost which makes earning and maintaining cashflow a lot easier. You will find that affiliate marketing is easier than anticipated, simply because you are offering your products and/or services to a global market. Since expansion is the key to growing a business, the opportunities are limitless. Lastly, there are literally millions of products and services to choose from, so achieving the desired results will come rather quickly. I tried working with places like Linkshare and Clickbank, but I quickly noticed I wasn't the "selling" type. Convincing someone to "buy, buy, buy" isn't as easy as it sounds, even if you have an audience of millions staring at your goods. Also, it's tough to compete with big names people trust. Making them wait on your product in the mail is one of the most difficult tasks to overcome, which is why most online stores fail miserably. Even if you have the best prices and the quickest shipping, you still have no established reputation, thereby losing your potential customer's trust. Combine these factors with the fact that there are a lot of other people doing the same thing as you, and you have a problem.
Don't get me wrong, affiliate marketing is extremely profitable if you know what you're doing and where to place your advertisements. It does take some trial and error, but if you are willing to put forth the effort, the rewards are extremely beneficial. However, if you are new to affiliate marketing, promoting and recruitment may be your best bet for earning income. It literally involves nothing more than repeatedly posting your affiliate link in as many places as possible. After discovering I was better at promotions, I decided to join several networks that offer decent compensation and have been quite successful. It seemed intimidating at first, but if you take the time to thoroughly read and understand what you are promoting, you have a much better chance of connecting with potential customers.
