Affiliate marketing is considered the simplest online business model that allows marketers to earn residual income online. It doesn’t require an upfront financial investment because affiliate marketers earn by independently promoting their chosen product on behalf of the seller. Small businesses can also avail of this program by promoting affiliate products related to their offered products and services. There are a lot of Amazon listing tools that can be used by small businesses – journalreview.org has a list that you can check out.
However, like everything in this world, affiliate marketing comes with both advantages and disadvantages. If you’re planning to jumpstart your earning with this program, take a look at its pros and cons and see if it’s something worthy of trying.
Pros
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Simple Business Idea
Probably the greatest edge of affiliate marketing over other business opportunities is its simplicity. It’s a simple industry to participate in, and the lack of finances is not a hindrance. To join, you only need to choose a specific niche and find products you find relevant for you to promote. Promotion of the products can be done with or without a website. After signing up for your chosen affiliate marketing program, you’re good to go.
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No Expertise Required
To become an affiliate, you don’t have to be a marketing expert. Along the way, you’ll learn more about affiliate marketing as you test different paid campaigns. There are various ways to manage and run affiliate marketing programs. If you’ve had marketing experience before, you can take advantage of it in identifying what works best to bring in more profits. Once determined, you then optimize and repeat these techniques to get results.
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Low Maintenance Costs
You don’t need operating expenses when you start the affiliate marketing business, unlike other industries. You can do work from home online consuming only electricity and Internet costs. Optional expenses include setting up a domain, layout designs, and web hosting operator if you decide to create an affiliate marketing website. Basically, you are a freelancer, and you don’t need to hire customer service or staff – plus there are no inventory costs involved!
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Flexible and Convenient
If so decided, you can continue creating multiple campaigns on various affiliate websites to promote affiliate links so you can concentrate on the successful ones and leave those poorly performing ones.
You don’t have to stick to a single affiliate marketing program because you can choose different products from your chosen niche or niches and promote them daily.
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Secondary Source of Income
Becoming an affiliate marketer doesn’t mean you need to quit your current job. It can serve as a part-time project, which can provide an alternative income stream.
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Earn Passive Income
This is another strong feature of affiliate marketing – the ability to earn while you sleep. Of course, you’ll enjoy this is after all your hard work in promoting the products, but first, you need to learn along the way to know what works best for your products.
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Cons
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No Control Over Programs
Because you don’t own these affiliate marketing programs, you have no choice but to use the existing ones. Hence, you’re purely at the mercy of the vendor’s rules, and you must follow their conditions. A program can appear promising at times and later become less aggressive, and because you don’t have control in its terms, you can only communicate the need for adjustments and wait for the vendor to implement changes.
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No Control Over Competition
Competition differs from one industry to another. Because the affiliate marketing business provides strong advantages, many people will take the chance to join. Generally, anyone with the determination can participate and be successful.
The great number of affiliate marketers of the same niche makes up an intense competition, which is obviously a threat and a disadvantage.
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Inability to Establish a Customer Base
The ugly truth with affiliate marketing is that a repeat customer will not buy from you again because he’s going to buy directly from the vendor. The nature of the affiliate business is that you are compelled to drive new leads each time, unless you market programs that give recurring commissions.
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No Guarantee of Revenue
Being an affiliate marketer is not easy, and you can’t expect to earn revenues right away. This is a challenge that you need to face, and you need to do what you can to maximize the chance. It would be difficult to predict the exact amount you’ll make at a given time.
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Freelancing Is Not for Everyone
Not everyone is comfortable with a home-based job. Others might feel lonely, stagnant, and unmotivated. If you’re a social person and would prefer to work with other people around you, you might consider looking for a workspace outside, such as in your favorite coffee shop or in co-working spaces, which are becoming more popular nowadays.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the pros and cons of the affiliate marketing business will provide you with a better understanding of its nature, which can help you assess if this kind of business model will suit you or not. With determination and persistence, anyone can be successful with affiliate marketing.