Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?

Is Affiliate Marketing Worth it? The answer to this question really depends on what you are comparing Affiliate Marketing to. Therefore, let me answer the question by providing different scenarios.

Affiliate Marketing, Definition.

In a nutshell, Affiliate Marketing is when an affiliate marketer (you) sells other people’s (affiliate publisher) product (affiliate product) for a commission. The affiliate publisher tracks who sells what via an affiliate link.

Affiliate marketers promote an affiliate product by creating content that is relevant to the product. At some point in their content, affiliate marketers will ask their audience to buy the product through the link they have provided.

Is Affiliate Marketing Legit?

This is a fair question because nobody wants to get scammed. The short answer is yes it is legit.

Walmart, BestBuy, Amazon, Sephora, and virtually every major brand are using affiliate marketing to improve their online sales. They do this by relying more and more on online influencers to promote their products. As a result, Youtubers, IG influencers, bloggers, etc. use affiliate marketing to monetize their platform because the pay is great and the method is simple. This shows that affiliate marketing has a growing and sustainable ecosystem. This is not possible if it is not legit.

Is Affiliate Marketing Dead

Quick answer. No, it is not. Affiliate Marketing is NOT dead in 2021, 2022, 2023…. and beyodn. Affiliate marketing will not die as long as the internet exist and consumers are buying things online,

The truth is the opposite is happening. Businesses are spending more each year on their affiliate program for a good reason. According to Business Insider, revenue from affiliate marketing programs is increasing 10% annually.

Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?

Hopefully, the Q&A above gave you an idea of what affiliate marketing is really all about. I also hope that it gave you some assurance that you are in the right industry.

Let us now answer the real question. Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It to Try? In the following section, I provided different scenarios. Please find the scenario that describes you the best and read why or why not affiliate marketing is for you.

Scenario 1: Post-Secondary and New Grad

Traditionally, we go to post-secondary for four years and racked up approximately US$32k in debt in the US (CA$17k in Canada). Afterward, it takes a couple of months to several years to get a first real job. As expected, the pay for these starting positions is not great and it usually takes many years to actually earn decent money.

Now, if we put the same amount of money and work into affiliate marketing, we can safely expect that we can make 100x more than a traditional 9-5 career. This is not hype and this is not an understatement. Let me explain why.

First of all, you can do a lot with $32k. First, you can spend some of the $32k on online courses and coaches to help you understand how the business works. There are a lot of online courses out there. Some are ridiculously expensive but most are decently priced. I purchased Wealthy Affiliate and courses from uDemy and Shaw Academy to learn the trade. I didn’t hire a coach/mentor, but if I believe there is a great benefit for having one 0 the honest and right one at least.

Next, spend some money on the platforms. As for the platform, I also used the one included in Wealthy Affiliate when I was starting then later on I switch to Namecheap. Finally,

Then, spend some to hire freelancers. I am using Fiverr and Hirewritters to hire freelance writers when I am too busy or too lazy to write my blog.

The reality is, once you overcome the learning curve, everything will be smooth sailing. Hopefully, after 6 months to 1 year, you have a firm grasp of how affiliate marketing works, and you are starting to get traffic via both search engine marketing and paid ads. More importantly, your readers are now becoming a paid customers.

Once you are at this point, feel free to use the rest of your $32k (remember, $32k is the typical student loan) to scale up your business.

Is it Worth It?

So is affiliate marketing worth it? Compared to spending ~10 years and $32k to start a career and get it going, then yes! Affiliate Marketing is worth it.

Scenario 2: Working a Blue Collar Job

The next scenario is if affiliate marketing is worth it to people who are working a blue collar jobs.

According to Investopedia, a “blue-collar job” is “typically classified as involving manual labor and compensation by an hourly wage. Some fields that fall into this category include construction, manufacturing, maintenance, and mining. Those who have this sort of job are characterized as members of the working class.”

Although not always true, most blue-collar jobs don’t pay enough thus a person with a blue-collar job tends to have a part-time job to meet their financial needs. In addition, I personally know that blue-collar jobs are exhausting both physically and mentally.

Now, is affiliate marketing worth it for blue-collar employees?

I believe this one is complicated because an initial investment of money and time is required to make it work; two things most blue-collar employees don’t have. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme; it is a business.

Is it Worth It?

However, I honestly believe affiliate marketing will be worth it for blue-collar employees if they have enough motivation, discipline, and perseverance to get ahead of life because this will fuel them to move forward and it encourages them to set aside money and time to start and grow the business. Otherwise, it would be better for them to just stick with their regular job and a part-time job.

Scenario 3: Working a White Collar Job

Let us now see if affiliate marketing is worth it for those who have white collar jobs.

Investopedia defines white-collar jobs as, ” a class of employees known for earning higher average salaries doing highly skilled work, but not by performing manual labor at their jobs. White-collar workers historically have been the “shirt and tie” set, defined by office jobs and management, and not “getting their hands dirty.””

Now, the million-dollar question (literally)… Is affiliate marketing worthy or white-collar employees.

Again, it really depends. If they can see themselves earning a million dollars at some point in their career and they honestly enjoy doing it, then affiliate marketing might not be for them. On the other hand, if they feel it is a dead-end job, it sucks the life out of you, or they simply just want freedom from their job responsibilities then affiliate marketing might be worth a try.

Unlike a traditional career, affiliate marketing is a business. Meaning, income is scalable and schedule is flexible. What is even better is it is online, thus it can be done anywhere.

2 Groups of White Collar Employees

I believe most white-collar employees fall into two groups. First, the “have money, no time” group. The other is the “have money, have time” group.

For the first group, I would advise that they make time learning the at least basics of affiliate marketing and digital marketing, then hire freelancers to do the job. Learning the basics will come in handy in content planning, marketing, and managing their freelancers.

For the second group, I would advice to learn as detailed as they can and make an effort to do everything themselves to save money. Learning the details of the business will enable them to really personalize the business.

Is it Worth It?

So, to answer the question, affiliate marketing is worth it but it will depend on the desire and goal of the person.

Scenario 4: Freelancer

Honestly, I think all freelancers should learn affiliate marketing because the skills to be learned from the business is applicable to any digital business including freelancing.

In addition, freelancers have time and hopefully, money to learn, start and run their business.

Finally, freelancers have a flexible schedule thus they can focus on building your affiliate marketing business on their downtime, and spend less time on it when they are busy doing jobs for their customers.

Is it Worth It?

I believe affiliate marketing is very worth it for freelancers because it can be part of their side-hustle tools.

Conclusion:

So is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?

I believe it is because once it is set up and optimized, it can bring in

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