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Want To Be An Affiliate Marketer - Top 5 Myths Exposed

February 2, 2008 |

If even a hundredth of the websites that promote affiliate marketing are true, you would think all it takes is fifteen minutes a day, a free web site, a couple articles, some free classifieds, and a good affiliate program to make thousands of dollars a month. The truth is more complicated. While all of the above will get you well on the way to making money online, it takes much more than that to make affiliate marketing an actual job that can support a family.

To be a good niche marketer, you need each of those things, but with a caveat. Alone, they are simply myths propagated by people looking for cheap advertising in the form of you as an unpaid or low paid affiliate. Once you see through those myths, you can become a successful affiliate marketer.

Here are the myths that need to be exposed if you are to have success as an affiliate marketer.

1. The myth of fifteen minutes a day. Yes, a lot can be done in fifteen minutes. You can make lunch, do some shopping, read a magazine article, or even take a shower. You can not sufficiently promote your affiliate program. Affiliate marketing, if it is to be more than a hobby, takes effort, dedication and time. To be a successful affiliate marketer, expect to spend at least two hours a day promoting your affiliations. If you do not have at least ten hours a week or more to spend doing affiliate marketing, then take up another hobby, because it will only be frustrating. It will never get to the fun part, which is earning a good living.

2. The myth of a free web site. While it is a good idea to get a free web site, such as Squidoo, Blogger, or Word Press, if affiliate marketing is ever to be more than a hobby, you will need to make an investment in a good hosting provider and get your own domain names. This will set you apart from the crowd and allow you to promote better niches. At the very least, you want a domain to promote yourself. People buy form people they trust. Do not only spend time promoting your affiliate products. Make sure to spend time promoting yourself.

3. The myth of “a couple articles”. If you truly want to get ahead as an affiliate marketer, you will need to get good at writing articles and getting them approved for submission. This means you need to put out, at a minimum, an article a day. Studies show that each article will bring you about a sale a month. If you need fifty sales a month to make a living, you need to get fifty articles written and published.

4. The myth of free classifieds. Yes, free classifieds are great. Put out as many as you can, as long as you are submitting them manually. But also do paid advertising in the form of pay per click, paid classifieds, solo ads, or even offline advertising. Then take a percentage of your profits and always reinvest it in your business, some of which needs to go to advertise. This is how you will eventually become a full time affiliate marketer.

5. The myth of a good affiliate program. This is also crucial, but it is not everything. Look for your own niche. Avoid prepacked programs that get easily saturated. Separate yourself from the herd and make your own path. However, do not spend so much time looking for the “perfect” niche, that you get “analysis by paralysis”. At some point, you need to take action and get marketing.

One last tip: “Rinse and Repeat”. Find another niche and start it just like you did the first one. Great affiliate marketers run dozens of campaigns at a time. Just be sure to allow a campaign to start showing good results before moving on to the next one.

Beware of these myths of affiliate marketing, and you will be well on your way to success!

Ed Akehurst is a full time Affiliate Marketer. On his blog site at http://www.nichemarketerblog.com are numerous articles and resources related to internet marketing.

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