Affiliate Marketing & hard work
Tuesday, August 1st, 2006“Counting on Google is not a business model” : these words of wisdom are from Shawn Collins on his Affiliatetip blog. He hits the nail right on its head, when he says that there are no shortcuts to affiliate marketing success.
I couldn’t agree with him more. There are countless affiliates who have been lured into believing that affiliate marketing is one of the simplest (and passive) ways to build a fortune. Yes, it is easy once you’ve put together all the pieces together and created a nice solid structure. But more often that not, the problem is with the creation of the right foundation; if it were indeed so easy, everyone would be a multi-millionaire affiliate marketer.
It’s the same with the other popular way of making online revenues: AdSense– publishers of AdSense sites better realize that making a quick, ‘unearned’ buck is only going to get tougher. I will even hazard a guess that sooner rather than later, Google will introduce tighter entry criteria for AdSense sites.
Then there are the one-off wonders, who have a bright idea and quickly monetize it (the “million pixel” deal was one such idea). These are great examples of enterprise and creativity — but unsustainable in the long term. As Shawn points out in his post, bringing considerable value to the table is the only means for sustained success.
Hard Work, Smart Work, Creativity, Perseverance, Adaptability, Commitment — an affiliate marketer requires all of these and more to be truly successful. Come to think of it, I don’t know of any job or profession where one could be successful without these attributes.
P.S: On a positive note, InternetRetailer.com reports that a study by UK trade body Interactive Media in Retail Group shows online sales in the UK to have grown 40% in the first half of this year. With overall retail sales in Britain growing only 3.7% during the same period, this is a clear indication of a shift towards more online shopping– which is always a positive news for affiliates!
