September 16th, 2008 
Let’s face it, when it comes to online businesses affiliate marketing can be one of the most rewarding online careers I know of. However, this doesn’t translate into affiliate marketing being a great job for everyone who is looking to make money online and leave the 9-5 workforce! There are several things you need to think about before deciding that you want to jump into affiliate marketing!
- It’s Hard Work – The first thing you need to understand about affiliate marketing is that despite all those gurus out there telling you affiliate marketing is easy, while trying to sell you a 97 dollar ebook or 199 dollar piece of software, the truth is it takes a lot of hard work and effort to make it in this game! If you’re not willing to work towards becoming a “super affiliate” you may very well wish to reconsider even getting started! I guarantee you that you’ll hit many road bumps and unless you have a drive to continue and work that much harder at it, you’ll fail…horribly!
- Are You a Natural Salesman – There are people out there that just seem like they were born to do one thing…sell people stuff. These people find marketing and stuff to be easy and may I say fun! However, many people that enter affiliate marketing hates sales and marketing and are only interested in making big bucks cause they heard someone else was… If this is you, you may wish to rethink if affiliate marketing if for you! This job will get to you and unless you truly enjoy what you do, I don’t see you making it past all the hurdles that will come your way!
- Do You Have the Skills – There are certain skills that you’ll need in this field ranging from web design skills (html, css, etc), programming skills (php, mysql, etc), math skills, image design, copywriting, and other skills. Not all of these skills do you absolutely need to be able to do yourself, but you should at the very least be able to understand the basics of each so that if you’re in a jam you can get yourself out of it! So if you don’t have any of these skills yet, you may wish to gain them before actually entering this field.
- Are You a Motivated Person – You’ll be working for yourself here and let’s be honest about something…you’re probably extremely lazy…in fact, I’d say 99% of people in this world are…especially here in the United States of America. So what does this mean? It means that some people simply can’t keep their motivation levels up high enough in order to work for themselves. Yep, I said it, some people actually need a boss or they’ll never get anything done…ever… If that’s you, you know it…so just admit it and find something else or just try to work your way up the corporate ladder!
- Are You a Wiener…Err I mean Whiner – There are tons of people out there that just love to complain…especially it seems like in the affiliate marketing space. They love to whine about networks scrubbing leads, or advertisers scrubbing leads, or advertisers landing pages sucking which is why they don’t get any conversions…etc etc etc… The truth is, let’s just be honest for a second, that it’s most likely not all of these things but it’s really just one thing…YOU! If you’re gonna whine all the time about everyone or everything else always holding you back and preventing you from becoming successful, then you’ll never fix the real problem which is you and you’ll continue to do this game the rest of your life…Get over yourself, fix your problems, quit whining and focus that energy on your business, and make some massive bank!
I hope these pointers can help you decide if affiliate marketing is right for you as there are tons of ways to make money online and if affiliate marketing isn’t the one for you, then dont’ get all ticked off at me, instead just move on and find something that is so you can cash in on this goldmine!
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It boils down on its either you’ll succeed or fail! I mean I dont have superb skills in API, PHP and copywriting but then you can always hire someone or take your time to learn those things. I agree motivation plays a vital role in it
Agreed, as I said in the post you’ll need to take time to at least learn the basics, the rest can be hired out if you have the money.
Great points. I haven’t done much affiliate marketing, but that last point goes for any kind of independent business venture. You have to quit making excuses and take responsibility for your own actions.
This is awesome information for anyone seeking to become an affiliate marketer…but that’s kind of an oxymoron…newbies aren’t seeking to become affiliate marketers, they are just trying to make money online and affiliate programs are the easiest, and sometimes cheapest way to make money.
Excellent points Derek. Certainly affiliate marketing is an art, it’s all about trial and error, test test and test again! You need to fail many times until you find what work for you…
You certainly need to get educated on affiliate marketing and understand the basics. You have to put in the work if you want to succeed
Good post. Before getting into it too much, people should ask themselves all of the above questions and go from there. It is not always easy and it is not for everyone.