Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Successful Full-Time Affiliate Marketer?

Everyone has their own set of interests and hobbies.  Some like to read, some are deeply into music and others enjoy sports or travel. Our hobbies give us a means of relaxation and a way to forget our problems – and while we all have hobbies, not everyone has a hobby which makes money for them; unless of course you happen to make your job and your hobby one and the same.

A hobby which made an income for you would allow you to do many things; you could spend a little extra on some luxuries, maybe even quit that day job you probably hate anyways. That’s why so many people these days are turning to the web to start their own businesses. Whether to bring in a little extra money or even to try to eventually replace their day job, affiliate marketing can be the answer to those who want to get into making money online.

Affiliate marketing involves a partnership between a web based merchant and one or more affiliates who market their products, with revenue being shard between merchants and affiliates. Affiliates are paid commissions for referring sales to the merchant (or sometimes, merely clicks or leads). One of the advantages of affiliate marketing is that an affiliate need not deal with any of the overhead costs associated with most businesses – they don’t have to develop a product, worry about inventories, bookkeeping or even customer support, for that matter.

All of these issues are the merchant’s responsibility.

With all of these benefits to offer, who wouldn’t want to get into affiliate marketing? However, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer? Before you get started in this business you should think about a couple of things.  What products or services do you already know about; more importantly, which ones do you have the necessary enthusiasm for to make you a good salesperson for them? Once you decide on a niche, the important qualities to possess are patience, perseverance and determination – all of the qualities are essential to being a successful affiliate marketer.     All too many web based businesses fail because they are impatient. You need to have a strong drive to succeed if you want to make it in this business and the willingness to stick with it, even when the going gets tough. If you are working in a niche which interests you personally, you should be able to muster up the perseverance to see the tough times through.   It’s not easy to be an affiliate marketer, at least if you want to make a success of your affiliate marketing business.

You have to learn a lot about marketing the product or service you are an affiliate for. You need to be able to listen and have a willingness to learn new things if you hope to get ahead in affiliate marketing.   An affiliate marketer needs to know how to market their site in order to get large numbers of visitors; remember that the more traffic you can get to your site, the more sales you will be able to refer to the merchant – and the higher your commissions will be.  The quicker you can get your site up and running, the quicker you will start seeing those commissions roll in. Don’t make the mistake fo being short-sighted; a lot of affiliate marketers make this error and go for the quick, small sales. Think differently and plan to last for the long haul.    You also need to educate yourself on how to upsell your prospects on more expensive goods and services. Having this kind of knowledge will involve learning a lot about your niche; this is a good thing – it will lead to you being seen as an expert in your field, one whose recommendations can be trusted. This in turn will make it easier for you to make a profit in this business. There are those who think that they can make money just by having affiliate links; while they probably will make some money, making a solid income in affiliate marketing requires doing some marketing work in order to raise the profile of your site and draw more traffic. Remember that a little personal touch goes a long way in this business; establish personal relationships with your existing customers and prospects alike. A good relationship with these people will lead to higher sales in the long run.

Creativity is an important element to affiliate marketing success. The most important part of driving traffic and getting sales is to have a website which is rich in well written, informative content. Give your prospects something which they can use and you will quickly build an audience. So – do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer?

29 Comments

  • Dan Waldron

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Can you tell me who did your layout? I’ve been looking for one kind of like yours. Thank you.

  • admin

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    @Dan Ben Cope https://paydotcom.com/r/35584/reedfloren/2367711/ designed it for me. He even did the graphics and background.

  • Paul

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Reed,

    Interesting points, and I find that in affiliate marketing, the twist comes when that becomes your hobby of sorts, until one becomes determined enough to make it more of a business venture.

    Keep up the great info!
    Paul

  • Pierce

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Great article Reed. It would have been nice to read that 6 years ago when I started out instead of the make easy money ones.

    Pierces last blog post..What does it take? My frustration with no cash.

  • Paul Penafiel

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Interesting article, I was hoping to find more detailed explanation on what it takes to succeed in this business. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a good article.

    I’ve learned over the years that simply by saying you have to be determined and dedicated and all that but to some people don’t know what it really means unless they have experienced hardship.

    Even today, some people still get nervous spending their first $10 bucks yet they have no idea that you can spend hundreds if not thousands and still not getting results, and what happens? they quit.

    The number one enemy that most newbies have to conquer is Laziness.

    Good article dude.

  • Kenny Ritchie

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    @Pierce , I agree also but at least you’ve not given up either and I’m sure you’ve worked out that it all comes down to great planning and honest hard work.

    Not that you have to do it all yourself. You learn to do what your best at over time.

    Good effort on the blog got most of the essentials set up there.

    Great work Reed your pupils are taking action.

  • luca

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Hey Reed,
    In any business you need to plan for the long haul. Affiliate marketing takes time to build traffic. I’m educating myself to do just that.
    I just finished watching your presentation on Prweb.com – very impressive.
    Thanks again

  • Mia... miasMarketing

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Hi Reed!

    Great article! You are right… making your job and your hobby one and the same… is the best way to be successful and prosper.

    Any business will require a long term commitment… and doing what you love to make money is the icing on the cake!

    Thanks for the great information.

    Mia
    miasMarketing

  • John Bandy

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Hey Reed,
    Thanks for another great article. I enjoy everyone. Keep them coming, I need all the help I can get. I am starting to get my feet wet. I just hope I can swim. Ha! Have a great week and keep up the good work.
    John

  • admin

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    @Paul thanks making money from your interest or hobby is a lot of fun and makes it seem like you aren’t working on anything.

    @Pierece thanks. Unfortunately we will always find out information later then we have liked but the trick is once you have made that decision you must take action right away.

    @Paul you may find some other tips on this blog that can help you.

    @Kenny thanks

    @luca glad you enjoyed it, a lot of people like that presentation 🙂

    @Mia thanks 🙂

    @John thank you

    @thegameoflove and business blog thanks for the trackbacks

  • William Beck

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Hi Reed,
    I like this article also but I agree with Paul information is king. The
    how to or what to do is important to newbies. When just starting out
    (unless a person reads ever article they can find BEFORE they get
    started) they are starting as a newborn. They have no idea how
    important Website design,back linking,page rank,blog comments and
    article submissions are to the big picture.
    Thanks
    Willy B
    http://www.my-family-money.com

  • steve

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    I have followed your blog’s for a month or so now. And as a newbie I need all the information I can get, but I think at this point I am overloaded. I seem to be just spinning my wheels. What would you suggest the number one action to take at the very start ? And do you suggest a web site or a blog ? Thanks for any personal advice you can offer.

    Steve

  • Doug Allitt

    Reply Reply September 15, 2008

    Hi Reed,

    One of the great wealth secrets is to make your hobby your income stream. This way it never is actually that horrible job thing and it definately helps you through the hard stat-up times when not much money is coming in because at least you are enjoying what you are doing.

    Cheers,

    Doug.

  • Hector Herrera

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    When I got involved in Affiliate Marketing about two years ago expected it to be an easy journey to riches. It has not happened yet.Still I keep reading ,experimenting and trying.I have learnt a lot ,mostly about what not to do which most of the time it was what I was told was the right way.
    Your article is really a great guide for this journey.
    Regards
    Hector

  • William Beck

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    Hi Reed,
    Willy B here I have a question.
    What is the MOST important first step for a newbie?
    Is it the best Search term.
    Is it the I love this (HOBBY).
    Is it burning desire.
    is it the product.
    Is it web site design.
    What do YOU think is the most important part of the puzzle?
    Thanks
    Willy B
    http://www.my-family-money.com

  • William Beck

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    Hi Reed,
    Thank you for posting my comment(s). I am also working to provide
    good content and useful information. I have some content:
    http://blog.my-family-money.com

  • Jussi Koiranen

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    Great post! After your many posts about the subject I was hoping a bit more informative post, but I liked the start about making your hobby your business.

  • admin

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    @William yep it’s amazing what all we can think about in this niche, however I’d focus on relationships, being an expert on a topic, creating products, sales copy, public speaking skills and list building as they are my most profitable areas. The most important thing to do is pick something to stick with and build relationships in that market so you can JV with those people and have them promote you and build your list.

    @Steve #1 build relationships with other marketers and start building your list

    @Doug I agree with you on that

    @Hector I’d suggest building a list and promoting products of interest to them

    @Jussi I’d suggest checking out a few other parts of the blog and you’ll find some other killer information which will help you.

  • Paul Akinpelu

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    It’s an inresting, I will like to be part of this full time affiliate marketer.

  • David Braybrooke

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    Thank You again Reed for a most informative article!

    When I first started in affiliate marketing I was so naive on how the Internet really works! Being under the impression that I simply needed to throw up a website or two with embedded affiliate links on the page was really my undoing!

    So I changed tack and enrolled in a prestigious marketing course online. The education that I obtained there has been invaluable and I have gone on to bigger and better things!

    As Reed mentioned, it is crucially important to increase traffic numbers to Your site, traffic that is as highly targeted as possible!

    To begin with, I tried purchasing traffic, writing articles for Ezine Articles.com (with a URL link to my site in the ‘bio box’), I spent time on Digg, and even made business cards with my site address and distributed them virally.

    It was then that I came across the concept of the Traffic Exchange and I haven’t looked back since! Many people turn their noses up at using T.E.’s as though they are beneath them somewhat; a pity really! Reed Floren and his associated Guido use Traffic Exchanges for some of their merchandise and I think that if they make an effort to use them then there must be something worthwhile about the T.E. system!

    I am a member on the World’s #1 team, LogiSurfers, a part of the fastest growing online marketing community, Trafficera.com. Every week I receive 1,000’s of bonuses and Free advertising that benefits my sites greatly!

    With a little effort, You can do the same too and improve the ‘reach’ of Your affiliate marketing efforts!

    Thanks for reading and have a Great day!

    Yours Faithfully,
    David I. Braybrooke.

    David Braybrookes last blog post..Join Trafficera.com for FREE Today!!

  • Kenny Ritchie

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    @Steve

    I think taking some action is the most important step. But if your totaly new then I’d suggest a blog personally because you need much less technical skill and knowledge of html, databases etc.. or a fat wallet to pay a programmer.

    @Willy B

    Being an active member of communities online and adding valuable comments is an excellent place to start. People will notice you and visit your content and in turn link to your sites, comment on your blog and generally help you out where possible.

    Nice clean blog dude

    Not mentioned too much on Reed’s blog is the power of some of the online social networks which can drive a ton of traffic to your sites.
    Joining some of them and being active and informative can help with all Reeds previous suggestions.

    I think I said it before but if you do all love this content then try submitting it to some of those social networks or bookmarks.

    Kenny Ritchies last blog post..Save yourself time money and effort.

  • John Marena

    Reply Reply September 16, 2008

    EVERYTHING I READ IS HOW TO BE AN AFFILIATE
    BUT NO ONE TELLS HOW TO FIND ON.I would like
    to find an affiliate marketer to help sell my
    product.Do you have any ideas on how to do
    this.

  • admin

    Reply Reply September 17, 2008

    @Paul follow the tips on this site and you can get to that point.

    @David thanks for sharing your tips to success

    @Kenny nice tips

    @John if you are looking for affiliate shoot me an email reedfloren AT gmail.com

  • TrudyVan

    Reply Reply September 17, 2008

    Hi there Reed, TrudyVan here again.

    Yes, To be successful in any business you have to be dedicated and be prepared to do the work required. No work, no pay, what you put in you will get out
    Kindest regards
    TrudyVan

    TrudyVans last blog post..Empty Nest syndrome

  • admin

    Reply Reply September 17, 2008

    @TrudyVan I think that’s something a lot of us struggle with. Either we will work hard but it’s may be on things that won’t help us or we will work hard and succeed or we won’t work hard enough.

  • April

    Reply Reply September 29, 2008

    Great article, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  • admin

    Reply Reply October 3, 2008

    @April you’re welcome

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