Is affiliate marketing cool?
Well I think so!
Online working is growing as real world work declines.
We have all seen the reports of high street shops closing, big retailers cutting back staff drastically or even going into liquidation.
Everything is more accessible and cheaper online. No long queues waiting to pay. No trying things on in cramped cubicles if you can even be bothered to wait in a queue to try things on. Online its all done from the comfort of your own home, or in your lunch hour at work, even on the bus or tube.
That's why online shopping is growing and from there, the need for more online workers. The more companies there are online, the more affiliate marketers are needed.
I just assumed it was mainly big well known companies that use affiliate marketers but no, the lists are endless.
For those prepared to work at it and learn there can be a successful outcome.
It's not a get rich quick business. It takes time to build your site, decide on a niche and then start writing content.
Yes there are many "systems" out there that are supposed to make you rich for only a couple of hours a week. You may have seen the videos. Laptop working sitting on a beach with palm trees lazily swaying or the mansion and fancy car sitting in front of it. Think about it though. That person is telling you they are selling this system, they invented, that made them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
Uh huh! Why are they peddling that if they are already that wealthy? I have to say it made me think twice, the cost was always what stopped me, often several thousand pounds. Even several hundred was too much, especially as you never got to even peek at it first.
I became very sceptical of affiliate marketing after seeing so many of those hard sell videos. I started reading blogs on what was on offer, trying to find something that was legitimate. It did take a while!
Next step.
I finally found one that appeared, from many blogs, to be legitimate. But was it?
I checked it out a few times and miracle of miracles you could join for free. That was a good start. No credit/debit card had to be added either, another plus point.
I was greeted by quite a few in the community, a nice touch, I thought. AND I had free access for a week to training.
Amazingly I learnt how to build a wordpress website. This is something I avoided like the plague, mainly because it seemed to complicated.
With this training it is simple, a step by step progression. I watch the video, stop it, do what I have to do the restart the video until the next piece I have to do. If it takes me a few goes to master a step it doesn't matter.
I was extremely impressed with what was on offer.
The next step was to sign up for a month at half the usual price, $19. I decided to go for it to get a look at what else there was. Well..... I was flabbergasted, I just could not believe my luck. The sheer volume of training was unbelievable and all easy to follow.
I got started to see how far I could get in a month.
I got shiny object syndrome. Oh dear. I kept getting sidetracked by a variety of training posted on the site by members of the community. I would see one and think, YES, I need to know that. Then see another and so on. I also got sidetracked by blogs posted on the site. So much useful information coming at me. I wanted to know everything. I wrote a few blogs, posed questions when I got stuck and always there were plenty of people from the community that responded. I was very impressed.
As the month drew to a close I looked at the payment options and realised that paying for a year was by far the most economical option.
With all the training and help available, I decided I was in it for the long haul. This was a challenge! I was going to make this work and earn good money doing so.
So... how am I doing?
I am 4 months in now and still loving it. Plodding through the training but spending time instead promoting as an affiliate and influencer.
I am working hard, I see inspiring blogs and that makes me work harder.
I have learnt about Themes, though they are still a bit of a mystery. But I do know much more than I did. Mainly because I asked the community, as to be honest, I couldn't see what the difference was apart from having different pictures on them. Now I know it's better to choose one that suits your niche and level of experience.
Then I learnt more about Plug Ins. Some said don't have too many as it slows the site down, others say have as many as you like. I discovered that the trick was to check site speed before and after adding a new plug in. Apparently some can work against others and affect the site. So if the speed drops, that one gets removed.
Now I already knew about SEO, or thought I did. Now, well its a whole new ball game. It's the same with everything.
There is so much more to learn.
Over the years I thought I had learnt a lot. Which I have, considering I knew very little about the internet when I started 10 years ago and absolutely zilch about selling online.
It was pretty much the same feeling then as now. The more I learn the more I realise there is to learn.
I know that this business will take time to build but if I keep doing the training and building my sites, I will start earning income! Yay!!
Oh.... do you want to know the name of the site I joined? Wealthy Affiliate.
Do you want to give it a try?
It's not a get rich quick scheme and it takes time and effort to build your business.
But, put in the hard work and it will reap rewards.
How big the rewards are will depend upon how much time and effort you put in.
How much spare time do you have?
Have a question? Please ask or just post a comment.
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