5 Myths About Affiliate Marketing You Need to Know
Affiliate marketing can seem pretty simple, but if you’re new to the game, it’s easy to find yourself falling into some traps that might actually hurt your business more than they help it.
Here are five common myths about affiliate marketing that need to be busted before you make a mistake that could cost you more than just your time and effort. Make sure you know the facts before you launch your affiliate program!
Myths About Affiliate Marketing
Myth 1: I Can’t Afford It
When you’re first starting out with affiliate marketing, it can be tempting to try and do as much as possible on a budget. After all, there’s no point in paying thousands of dollars for a virtual assistant or copywriter if you don’t have that kind of money available.
However, spending little doesn’t mean sacrificing your business. To start, look for tools that allow you to manage and run your business more efficiently at a very low cost; sometimes they can even be free!
If you want your business ideas to succeed, they need to execute on all fronts. While doing everything yourself may seem like a lot less hassle, in theory, it will quickly catch up with you when you realize how inefficiently (and painfully) things are going.
Myth 2: It’s Too Complicated
Because of how tech-heavy affiliate marketing is today, many marketers find it intimidating. For example, there are a lot of stats and analytics involved that can seem overwhelming at first. However, just like any other marketing platform, if you know what you’re doing and do your research, it can be simple enough for anyone to use.
It’s especially great for people who have strong social media skills or who know how to manage a brand’s online presence. If you go into affiliate marketing without an online presence or social network, or if you don’t feel confident in your web-marketing abilities, it might not be right for you yet.
Some folks worry that affiliate marketing requires them to learn code or complicated tracking software, but that isn’t true at all. Again, when it comes down to it, all you need is access to an API.
Most shopping cart platforms will give you access through their stores so long as you register for an account with them and meet their payment requirements. This means there really isn’t much technical stuff you need to understand from day one, though learning how APIs work is good knowledge in general.
Myth 3: There’s No Money in It
Getting started in affiliate marketing is actually a lot easier than most people think. First, you need to pick an affiliate network. If you’re not sure which one is right for you, just ask around or do some research.
There are plenty of free resources online where you can learn about specific networks and their deals, including blogger partnerships and affiliate marketing forums. Once you find one that feels like a good fit for your business or brand, there’s no harm in applying.
More importantly, if a company accepts your application and wants to start working with you (and others usually will), it means they believe in your products enough that they want to earn money from sales brought by yours—not every company works like that!
Myth 4: The Network Doesn’t Pay Enough
This is perhaps one of the biggest affiliate marketing myths of all. It simply isn’t true, though it is a common excuse people use when explaining why they are not doing it.
As more merchants offer affiliate programs and as more affiliates get involved in promoting products, time will become less and less of an issue because there will be more sources of traffic available to help you promote a merchant’s product.
There is no such thing as too much time. Time will always be something you don’t have enough of so every second counts. And even if you do manage to find yourself with a bunch of free time on your hands, remember that there are plenty of other opportunities for making money out there besides affiliate marketing – although it does involve less work than most other forms.
Myth 5: It Takes Too Much Time
If you don’t have time, but you want to make money from home, affiliate marketing is a great option for you. There are so many companies out there who will pay you for spreading their message and telling your friends about it.
All you need is time and a computer or smartphone, not special knowledge or training. If that doesn’t work, try hiring someone else to do it for you! It’s much easier than it sounds.
Conclusion
All in all, affiliate marketing is a viable way to make money. If you can create useful content that attracts a steady flow of traffic and convert it into sales leads for your chosen service provider or vendor, then you can make money.
If you have any doubts about whether or not affiliate marketing is worth your time, just remember that many bloggers are making thousands of dollars from their blogs each month solely by promoting products or services through affiliate links.
It may take some time for your earnings to reach six figures like some famous bloggers, but there’s nothing wrong with earning $20 here and there as long as it fits with your style and schedule! Click here for more.