So far we talked about what is affiliate marketing and what are the advantages of affiliate marketing.  Today I want to talk about the pros and cons of affiliate marketing.  There are some of both.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing

1. Very little to no money invested. – This is something that most people are looking for when they start an at-home business.  You do not have to invest money into the business to get started.  That is true if you are starting out by using Squidoo lenses or free blogging platforms such as Blogger or Wordpress.com.  A more professional look is to buy a domain name from Godaddy.com and setting up a self-hosted blog on Wordpress.org.  Godaddy it will cost you about $10 for a domain name.  If you search Google for a Godaddy coupon code you will be able to purchase a domain for as little as $7.  You can get hosting for a penny the first month at Hostgator.  Hostgator packages start out as low as $7.95/mo!  That is all you need to pay to get started!
2. You can choose products that you love. – The products you choose to promote are limitless.  That being said you should stick with one niche or subject until it becomes profitable.  Lynn Terry’s Elite masterminding group with help you there!
3. It is a repeatable business. -  Once you have become successful in one niche all you have to do is go and repeat what you already did with a new niche.  So the business can be as large or small as  you would like it.
4. You can truly work from home. – You do not have to go anywhere to be an affiliate marketer.  All you need is a computer and and internet connection!  You can even have kids running around you while you do this business!
5. Freedom to walk away. – A lot of businesses you are tied to everyday.  Once you have built your business up to be profitable you will be able to go take a vacation and still earn an income.  That is the life, right?

Cons of Affiliate Marketing

1. The time you must put into the business at the beginning. – In the beginning you will need to spend a lot of time working on webpages, link building, testing and tweaking.  This is not a get rich quick scheme!  It takes time.  I like to think of it as the snow ball effect. The first month you may get up twenty product pages.  The second month you get faster and more efficient so you put up thirty pages.  At the end of the second month you now have fifty product pages out there.  If you continue at the pace of thirty a month you will have three hundred and fifty product pages.  This means it will take time for you to create them as well as get traffic to these sites but the more you create the more passive income you will receive in the future!
2. You must learn a lot about internet marketing. – If you don’t know anything about internet marketing, you will soon become an expert in this field.  You will have to master search engine optimization and link building to get all of your web pages found.  This is something that is absolutely necessary.  This may be a pro for you!
3. You must have patience and persistence. – Okay for some of you that have these characteristics it will not be a con.  But for people like me this is a constant struggle!  You will have to be persistent every day for a long while to see results.  You must be patient while you wait for your income to become a full-time income.  It will come if you learn these skills.

These are the pros and cons of affiliate marketing!  I would love to hear your view on what I missed or what you think may be the pros and cons!  No business is easy but I absolutely believe that affiliate marketing can open up a world you never imagined!  You can have financial and time freedoms!  All the work you do up front is always a means to an end!

Best to you!

PS. To help you get started in affiliate marketing the best book I have found it the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner.

photo credit: USACE Europe District

I have talked many times about my accountability partner Angie Newton.  We have been partners for quite a while now.  It has been a partnership that has helped me build and advance my business.  While Angie and I were at the NAMS 3 workshop in January, we were approached by several people asking all sorts of questions about accountability partnerships.

The questions about being accountability partners continues.

Since we have returned we still continue to get questions.  Here are some examples: How do you find an accountability partner?  What do you do when you meet?  How often do you meet? There are also many other questions.  During a recent call between Angie and I we discussed these questions and decided to address them by writing a report.

All your questions will be answered!  Now we need you questions!  Please comment in this post and share what you want to know about accountability partners!

Now think, think, think!  Also please pass this on to a friend and have them think too!  Now what are you waiting for go leave a comment!

Thanks,

Continuing in the affiliate marketing series this is a follow up to my post a few days ago – What is Affiliate Marketing? Today we are going to cover some of the advantages of affiliate marketing.  In other words the why?!  I have four kids and every one of them have gone through the “why?” stage.  It always drove me crazy and I often had the desire to say “Just because!”.  Just as with kids it is important to ask and answer Why?!

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for the companies?

Have you ever wondered about a new Mexican restaurant that you saw a commercial for?  The restaurant looks really good but how much does it cost?  Does the food taste just like Taco Bell or is it good traditional Mexican food? One day you are talking to the neighbor and she mentions that her family went to this restaurant last night.  You are so excited and you ask her all the questions.  It turns out it is a fabulous restaurant and even accommodate children really well!  So the next night you plan to take your family to the restaurant.

In this example the neighbor is not getting paid for her recommendation of the Mexican restaurant but she willingly gives it.  The restaurant benefits from this greatly!  Companies would rather have personal recommendations given they pay the high costs of advertising.  People look at commercials skeptically but when someone you know recommends it you are very likely to use a product or service.  As an encouragement companies will pay people to recommend their stuff! It ends up being a win-win situation. Read more »

When it comes to finances I am not a wizard! I even convinced my school counselor in High School that I didn’t need anymore math.  I only took a semester of Geometry and no Algebra.  So when it came time to budgeting and balancing a check book I wasn’t great.  About eight years ago I got a free copy of Quicken with my Turbo Tax.  I downloaded it and found that it would balance everything for me.  I later bought Quicken Home and Business. This helped me keep track of all the business expenses and income that I received as well as my family finances!

Why buy Quicken Home and Business?

Are you wondering why I am sharing this with you?  I am getting to a point.  My accountability partner Angie Newton and I were talking a few weeks ago.  She shared with me how behind she is in balancing her check book.  This was such a burden on her.  As we talked I could feel the weight on her shoulders to get it done.  I told her about Quicken.  These are some of the things I shared with her:

• With Quicken I don’t have to worry about putting in every receipt because it is connected to my Credit Union.  I press a button and Quicken Home and Business will update all the recent transactions.  Then all I need to do is match them up with what I have already recorded.
• I can keep track of when my bills need to be paid.  I also can include all your bills, such as: utilities, cable, internet, mortgage, insurance, etc.  When it is close to the date these are due I will get a reminder within Quicken.  I can even set up a reminder on my desktop. Read more »