Affiliates Are in Demand?
by Warren
(NY)
Just join one mailing list and suddenly you are receiving tons of emails from people all over trying to sell you something. Well despite appearances there is, believe it or not, demand for even more affiliate marketers.
What scares most newbies away from affiliate marketing is that is sounds easy, sometimes too good to be true. We are constantly bombarded by other affiliate marketers with offers. Some touting products, some touting low cost tools guaranteed to work in our campaigns. It is no surprise why some people wonder if it is true or even possible.
There is nothing wrong with a little skepticism but do take the time to dig a little deeper before dismissing the idea. There is a good reason why affiliate marketing is booming today and has survived the ups and downs of the economy and online marketing’s growth in general, it really works! Affiliate marketing has become a very reliable and legitimate source of income for many.
At one point affiliate marketing was thought of as the future of online marketing. Today’s question is, how is it viewed now and where does it go from there? Just look around, affiliate marketing has become a very sophisticated model generating anywhere from 4 to 26% of online sales. Not only does it now represent a larger portion of online sales but it has also come to represent some of the largest brands.
Perform your own survey, most major multi-channel companies (Amazon, EBay) have affiliate programs. This is not a coincidence. The support of affiliate programs by so many large corporations supports the notion that affiliate marketing can be profitable.
Affiliate programs are now available in various shapes and sizes. At most major corporations the idea of a wide-open, free for all affiliate program with unlimited numbers of affiliates is no more. Affiliate programs have become hard to get in and stay in. Just ask anyone about the difficulties of gaining acceptance to EBay’s affiliate program. It is not easy, not at all.
Don’t assume that affiliate marketing has meant the end to other higher priced types of online advertising. Affiliate marketing has actually paved the way for other performance based models such as Click Per Action (CPA). Affiliate programs and marketing has definitely evolved; they are much more sophisticated now.
If you are looking to supplement your income, affiliate marketing just might be the ticket you are looking for. Affiliate programs do add value online and they can be part of your arsenal but you must choose your programs carefully.
