I get e-mails quite often from people asking, Is $X per day/per week/per month a reasonable income to expect in affiliate marketing? These questions are tough to answer because what’s reasonable and achievable is quite different from what’s likely.
No matter what amount appears after the dollar sign in their question, I can almost always say, Yes, that is definitely achievable. But is it likely that they will achieve it? It depends. On so, so many things. Let’s talk about 5 of them:
First and foremost, at least in my opinion, it depends on the individual asking the question. Does he realize that affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme? Is he expecting that after setting up a basic web site, he can just sit back and wait for the money to roll in? Or does he understand that reaching X number of dollars per X amount of time is going to take sustained effort and a lot of patience? Most people do not put in the time or hard work necessary to reach the level of income they desire. Oh, they’re all gung-ho for a few weeks, but if they’re not seeing results in their bank account yet, they start letting it slide, and pretty soon they’ve concluded that affiliate marketing doesn’t really work. You’ve got to believe that it works and you’ve got to do the work. As far as technical knowledge is concerned, you really only have to understand the basic concepts of affiliate marketing and be able to follow instructions to be successful. The more you know, the easier it gets, but it’s not super complicated.
It depends on how you do it. You need to choose a niche that is reasonably profitable and yet not so over-saturated that you don’t stand a chance of competing with established sites. It should, if at all possible, be something you enjoy doing, or it will be tough to maintain interest long enough to get any results at all. Also, a lot of people don’t know how to do the keyword research that’s necessary before they even begin building a web site. Or they do know how but don’t think it’s important. So even if they work their butt off, they don’t get far because their foundation is not strong.
Things change. Search engines change their algorithms, affiliate marketing techniques evolve, markets are hot and then cold and then hot again. There’s no way to reliably predict whether a certain approach will work in the long-term, or how profitable it will be.
Professionalism, or lack thereof. For many, there may be nothing wrong with the niche they chose, but they just can’t write better than your average second-grader and have no eye for design. I’m not saying you have to be a professional writer or graphic designer to be successful; far from it! But you should know that the first word in a sentence is capitalized and that there is a space after the period at the end of a sentence. Poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation cause a web site–and therefore the online business behind it–to look very unprofessional. Not acknowledging that what you put out there for the world to see should be reasonably well presented is naive and will be part of your downfall. You should also give attention to your graphics. Clip art from a 1992 disk won’t cut it. If you aren’t able to design your header or other graphics on your site yourself, hire someone who can make you look good. There are lots of places online where you can hire a graphic designer without spending a lot of money. Try elance.com or vWorker.com (formerly rentacoder.com).
Some people just don’t have “it.” In this context, “it” means an ability to grasp the overall concepts involved. For some people, it just never clicks, so it’ll always be a struggle for them. Having “it” means you can step back and see your site with at least some objectivity, know your strengths and weaknesses, are realistic about potential markets, and have a basic understanding of how sales works.
Another important thing to consider is that even if a certain income level is reasonable, it may take longer to get there than you would like. The questions I get from potential students usually include a desired time frame, and it’s usually too optimistic.
If you can put in full-time hours and really work your butt off, a time frame of only a few months may be enough. Most don’t have this much time to spend on it, though, so I generally tell them not to hold their breath expecting that much money that fast.
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