Is Making Money with Affiliate Programs Really As Easy As Gurus Claim?
I am sorry not. At least not for everyone.
When I first started internet marketing about two years ago, like many of the beginners I had a dream of being rich overnight. And I kept that dream alive for a long time to fuel my motivation towards making money online. I was in such a mood that I believed the more I read about making money with affiliate programs the more I would earn. But things didn’t work like this for me and I had to work really hard to even make my first dollar online.
At first look, making money with affiliate programs may sound very simple; find a product to promote, create a web page talking about it and let the money roll in while you are sleeping. This is what all the gurus want you to believe so that they can sell their products to you.
In fact, for some cases it is really easy, but not for everyone who starts affiliate marketing with the hope of making thousands of dollars in a short time without any effort.
Now, when I look back to my rookie days as an affiliate marketer, I realize many things that I did wrong and I also realize that I wouldn’t be where I am now without going through all those mistakes and failures. This is why in this post I want to share what I did wrong, why I failed at some cases and what I could do better so that you could benefit from a fellow internet marketer’s experiences.
Mistake 1: I Expected to Make Money Instantly
There is no push-button system which will make you rich overnight in the online world. But, almost every beginner, including me, want to believe there is. And this is the main mental obstacle in front of a newbie. Because in most cases, once it is clear that the money will not come in instantly, hopes fail and the motivation is lost.
When I first heard about I could make money by joining affiliate programs and promoting affiliate products, I quickly signed up for a few affiliate networks like Clickbank, Commission Junction and Linkshare and expected to earn some money just for joining. Can you believe that I frequently checked my income stats even without putting up an affiliate link? How many of you did the same thing?
Mistake 2: I Joined Every Affiliate Program I Could Find
Once I realized that I wasn’t making any money by joining only a few networks, I searched for more networks and other affiliate programs. My idea was the more networks/programs I joined, the more I would earn. And it was totally wrong. It was meaningless to join lots of affiliate programs before making any money with just one network/program. Because the more networks/programs I joined the more frustrated I became.
Mistake 3: I Didn’t Drive Traffic to My Web Pages
Then, at one point, I realized that I needed to build web pages to promote affiliate products. This was what everyone mentioned. I started with creating free blogs on sites like Blogger and Weebly and pages on sites like Squidoo and HubPages inserting my affiliate links and banners. Then I expected to see sales the next day.
I made zero sales in the next few weeks. It is quite predictable, right? I did nothing to drive traffic to my websites.
Mistake 4: I Didn’t Test and Optimize My Web Pages/ Websites
Meanwhile, I created my own websites as well. My next step was to put all my traffic generation knowledge into action using all the possible methods like article distribution, press releases, social media, directory submissions, RSS, web 2.0 and others. Only then my web pages and websites started to get some visitors.
In time, my traffic increased but I could generate only a few sales. There was still one missing piece, which was testing and optimization. And after going through each of my website and working on them to create better conversion rates, my sales increased as well.
That was the time when I started to see the big picture:
To successfully promote an affiliate product and make money, one should go through a number of steps like choosing a well performing product, creating a landing page that converts, driving traffic and optimizing. Each of these steps require expertise and without enough practice, it is very difficult to create a fully functioning system. That’s why making money with affiliate programs is not as easy as gurus claim.
I hope that my mistakes will be a guide to some of you. Mind sharing your mistakes and what you could do better in your affiliate journey?
Hi, I'm Nail. Welcome to my personal blog. I work full time online as a designer, coder and internet marketer.
Great article. I can relate to many of your observations. I too thought the money would roll in after a few initial steps. You’re right about losing motivation and wanting to give up.
However if you look at it like a real business and put in the time and effort like you would in a full time job one could be successful. But there is a learning curve and some hurdles to overcome. The moral is do it right and don’t give up. There are no short cuts unfortunately.
Thanks for the feedback Luke and nice to see you here.
I enjoyed this article and found in it many echos of my own experience. I am still climbing that steep hill to get to the stage of a reasonable, continuous income but am making some sales. I would endorse your message that nothing good comes without effort but that, with a good deal of sustained effort the internet presents everyone today with opportunities undreamed of a couple of decades ago.
Keep up the good work Nail.
..Our sales have trippled since joining AffiliateBOT three months ago. We now rely completely on our affiliate program as our engine of growth.