This is the topic of today’s blog.
The short answer is YES, Affiliate Marketing can be a career.
However, there is a massive trap that most beginners fall into when starting out.
I’m here to protect you by sharing certain truths that would otherwise come back to bite you if you are not wise about this business model and how you implement this and turn it into a career.
Now that I have your attention, let me spell out something that most people are unaware of.
Even though you CAN turn affiliate marketing into a career, affiliate marketing is not YOUR business. But at the same time, it CAN be your business.
You see, the real value of your business, ANY business, is actually their customers.
Some businesses are valuable because they have a great product.
There is truth in that.
But let’s say 2 businesses sell the exact same product, how can you tell which is more valuable?
It is simple – based on the number of customers and revenue generated from these customers.
You may not know this, but Skype (the video calling company), was sold for over a Billion dollars some years back.
What made Skype so valuable that it is worth Billions of dollars?
The answer is simple.
They had a HUGE customer base at the time of the sale!
Massive user-base.
When you think about companies like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn – what do you think makes them so valuable?
I mean, technically their service is free, right?
It’s their customer list – their user base.
Their massive userbase is what make it possible to monetize.
And affiliate marketing is no different.
So you can turn affiliate marketing into a career IF YOU FOCUS ON BUILDING A CUSTOMER LIST.
You see, when you are promoting affiliate products and services, realize you are build SOMEONE ELSE’S BUSINESS.
When you are making money from affiliate marketing, you are NOT building your own business.
And so, affiliate marketing being a business is not entirely true.
It is misleading.
You may think, “hey, I’m making money, I have a business.”
That’s not entirely true.
What makes you a business owner is having a real customer list, an audience.
That is the secret to turning affiliate marketing into a career.
Now, there are a number of ways to build a customer list.
Instagram following
YouTube subscribers
Messenger subscribers
TikTok followers
Email subscribers
Due to the fact that Instagram, YouTube, Messenger and TikTok, are 3rd party platform that you don’t actually own – these also, are somewhat risky to be relied on as your list.
Therefore, an email list, is the one thing you own.
You see, there are 3 types of traffic.
Traffic that you can’t control (word of mouth, for example).
Traffic that you can control (by paying for advertising).
Traffic that you own (your email list).
Every marketing and promotion effort you are doing should convert into TRAFFIC THAT YOU OWN.
That traffic should be an email list.
Once you have an email identity, you should be emailing them.
Now we’re not talking about scammy or spammy emails.
You hate it.
I hate it.
Everyone hates it.
But I want you to think about this for a moment – is there someone you are subscribed to, that you open their emails and happily read what they have to say?
Someone you feel connected to through emails, even though you’ve never spoken to them?
You might not have anyone, and that’s okay! (shows how bad your competition is with their email marketing… that’s good news for you)
But chances are, there is at least one person that you like to read their emails.
Go ahead and find their emails now.
Read them again.
What do you like about them?
Why do you like them?
Make a note of these things that make you feel connected to that marketer.
That is how your audience should feel when getting your emails.
Now this brings me to another truth.
If you have 100,000 subscribers but you write terrible emails, you won’t build real relationships and therefore will struggle.
But you have an email list of 100 people who are super engaged, who love to open and read your emails, who write back to you – you’ll probably have a profitable business.
And that’s the key to making affiliate marketing into a career.
Focusing on building a REAL AND GENUINE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMER LIST.
