10 Spoooooooky Myths About Affiliate Marketing
It’s that time of year again! Soon the streets will be filled with little ghosts and goblins and princesses and super heroes as trick-and-treating begins in earnest.
But, it’s not just scary costumes, black cats, and witches you need to worry about this Halloween – it’s the spoooooky myths about Affiliate Marketing you need to watch out for!
Here they are. Prepare to be very, very frightened. Okay, not really.
#1. Affiliate Marketing Is Too Difficult!
I hear this one all the time. But I promise you this, 15 minutes with me will get you started on the affiliate marketing path, and you will be surprised how much you can do with some commitment and a willingness to learn as you go. Just ask anyone who I wrangled into this business. They may have come into it begrudgingly, but they like me a whole lot better now 🙂
#2. Affiliate Marketing Is Super Easy!
Okay, I know I just said affiliate marketing isn’t uber-hard to do, but guess what? It’s not all that easy either. You can’t just set up a fast and dirty website and expect to sit back and collect cash. You have to be willing to put effort into it if you want it to work (as with most things!).
#3. You Gotta Have A Niche!
Sure, it’s good to choose a market that you have an affinity for, but that doesn’t mean you have to be locked in a small niche market only. You can choose a broader niche or a range that offers a related group of smaller niches – whatever works for you.
#4. All the Good Niche Markets Are Taken!
Now, now. Calm down. There’s plenty of room for everyone. If the niche you’re passionate about is saturated, choose a related niche, or a secondary passion. If you are determined to build your business on your passion even though there is competition, well, go for it and just be the best.
#5. You Only Need One Affiliate Program.
It might seem like you have only one affiliate program choice – particularly if you’ve picked a micro niche – but it’s best to have more than one program if you can. Customers like to price shop, so give them that option without losing the conversion. [There's more to affiliate marketing than Amazon. #justsaying]
#6. You Need Every Affiliate Program EVER!
I once read about an affiliate marketer aiming to have 2000+ programs on his site. Wow. That’s… a whole lot. I suppose it depends on your marketing plan; are you a sniper aiming at specific targets, or are you just pointing a machine gun at your site and hollering as you fire away?
#7. There’s No Money In Affiliate Marketing.
Ha ha ha! That’s just silly. And obviously not remotely true. A portion of ShareASale's Top Merchants paid out over $25 Million in commissions last year alone!
#8. You’ll Make Millions, Fast!
Of course there is money to be made, and a well-crafted affiliate strategy can net you some serious profits. But it can take years for it to be a full-time income, and you may never make millions. Have faith, though: with hard work, it can certainly increase your income.
#9. It’s Too Late – the Market Is Over-Saturated With Affiliates
There is no doubt that it is a more crowded field than it was ten years ago, but the reality is this: a lot of the folks setting up affiliate sites aren’t doing a very good job. Just because they have a ton of flashy banners doesn’t mean they are actually earning anything. Get out there and be awesome.
#10. Affiliate Marketing Is Going To Disappear!
No, it’s not. It’s changing, and that’s great. Sure, Nexus Taxes and all of the changes to Google’s algorithm have impacted affiliate marketers, but most of us have learned to grow with that change. And we all know that which doesn’t evolve, well, dies. So bring on the change; we can handle it!
Missy Ward
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5 COMMENTS
Really a great and wonderful article about affiliate marketing. Very inspirational post too.. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Missy,
Thanks for writing this as a great reminder of the lessons learned at Share A Sale! The 15 minutes I spent with you where you gave me a few tips on Affiliate marketing were so helpful! I have instilled a bunch of the tips already am super excited to see where it takes me!
Now that made my day! Thank you.
Good (and spookingly timely!) list, Missy! 🙂
I, personally, think that the scariest myth about affiliate marketing is that it is synonymous with fraud, spam, or some other “black hat” something. A handful of dirty players – who are in no way representative of the whole industry! – contribute to the headache.
Thanks for the addition, Geno. I really don’t hear that as much as I used to — only from completely ignorant people or people who jumped into it blindfolded and never did their due diligence when selecting a company to work with. That happens in every industry though… sadly.