Are Affiliate Marketers Doomed to Failure?
There is good and bad news.
First, the bad news:
The odds appear to be stacked against our success as affiliate marketers.
Fortune Magazine reported that 9 of 10 startup businesses fail and anecdotal evidence suggests that 90-99% of affiliate marketers fail.
The Fortune report is based on business owners writing about their failures and what lead to their failure. The causes of failure are listed below.
When it comes to affiliate marketer failure, the number of failures appear to be wild-ass guesses. I did not find any confirmed sources of failure data.
But it does get better.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a consistent survival rate of new businesses over the years. The failure rates are not as dire as shown above. The following chart shows the survival rate data based on a number of years since business inception.
Now, for the good news:
The #1 reason for startup business failures does not apply to affiliate marketing.
The following chart shows the top 20 reasons why startup businesses fail. At #1 is a lack of market need for the product.
(Source: Fortune)
As affiliate marketers, we get to choose which products to promote. For the most part, the products have already been researched, developed, tested, and proven in the marketplace.
However, some niches like the make-money-online niche have many scammy digital products entering the marketplace that are designed and promoted by the developers to make a "fast buck."
Affiliate marketing also has the advantage of having a low-cost entry point. It takes little capital to start an affiliate marketing business online.
Conclusion
Choose wisely.
For more about affiliate marketing, visit my blog https://homebusinessforveterans.com/blog
Great stuff...
Here's how I think of it....Glass half full kind of opinion...
99% of my competitors will give up!!!!
When I think of it like that, I know that I can keep delivering value, making sure my customers are taken care of and I've already won....Because most of the competition won't be here in 6 months.
It is not hard to do if people just show up.
Great to see those numbers @glenpalo, and very good advice about choosing wisely as affiliate marketers what we promote and how we promote it, it's awesome.
This post is AWESOME!
It has therefore got a manual 100% upvote from @thisisawesome, for the Awesome Daily Upvotes in category CTPtalk, I give out 1 such vote in that category per day, plus 3 more in other categories, and your post will also be featured in todays Awesome Daily report for more visibility.
The goal of this project is to "highlight Awesome Content, and growing the Steem ecosystem by rewarding it".
Thanks so much.
Thanks @glenpalo, and keep on creating awesome content.
Good read.
Bradley
Thanks for sharing, Glen.
Due diligence is an essential aspect of any business, including affiliate marketing. Check the legals, those links at the bottom of webpages. Follow them as they go from site to site. Find out the owner/s name/s and Dr Google them. Find their weak points, and their strengths (if any!). Avoid sites that look like ponzi or pyramid schemes.
Above all, maintain a high reputation offline and online.
All good points. I always tell people to read the terms of service and privacy policy. I have seen some nasty surprises that convince me not to join or use the service.