Why Affiliate Marketing Is The Best Business Model?

There are several reasons why Affiliate Marketing is still the best business model.
And the good news is that it grows.

So if you are an aspiring affiliate marketer or just a person that wants to find the best business model to make money online let me share with you some information and facts.

Why Affiliate Marketing Is The Best Business Model?

Here are the most essential reasons, and in the following article, I am going to break them down, for you.

Jump to:

• Freedom
• You Don’t Sell Anything
• (Almost) No Investments
• Low-Cost Maintenance (Close to Zero)
• Passive Income
• Scalable Business Model
• Cons Of Affiliate Marketing
• Check Some Statistics (Even-thought if you don’t like statistics)

Back in 2016 I knew I wanted to do something with internet marketing but was not sure what path to choose.

Through the process of elimination, I found out that Affiliate marketing might be the one.

And there is more to it;
The thing is once you know how to make money with affiliate marketing, you have doors opened to additional sources of income.

Toward the end of the article, we are going to back it up with real statistics that prove that affiliate marketing is the best business model.

Please Note:
It is an opinion backed up by knowledge experience and statistics.
Since I don’t know you personally I can’t claim that this business model will suit you as well.
But if you have not tried it, it definitely is worth trying.

Freedom

The very first reason why I decided to do Affiliate marketing was the freedom.

You have your own schedule and as an affiliate marketer, you can work from any place you want (as soon as it has an internet connection).

Basically, you are your own boss, and if you are tired of going to 9-5, this might be the best move.

Well, I admit that there are some pros and cons of being your own boss, but if you are reading this article I am sure you can overcome the disadvantages pretty quickly.

Freedom also means, to be involved in work that you love, that makes sense, and that people appreciate.
That is the best fuel and people that are successful in affiliate marketing love what they do.

They often claim that money is just secondary.
I can relate to that.

You Don’t Sell Anything

You know that affiliate marketing is a business model where you only connect people with the product they search for.

When they follow your affiliate link and make a purchase, you get a commission.

But you don’t need any storage room to keep the physical product.

You don’t have to deal with suppliers.

Just make sure to provide an honest opinion about the specific affiliate product or service.

In theory, you don’t have to deal with customers either (or potential customers).
But since your blog post has a section for comments, you might here and there interact with your audience.

But it is always beneficial to engage with your audience on your website.

Almost No Investments

Many business models require investments upfront.

With Affiliate marketing, you need almost none (maybe a little bit a few hundred to start with):

• A couple of hundred for training
• A few bucks for hosting (some platforms/bundles offer hosting as part of their training)

If you have a budget you can start paying for the traffic and that requires an additional budget.
However, with no experience, this is not recommended.

So in order to get organic traffic, you need to invest your time and energy.
You need content on your blog.

This will take some time and energy.
Also, it must be properly structured so it is easy to read.

But as already mentioned once you love what you do, everything goes smoothly.

No (Or Low) Maintenance Costs

Your business is your website.

The only cost for running this kind of business is a proper hosting service that costs $20 to $100 per year.
In case you have some troubles, the hosting company should provide support (for free).

So make sure to select a good quality hosting service.

But other than that maintaining your website (or Youtube channel) doesn’t require any money.
It sure requires your attention and time.

In my particular case, I pay about $15 for hosting. The support is available 24/7 and is very responsive (I get feedback within minutes).

If you are about to start a blog or a website, you should know at least 5 things before creating a website.

Regarding the cost of maintenance, affiliate marketing is the best bang for the buck

Passive Income with Affiliate Marketing?

It is a great source of passive income.

Why the questions mark?

Because it is not entirely passive income. You have to put your work first .. and I mean a lot.

And once you get a consistent amount of traffic – then yes, you really get paid while you sleep.

But again this doesn’t go forever. You need to keep coming up with new content.

Or – and that is a better approach:

Outsource the work!

Have a guy that creates the content for you.
Instruct him how to do it well, and you can spend only a few hours per week overseeing the work.
And enjoy a full-time income.

Affiliate Marketing as a Scalable Business Model

Once you reach certain traffic and have the income you can scale up the business by:

• Paid traffic
• Outsource the work (already mentioned)
• Youtube

As a result, you have an additional Source of Income.

What is even better is the income from the Ads.

Yes, the (annoying) ads on the website are believe it or not a great source of income.

Just to give you a clue:

50,000 visitors per month (doable within a year) can earn you $1,500 to $2,000 per month. This is on top of your affiliate marketing income.

Cons Of Affiliate Marketing

In the beginning, I mentioned that Affiliate Marketing doesn’t work for everyone.

So let me also briefly share some disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing.
Even the person that is thinking about going on this path should be aware of the cons.

1) Driving Traffic

It is advisable to learn how to drive organic traffic.

It is nothing that you can’t learn, but it requires a bit of patience and consistent effort.

But once things are done well, you can expect to have consistent traffic within 8 months.

How Fast Can You Make Money With Affiliate Marketing?

2) Some niches oversaturated

It is true that in certain fields of industries there is higher competition. That’s why it will take longer to get consistent traffic.

But it is not always about which niche is the most profitable.

It is more about what niche you prefer, and where you feel comfortable with content creation.

3) Not seeing revenue for the first months

This is obviously related to the points above.

Just would like to highlight the fact, that if you don’t see an increase in traffic within the first 4 to 5 months, don’t panic.

It is actually quite normal.

It takes a while until Google notices new sites.
But after that, the number of visitors usually doubles each month (to a certain point).

4) Don’t Rely on One Affiliate program only

Once you see consistent traffic, you can apply for more affiliate marketing programs.

You increase the chances of getting paid and lower the risk of losing income.

Still, if you have questions about affiliate marketing the chances that you find the answer here is pretty high:

Affiliate Marketing For Beginners – 21 Questions Answered

Let’s go over some statistics/facts

1) Google Trends

Google Trends is also helpful for finding a niche.

By utilizing Google Trends, you can identify emerging trends.
You can also explore the search volume for specific keywords or topics.

This makes it invaluable when starting a new website or YouTube channel and looking to align with the interests and demands of your target audience.

It is based on:

• Location
• Search term
• Interest over time

Let’s use the term Affiliate Marketing, worldwide in the past 5 years to have a nice overview:

We see that the searches for affiliate marketing have risen.

Just out of curiosity let’s compare the term with another business model, called drop shipping.
(BTW, Salehoo is a good company to check if you are interested in drop-shipping)

The searches for drop shipping are on the rise as well, but overall, slightly above 50% compared to affiliate marketing.

2) More than 80% of Affiliate Marketers claim to make more than $20K per year

According to medium.com and pol statistics from the STM forum, a lot of affiliate marketers make more than $40,000 per year.

Still, quite a lot make more than $1M per year.

Pls, note that the people are involved in business for more than 5 years and they gained a lot of experience.

5+ Years?

Does that sound like a long time?
This is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

In fact, there is no real business model where you can start making hundreds of dollars per day on autopilot.
Sure a lot of companies/courses/software and fake Gurus claim that they have found a “loophole” and you can take advantage of it …

But Come on. This is all Nonsense.

Be realistic.
How long does it take for your job to make $1M per year?

Please try to be open-minded and see the big picture.

With that being said, it is quite normal that in your first year as a newbie you won’t make a dime.

But at the same time, you might hit $1,000 a month within 10 months.

My point is that Affiliate marketing is still very viable if it is done right.

3) Affiliate Marketing spend in the U.S.

According to Statista, more and more money is spent “using” affiliate marketing links.

Since 2015 the amount spent on Affiliate marketing doubled.

Also, more and more people have access to the internet (faster internet), so the potential is huge and it will grow in the next few years.

4) Amazon has the biggest Affiliate Program

According to Influence Marketing Hub, Amazon associates dominate the sector with about 50% market share.

In other words, it is very easy to promote Amazon products.

Why?

Because Amazon is well-known and people tend to buy from a source that they are familiar with.

In your review, describe the product (choose the one with good ratings) and have a link saying, Check Price On Amazon.

When people follow your link and purchase anything within 24 hours of clicking on that link you get an affiliate commission.

BTW.
It is very easy to become Amazon Associate.

Choose the right industry (also called niche) and you can start making money within a few months.
With your own blog.

Or if you prefer YouTube, you can do so as well.
Ideally both.

5) Online reviews have a huge impact on purchase decisions

AccCto Qualtrics, more than 90% of consumers (of age 18-34) rely on online reviews.

What does it mean for you as an aspiring affiliate marketer?

Reviews are a great source of traffic and thus potential revenue.

People that write reviews are ready to buy. They have their credit card right next to the screen.. They just want to be pointed in the right direction.

This is a great opportunity for you to write an objective and honest review about the product (or service) within your niche.

Make sure it is honest and unbiased. Even if you promote a product with a lower commission, your task is to make the customer happy.

Think in the long term – You want him to come back to your site.
Or even better – You want him to share the article with others.

Is Affiliate Marketing the Right Business Model For You?

We have covered the most important aspects of why affiliate marketing is the best business model.

Tell me, is this what you are going to do?
What business model did you try?

Also if you disagree with the statement, and you think that there is a better business model, please let me know in the comment section, below.

I would love to hear from you and will provide you with feedback (within 24 hours).

Thank You For Reading,
Mike

FAQs

Is affiliate marketing a good business model?

Yes, Affiliate marketing is a great business model since it doesn’t require any significant costs.

There is no need to deal with customers or suppliers. Simply, pick a niche, describe the product highlight the pros and cons, and when a person purchases the product via your affiliate link you get a commission.

Why affiliate marketing is the future?

A lot of companies go online and affiliate marketing is a way how to let a wide range of people know about a particular product or service.

At the end of the day it is a win-win situation for all involved parties:

• The merchant sells a product without paying for advertisement
• The customer is happy because he or she did research, learned more, and based on that made a purchase
• Affiliate marketer made a commission

Why is affiliate marketing better than MLM?

In affiliate marking, you don’t have to chase people. You don’t have to sell very specific products that you are not interested in.
Most importantly you don’t sell any dreams.

In affiliate marketing, you simply inform potential buyers about products within a niche that you like.
Potential customers look for the information and if you know how to deliver that right data you earn a commission.

It is a great source of passive income in the long run.

What are the benefits of affiliate marketing?

Once you have established the target audience, you earn while you sleep. You can outsource the work and work only a few hours per day or per week.

You are not limited to any place or time; meaning you can work from any place in the world (if there is internet access) and you can work anytime you want.

For beginners – Affiliate marketing is a business model that requires only a few bucks up front.
In the worst-case scenario, it is necessary to pay for the course, but there are many courses that cost less than $1,000.