In this day and age, lots of people are looking either for a main way to make money that doesn’t involve the 9-to-5 grind or a side hustle to supplement their income. Fortunately, like so many things, the internet has proved to be a way to make this all easy and achievable.
It could be selling off those old clothes that you don’t wear or fit into anymore. Or it could be creating content as an influencer or online reviewer. Another method that is becoming increasingly popular is by becoming an affiliate marketer. It might sound complicated and technical, but it really isn’t, as we hope to show you in this article. It may take a little time to get up and running, and it will certainly need more time for it to become a profitable exercise. But put in the initial groundwork, and before you know it, you could be benefiting from passive income—and for most of us, that’s the best kind of income that there is. But before we get into how to set yourself up as an affiliate marketer, here’s a little about what it is.
We’ve all heard of the middleman or woman. Someone who acts as an intermediary between a seller and buyer. Often the mantra is to cut this person out of the sales process. But in affiliate marketing, you become that person. So, you act as the individual who brings buyer and seller together initially. If a sale then goes on to be made commission is paid for the service. How much usually depends on the value of the sale and can also be affected by the volume of sales that are generated. Because it’s all happening online it’s also easy to trace every transaction, ensuring that the affiliate marketer is correctly recorded for the introduction.
The stats around affiliate marketing are quite astonishing. For example, the size of the market has been increasing at a rate of around 15% annually, and its global worth is now estimated to be nearly $16 billion a year. What’s more, brands are now said to be allotting around 10% of their marketing budgets for using this kind of promotion.
As an affiliate marketer, you would simply be taking on the role of introducer and claiming the commission as a reward for your efforts.
Who’s using it?
It would probably be easier to list sectors who aren’t using it, so widespread has affiliate marketing become. Unsurprisingly, Amazon is one of the biggest users out there through its Associates network. This is said to account for about 20% of the total market. Online casino operators are also heavy users of the service. It makes sense for them, as theirs is a highly competitive market. By appearing on affiliate marketing sites like Casino.org it allows would-be players the chance to compare many of the best-paying casinos in Canada.
The ease of then clicking though and signing up to a chosen online casino makes it a virtually frictionless experience.
Other sectors that use affiliate marketing in a similar way include travel, where competing flight and accommodation costs can be compared, as well as services like insurance and utility companies.
The benefits for the affiliate marketer
Compared with many other side hustles, affiliate marketing has a number of big advantages:
- It’s low-risk, high-potential reward
Unlike businesses that need start-up money to buy stock, rent premises, and invest in equipment, all you need is a website and the skills to run it.
- It’s passive income
All you need to start making money is to see traffic passing through your site. Aside from keeping it updated with fresh content, there’s very little need for constant attention. It can even be earning you money as you sleep.
- You can work from anywhere
If you’ve ever fancied becoming a digital nomad, then setting up your own affiliate marketing site could be your passport to a whole new lifestyle.
- Scaling up is easy
As the business grows, it’s going to be easier than most to upscale with no need for larger premises or to take on staff. That means fewer expenses and bigger profits.
Getting started
There’s plenty of advice out there online about how to become an affiliate marketer. Because of its nature, it’s also easy to dip a toe in to see if it really is for you. Probably the most important thing to consider is which sector you’ll concentrate on. It’s best to do it in an area that interests you or, better yet, that you are passionate about. If you’re still stuck for inspiration, then you could do far worse than checking out the main emerging niches.
Then it’s just a question of pressing the “go” button for your new business venture.
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