Online Affiliate Marketing: The Ideal Home Business Opportunity?
by Roddy McFarlane
Making money through online affiliate marketing has become a realistic alternative to traditional employment. The growth of the internet and of broadband connections has made an independent affiliate marketing business a viable venture for many of us. Affiliate marketers earning commissions on sales have become today's equivalent of yesterday's traveling salesmen.
After several years commuting to and from a nine to five job, and dealing with the inevitable internal company politics every day, many of us start to think about what would be a better way to earn our income.
Often we begin with the ambition of owning our own independent business.
Then most of us would check our bank statement and decide we would have to look for a business with low start up capital needs, low overheads, low labour and staffing needs and low barriers to entry. Discouraging?
Its likely most of us would rather not have intensive, repetitive face to face sales and after sales service issues to deal with. All that cold calling and customer care gets to be hard work, and can leave you "peopled out" after a while. But we know a successful business needs a large and growing market. We know it needs a constantly fresh product range, products that are desirable and affordable for a lot of customers. On a global scale would be great, but is that just too much to ask?
Not too much government regulation or legal argument over patents and the like, of course, but reasonable protection from imitators. Cash billings, naturally, and returns on investment that are high, fast and readily managed. A business you can ramp up quickly if demand expands.
And what about that daily commute? Yes, a business that can be conducted from almost anywhere you would rather be. Think about places you look forward to going to for vacations. Or maybe just anywhere but where your mother-in-law lives!
Some of us dismiss these as idealistic business characteristics. "Its dreamland, and just not practical," some may say.
Until a few years ago they were probably right, unless you had exceptional creative talent, perhaps as a writer, software developer, designer, musician, actor or inventor. And so most of us just endured the daily commute.
What has changed?
The internet has brought a new way of doing business. It has brought this dreamy ideal business within the reach of the rest of us.
Within days you could begin building your own viable independent online affiliate marketing business on the internet.
What is an online affiliate marketing business?
You promote some of the huge and exciting array of products and services being sold on on the internet, and direct customers to the web site where they are sold. Amazon is just one of many examples. Once the deal goes through, you get a sales commission. Simple.
Lots of people have made a living performing a useful role in commissioned sales for years, and some have done very well at it. The difference now is that the internet has ballooned the scale, global reach and leverage available to you. The exciting news is that you and I can now promote leading international brands as affiliates, and even become multinationals! The internet reaches such a huge and fast growing market that even the biggest brands need affiliates to help get their message out into to the furthest corners of the globe.
And the internet has made it possible to carry out transactions automatically at all hours. No more traveling salesmen jokes, no more making appointments, no more order books to fill, and you still keep earning right through the weekends!
As a business it has unique complications as you would expect, and nothing succeeds without clear goals, passion and enthusiasm, of course. Affiliate marketing is just another business, but check off those ideal characteristics. Affiliate marketing must be just about the ideal independent business of tomorrow for those of us who would rather not commute any more.
But keep your day job for now. It takes a little time and effort to start the affiliate income stream flowing.
Roddy McFarlane provides news, reviews and commentary on affiliate marketing in his blog at The Marketing Affiliate.
Making money through online affiliate marketing has become a realistic alternative to traditional employment. The growth of the internet and of broadband connections has made an independent affiliate marketing business a viable venture for many of us. Affiliate marketers earning commissions on sales have become today's equivalent of yesterday's traveling salesmen.
After several years commuting to and from a nine to five job, and dealing with the inevitable internal company politics every day, many of us start to think about what would be a better way to earn our income.
Often we begin with the ambition of owning our own independent business.
Then most of us would check our bank statement and decide we would have to look for a business with low start up capital needs, low overheads, low labour and staffing needs and low barriers to entry. Discouraging?
Its likely most of us would rather not have intensive, repetitive face to face sales and after sales service issues to deal with. All that cold calling and customer care gets to be hard work, and can leave you "peopled out" after a while. But we know a successful business needs a large and growing market. We know it needs a constantly fresh product range, products that are desirable and affordable for a lot of customers. On a global scale would be great, but is that just too much to ask?
Not too much government regulation or legal argument over patents and the like, of course, but reasonable protection from imitators. Cash billings, naturally, and returns on investment that are high, fast and readily managed. A business you can ramp up quickly if demand expands.
And what about that daily commute? Yes, a business that can be conducted from almost anywhere you would rather be. Think about places you look forward to going to for vacations. Or maybe just anywhere but where your mother-in-law lives!
Some of us dismiss these as idealistic business characteristics. "Its dreamland, and just not practical," some may say.
Until a few years ago they were probably right, unless you had exceptional creative talent, perhaps as a writer, software developer, designer, musician, actor or inventor. And so most of us just endured the daily commute.
What has changed?
The internet has brought a new way of doing business. It has brought this dreamy ideal business within the reach of the rest of us.
Within days you could begin building your own viable independent online affiliate marketing business on the internet.
What is an online affiliate marketing business?
You promote some of the huge and exciting array of products and services being sold on on the internet, and direct customers to the web site where they are sold. Amazon is just one of many examples. Once the deal goes through, you get a sales commission. Simple.
Lots of people have made a living performing a useful role in commissioned sales for years, and some have done very well at it. The difference now is that the internet has ballooned the scale, global reach and leverage available to you. The exciting news is that you and I can now promote leading international brands as affiliates, and even become multinationals! The internet reaches such a huge and fast growing market that even the biggest brands need affiliates to help get their message out into to the furthest corners of the globe.
And the internet has made it possible to carry out transactions automatically at all hours. No more traveling salesmen jokes, no more making appointments, no more order books to fill, and you still keep earning right through the weekends!
As a business it has unique complications as you would expect, and nothing succeeds without clear goals, passion and enthusiasm, of course. Affiliate marketing is just another business, but check off those ideal characteristics. Affiliate marketing must be just about the ideal independent business of tomorrow for those of us who would rather not commute any more.
But keep your day job for now. It takes a little time and effort to start the affiliate income stream flowing.
Roddy McFarlane provides news, reviews and commentary on affiliate marketing in his blog at The Marketing Affiliate.
posted by Roddy at 8:05 PM
Paid Surveys Online
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home