Affiliate Marketing - Not A Real Business? by Vinnie Gallagher
I recently received an email from one of the so called internet marketing gurus
stating that Affiliate Marketing is not a Real Business. He went on to take the
position that if you are involved with affiliate marketing, you are not a real
business person or entrepreneur because you are selling digital products
authored by other people. In his opinion, the fact that you are not the author
of the product you are selling means you are not a real business person.
I take exception with his position. If his position were valid many small
businesses such as the local convenience store, shoe store, greeting card
store, etc. would not be considered real businesses because they do not
manufacture the products they sell. In fact large retailers such as Sears and
Wal-Mart would not be considered real businesses because they do not
manufacture the products they sell.
There is only one problem that I recognize in affiliate marketing and that is
the fact that most people who get involved in affiliate marketing are not
seasoned business professionals and they do not understand the basic principle
of business. That does not mean they are bad people or stupid. What it means is
that they have never been properly trained in running a business.
To be successful in the affiliate marketing business or any other business
requires the person entering that business to have a clear understanding of the
business they are entering. One way to do this is to model other successful
business people who are running the same type of business they are setting up.
When starting an Affiliate Marketing business, don't rush into it, slow down
and do your homework. Don't believe these sales letters you read where the
person says that he made thousands of dollars overnight. Now I'm not saying
that they did not make thousands of dollars overnight but what are they not
telling you? They are not telling you what they did before they made that type
of income. You can bet money on the fact that they did a lot of research into
the business of affiliate marketing and into the market they were selling to.
They did not just wake up one day and in a couple of hours put a program
together, designed a web site, uploaded it to their web server and started the
money flow of thousands of dollars the next day. This just does not happen!
In my opinion, Affiliate Marketing is one of the best businesses you can get
involved in. It is a business open to everyone, no matter what your financial
situation is. You just need to do your homework before launching your business.
One suggestion I would make is for you to check out a number of the many online
forums discussing Affiliate Marketing. Just do a Google Search for "Affiliate
Marketing Forums". Take a week or two logging onto these forums and follow the
progress of others. Then select a couple of forums that you feel provide you
with the information you are looking for and join them. You will find some
awesome people on these forums who are more than happy to answer any questions
you may have. Just one thing.... Make sure that you have read through other
postings on the forum regarding the question you have in mind before you ask
your question. The majority of the time you will find that someone had the same
question and the answers to that question are already posted. You can also ask
members of the forum to direct you to additional information on the subject you
are researching. If you follow these tips, you will find your experience on
these forums to be exceptional!
About the Author
Vinnie Gallagher is the author, webmaster of
http://www.AffiliateMarketingInsight.com a great resource website with
Affiliate related articles, tips, advice and so much more.
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