Helen Montgomery at Affiliate Classroom wrote an excellent piece on why she is thankful for Affiliate Marketing.
I am sharing some of the excerpts below for your enjoyment!
We’re in a funny sort of business. From the inside, affiliate marketing is in its boom phase. Our industry is growing tall and wide and strong. An estimated 30% of shoppers will buy holiday gifts online, and some percentage will click through affiliate links. We’re not just flexing our muscles in the retail sector. We’re power-lifting.
Yet from the outside, affiliate marketing is a misunderstood child still. Amidst our cherished holiday memories are images of distant relatives casting us a suspicious glance and asking “What exactly is it you do for a living?” It’s as vivid as a YouTube vid. You: Keen, animated, sparkling with enthusiasm. Aunt Jane: Polite, wary, skeptical, bored. (Final cut: Auntie’s desperate dive into the punch bowl.)
The disconnect between the way insiders and outsiders perceive affiliate marketing won’t destroy your self worth or your bank account. But funny, it’s hard not to feel rattled when your nearest and dearest assume that you’re in a “fringe” business because they can’t grasp the concept of “cookies.”
So at this most wonderful time of the year, when I become aggressively grumpy at relatives, acquaintances, and all those outsiders who just don’t get it, I reach for the antidote: gratitude.
Instead of trying to explain to the uncomprehending what I do for a living, I tell them why I thank my lucky stars, every single day, for affiliate marketing.
I’m thankful that affiliate marketing allows me to work not only from home, but from the road, a bed, or a hospital. People like me, who battle chronic disease, know how painful (literally) it is to hold down a conventional job. So every morning I bless the affiliate marketing industry - it has transformed my life. I earn more, with less physical stress, than I could in a “non-fringe” job.
I’m grateful for the freedom to market what I want, to whom I want. You get to choose your industry, your niche, your market. You get to choose which products you want to sell, and which merchants to promote. You even get to change your mind without the threat of getting fired.
I’m thankful for the online world, where affiliate marketing was born and lives and thrives. The Internet is still the freest marketplace in the world. The little guy can build an empire without having to beg - and pay off - a dozen different bureaucrats to obtain permission to change the color of the sign above his store.
I’m grateful that affiliate marketing is gender, age, color, and limitation-blind. My 73-year-old mother, who retired from retail management a few years ago, is now an affiliate marketer. Sure it’s competitive, and for someone her age, it takes a lot of time and effort to get started. But you can do this if you really want to.
I’m thankful for the growth in the affiliate industry - and the growing pains. When your rankings tank or your keyword costs bloat, yes, it’s a bad day. But most of us would rather be Seabiscuit’s beat up jockey than a passenger in a small, slow, safe little donkey cart.
For the full article visit the Affiliate Classroom Blog
