The Perfect Business
"If you think you can do a thing, or if you think you can't do a
thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford Affiliate Marketing
One of the simplest, most inexpensive ways to start your own
business today, is through Affiliate Marketing. There are some
fundamental advantages affiliate marketing has over almost any
other business. Advantages that have made this type of business
very attractive to the relative newbie as well as the seasoned
entrepreneur. Some of those advantages are:
* No boss. * You never have to see a customer. It can be all Web
based if you so choose. * There are no geographic limitations.
You can reach customers globally. * Very low start up costs. *
You don't have to rent office space. * You don't have to stock
merchandise. * Many merchants give you your own free website. *
You don't have to accept credit cards. All of your website's
purchases are routed through your merchant's account. * Most
merchants will offer free training and online support.
So, what is affiliate marketing anyway? Well, that's the beauty
of this business. As an affiliate, you simply send visitors to a
merchant's website that you represent. If they buy, or in some
cases, just fill in a form, the merchant pays you a commission.
There are literally hundreds of merchants online offering
affiliate programs. Merchants such as BestBuy, Office Depot,
eBay, Amazon.com, JCPenny, Macys, Circuit City, iTunes, Netflix,
Sony, Toshiba and the list goes on, and on. These top-notch
merchants will supply everything for you. Excellent products,
ordering, payment processing and delivery.
There is also a very good level of security and growth in this
business. According to the latest Internet Retailer survey,*
most web retailers have already made a multi-year investment in
affiliate marketing and count on a network of several thousand
affiliates to drive visitor traffic. In another recent survey,
more than 40% of the web retailers surveyed, stated that 42.1%
of their total merchandise sales, come from the web, and that
figure is expected to rise to 51.1% in the next five years.
You can sign up for free as an affiliate either at the
retailer's site or through an aggregator like Commission
Junction or LinkShare.
But, understand this. Success is never accomplished with No
Effort. If anyone tells you otherwise, grab your wallet and run!
However, it can be achieved with minimal effort.
One of the things I always emphasize in any business endeavor is
the importance of preparing yourself first, then, taking action.
Success in business is achievable through preparation, action
and persistence. By preparing yourself first for the business
endeavor you are about to embark upon, you will already be steps
ahead of your competition. Yes, there is plenty of competition
in affiliate marketing. There will be competition in any
business you become involved in. That, is a universal law.
The most important step to your business success is preparation.
Believe it or not, 98% of startup online businesses fail because
they won't complete this one simple task, -- prepare.
Yes, it's a given, that wrapping up the necessary preparation
work before you begin "doing business" on the Net will delay
your grand opening. But it's important that you take the time to
prepare yourself well now. Then there will be nothing to repair
or repeat once you begin. "Do it right the first time."
Benjamin Franklin once gave this valuable advice... "By failing
to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
The few hours or so that you spend in preparation, will
determine exactly how big your success will be. At any given
time you can find thousands of online resources, many of them
free, to help you in your affiliate marketing preparation. Once
you've prepared yourself, then, move forward and keep moving
forward. It's just a matter of applying what you know.
Let's face it. It's easy to lose interest in something when
you've got nothing to lose. Affiliate programs are free to join
-- but this plus can also be a minus They appear much less like
a real business, than say, opening a store in your local mall,
where one makes the commitment of putting serious money on the
line. The people who are most successful selling products or
services take their affiliate businesses very seriously. They
dedicate personal time and financial resources, in the same way
they would for any other type of business.
Make some sort of monetary commitment to your affiliate
business. And last, but certainly not least, be persistent.
Don't give up. One sure way to fail in any business is to quit.
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with
talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence, determination and hard work make the difference."
-- President Calvin Coolidge
Successful people become successful by never giving up.
Until next time, I wish you much success.
* Survey results are from the June 2005 and October 2005 issues
of Internet Retailer Magazine.