Wondering if affiliate marketing is a scam or a lucrative way to earn money online?
If you have been searching for a legit way to earn money from the comfort of your home then affiliate marketing has likely crossed your path a time or two and you may be wondering what this is and how everything works.
Is this another scam targeted at taking your money and leaving you with nothing?
Is it legit, & if so how much of an earning potential is available here?
I’ll be answering these questions and so many more within the following post so I encourage you guys to stick around and read it in its entirety.
Do we have a deal or what?
In the nearly 6 years that I have been involved in the affiliate marketing industry, there have been many people out there who I feel is misrepresenting this industry and I’ll be setting the record straight for you in the following post.
By the time you guys finish reading this post, you’ll have gained some knowledge on what this business model is all about, how it works, and whether it’s a scam or a lucrative way to earn a living online.
I’ll be revealing everything you need to know about this industry to make a sound decision as too whether this would make a good fit for you so let’s get started.
What Exactly Is Affiliate Marketing?
Before you can determine whether or not affiliate marketing is a scam it’s important for you to understand exactly what this is and how it works.
Affiliate marketing is the process of taking a hobby or interest of yours and monetizing it with products from a variety of online vendors who will pay you a commission for each customer you bring to them that make a valid purchase.
This may sound like a pretty vague explanation but I promise to go into more detail on this here in a few minutes.
Established in 1996 with Amazon being the very first affiliate program to launch, this industry has evolved so much over the years that it’s expected to be worth 6 Billion Dollars by just next year, 2019.
Yes, you read that right, SIX BILLION DOLLARS!!!
Pretty crazy, right?
Since late 2014/ Early 2015, I have been earning a 4 figure income from this business model and as I continue to expand my knowledge about this industry, my income continues to go up as well.
There are many, many different ways that you can go about this but my personal favorite one would have to be blogging and I’ll be showing you guys everything you need to get started in the next section so continue reading.
What Do You Need To Get Started?
Before you can get started it’s going to require 2 things, your own website and some sort of keyword research tool.
These are the 2 main tools that you need to have in your arsenal if you want to have any type of success here.
Other than that you’re also going to also need an idea to base your website on like a hobby or interest of some sort.
What types of things are you guys interested in? What are a few of your passions & hobbies?
What is the one thing that you could see yourself writing about for years to come without running out of things to say and getting bored with it?
Once you come up with the answers to these questions you’ll be that much closer to putting all the pieces together and making better sense of all this.
Personally, for me, I decided to go with my passion for gaming and build my website around everything gaming.
It did, however, take me quite some time to get this narrowed down to find my target market
Coming up with a niche ( Hobby or Idea) is where most people get stuck and unfortunately, they end up quitting before they even get started.
Finding The Right Affiliate Marketing Training
In order for any of this to work you’re going to need the right training that will walk you through all of this step by step and show you how to set everything up properly.
This is actually a whole lot more complicated than it seems as there are thousands of other “So Called” affiliate marketing programs out there that claim to teach you the right way to go about this but end up failing.
When it comes to finding the right training this can seem like searching for a needle in a haystack and impossible due to all the scams out there in the online world.
Trust me, I know exactly how you guys must feel about now as I’ve experienced the same thing multiple times until I got with the right program that had my best interests at heart.
Having the right training program is crucial to your success online and can be the deciding factor that determines whether you’ll make it in this industry or be included in the 90% of people who don’t make it.
Which group of people do you fall under?
Why Do People Think Affiliate Marketing Is A Scam?
There are many reasons why one might think that this long standing business model is a scam but the ones that stand out to me the most are as follows.
Get rich quick programs and other shady systems out there promote affiliate marketing as a way to get rich quick without any hard work or investment.
This simply isn’t realistically possible as it takes lots of time and hard work before you’ll make your first dollar online.
There are also a plethora of link posting scams out there that are masquerading as a legit affiliate marketing training centers.
Don’t be fooled by them!!
Knowing the difference between a legit opportunity and one that appears to be legit can be the deciding factor that determines whether you’ll be the next victim of an online scam or not.
This industry is pretty jaded due to the fact that there are so many scammers out there representing this business model in entirely the wrong way.
Personally, for me, I fell victim to these scammers multiple times myself so I know how this feels and can totally understand why you may feel this way as I felt the same way when I first started my journey here 6 years ago.
Is Affiliate Marketing A Scam?
I think it’s quite obvious (at least it should be) that affiliate marketing definitely isn’t a scam based on the facts that I’ve presented you with here today.
Like I said earlier, this business model has been around for 22 years now and it’s 1 of the very few legitimate ways to earn money online.
Over the years I have shown many people how to earn a living online utilizing affiliate marketing and there is nothing more that I would love to do than show you how to follow in my steps.
When I first started out building my first affiliate marketing business I was able to make my first sale within 4 months in and by the time I had reached my 10th month I was earning a full time income online.
If this sounds intriguing to you and has peaked your interest then continue reading to see the program that I recommend you check out.
How To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams
Even though affiliate marketing is a totally legit business model that has been in existence for 22 years now there are many gurus out who like to deceive you and profit from your ignorance.
Thinking back 6 years ago, I was 1 of the many people that these con artists and scammers profited from my ignorance so I know exactly how it feels to be put in this situation.
It wasn’t until I discovered a program called Wealthy Affiliate that I was able to learn the truth about how affiliate marketing truly works instead of being told that I would be a millionaire by the time I woke up tomorrow morning.
Instead, I was told that I would have to work hard and invest a whole lot of time into this before seeing any noticeable results.
If you’re serious about learning how to build your very own affiliate marketing business that will enable you to earn affiliate commissions for recommending products and services on your website then I would highly recommend that you check out WA for yourself to see what they have to offer you.
Other than that, I really hope this blog post has helped you guys out and gave you a deeper understanding as too what this business model is about, how it works and whether or not it’s a scam.
Have questions or still aren’t exactly sure what affiliate marketing is all about?
Leave them for me in the comments below and I’ll get back to you ASAP with a detailed reply.
Until next time
Cheers
~Your Friend, Scott~
Learn More About Wealthy Affiliate Here