“If you don’t find a way to make money in your sleep, you’ll work until you die.” Warren Buffett. Yes you read it right, affiliate marketing enables marketers to earn round the clock even when they are asleep.
In today’s world if any profession could change your fate; it is definitely affiliating marketing. And trust me it’s not an overstatement at all. I personally know many affiliates (affiliate marketers) who are earning a lot and have uplifted their standard of living.
Technological advancement in IT has revolutionized business and marketing. Online marketing has replaced traditional marketing mediums and methods. One of the most rewarding modern marketing methods is affiliate marketing.
In this article we are going deep dive how affiliate marketing can be a gold mining career and how one can put can put his earning machine on auto pilot.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which business / brands pays third party partners for promoting services or products and generating business.
It is performance-based channel in which business pays fixed commission to affiliate for each conversion.
Affiliate marketers help businesses in meeting their marketing or sales objectives through their online platforms such as blog, website, social media page or profile. Affiliates; in result of their marketing efforts, earn commission against sales or customer traffic. Affiliate commission is normally pre agreed percentage on conversion or customer traffic.
How Does It Work?
To understand how affiliate marketing works we need to knows following main players involved.
Affiliate is a person who promotes the Business’s (merchant’s) product or services for commission.
Merchant is a person / brand / business entity that sell and promote its products or services through an affiliate.
Customers are audience of an affiliate who purchase or tend to purchase merchant’s product under the influence of marketing effort made by affiliate.
Affiliate Network is an inter-linker between a merchant and an affiliate. Affiliate network may or may not exist between affiliate and merchant. Most commonly affiliates register with merchant’s affiliate programs through merchant’s websites.
We all come across with affiliate marketing content daily, sometimes we ignore or some time we make a purchase under influence of affiliate’s content.
Let’s Understand This By Examples
Techcrunch com
Techcrunch com is top technology online magazine in the USA. And if I say it is one of the world’s best technology news and analysis websites it will not be wrong. Its traffic is about 15 million visits per month and it is considered as authority in tech analysis. Imagine the value of its review post, featured article or comment about a computer, electronic or technology gadget, product or tech brand if it publish as an affiliate.
Its annual revenue is $500.0 M to $ 1.0 B. Not clear how much of this revenue is from affiliate marketing but it is clear that affiliate program has substantive part in it.
Verywellfamily com
Verywellfamily com is a pregnancy and parenting blog based in New York. It publishes much helpful and detailed content for moms to be and mommies. While covering parenting topics they include affiliate links of brands and products relevant to nursing accessories, baby supplies, clothing etc. audience (readers) tend to purchase from merchant’s link as they believe in expertise of the affiliate here “verywellfamily.com”. And for such purchases / orders / or traffic the affiliate gets paid. According to an estimate annual revenue of this blog is $5.0 M to $ 10.0 M.
Affiliate marketing is not done or limited to websites or blogs only, it can be done by mobile apps and videos or Vlogs. As affiliate links are embedded in written content on websites or apps similarly referral links are given in description of videos. The audience / followers is redirected to merchant’s website / app and some of them end up in placing orders. Merchants track this online traffic and sales coming from affiliate and pay them according to agreed terms.
Why Businesses (Merchants) Pay Affiliates
Simple answer is for Customer Traffic.
Affiliates increase their brand’s awareness, web traffic and ultimately the sales.
Affiliates have their audiences of specific niches & micro niches with whom brands need to connect with.
Scope of Affiliate Marketing
According to an estimate about $ 7.5 billion was spent on affiliate marketing in year 2022.
It’s just the beginning and with the rising trend in online or virtual shopping, affiliate marketing is expected to touch new heights in future 2023.
So, this rapidly growing billion-dollar industry has lots of potential and room for new affiliates.
How Much An Affiliate Marketer Earn
How much an affiliate marketer can earn? Answer to this question is “No Limits” literally no limits.
But being realistic for a mediocre and not being over optimistic with reference to top affiliate marketers, an average affiliate can earn form $59 K to $190 K per year.
Having stated this average earning let me share my annual affiliate income. In year 2022 I bagged total $949000 from different affiliate programs despite my working was compromised for about two months.
Affiliate marketing is not kind of push-start button kind of thing, it needs time to mature your profile / page, audience and content.
For your motivation I am sharing categorized income slabs of affiliate marketers in 2022.
- Beginners – Up to $ 1000 per month.
- Intermediates – $ 1000 to $ 10,000 per month.
- Advanced / Experts – $ 10,000 to $ 100,000 per month
- Super affiliates – Above $ 100,000 per month