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Disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing
There really aren't many true cons to affiliate marketing. Your risk
is generally limited and you're never too committed to any one program.
The only true cons come from possible mistakes and some lost
opportunities.
First, mistakes should be pretty easy to overcome once you understand
them. The only real mistake that will cost you directly is purchasing
advertising for your affiliate marketing. Many people lose hundreds of
dollars because their paid advertising on google fails to convert.
Before they can adapt, it's all over and the money's gone. This is
pretty easy to overcome. Only use pay-per-click advertising, or any paid
advertising, on a product with a known the conversion rate. Only then
can you crunch the numbers to find a great opportunity. Even then, it is
not for new affiliate marketers.
Second, another mistake is failing to read the competition. You're just
spinning your wheels when it comes to certain affiliate products. Very
popular programs with established affiliates are generally not great
options. Such programs probably have stiff competition that has already
established itself with article marketing and paid advertisement. It is
obviously possible to grab a slice of a tough market, but constantly
following the crowd means wasted opportunity.
Third, the competition is tough. The downside of being an affiliate
marketer is that you'll be facing people who are actually going after
the exact same market. You will also need to remember that the people
who hired you have no real desire to help you sell if they have the
power to make sales without you. You may be trying to out-advertise the
main company at times.
Fourth, possible lost opportunities. If you focus entirely on affiliate
marketing, you may neglect some great ideas to just run a normal site
with a good program. This isn't a huge con, but you don't want to become
focused on this as your only option. Try to eventually rise above it. If
you want, you can possibly form your own business and hire your own
affiliates.
Fifth, lack of control. You have no actual control of the program
itself. They will almost always pay out if you sign up through a secure
third party. That works like escrow. Then again, you lack control of the
website itself. Many do not pay for leads that ask for a refund. If the
company makes a bad product or offers bad customer service, you can lose
a lot of money for reasons beyond your control. You also have to
remember that your star program could go belly up the next day and leave
you up the creek without a paddle.
Sixth, trust. You have to trust your company. This isn't a big issue
with most of the major handers I'll mention later. Individual companies
can easily forge records and lie about conversions though. Stick to the
trusted people to avoid this in modern companies. New transparent
processes also make this a dying problem.
These are all the issues with affiliate marketing. I won't lie. It isn't
some unguarded money tree. You'll have to put in some work and some
research if you really want to make it work. The advantages will make it
infinitely better for many people though. |
