Naysayers often believed affiliate marketing would crash as soon as it expanded on the internet over the years. However, with the industry still going strong, lots of people are quitting their jobs to become affiliate marketers. The affiliate marketers out there who stuck it out, having faith in the industry when so many people said it would fail, are surely laughing now.
With that said, the way people take risks depends from person to person. That’s why as an affiliate marketer it’s important to determine personal boundaries when it comes to how much one is willing to risk or play it safe for the sake of their business. As the saying goes, with no risk, there is no reward.
To keep themselves in check as they take risks, marketers tend to put limits on themselves so they don’t spend too much time on a failed project. This practice actually resembles the Martingale system, an 18th-century concept developed by John Henry Martingale, which was created to help roulette players stay in check as they made bets. Regardless of whether someone plays in-person or through an online platform, this strategy can help them manage their gameplay to get the most out of the experience.
The way it works is that for every loss, the player would then double the bet for the next round. In the event that the player wins that round, then they are back at the beginning, and no loss was made. Conversely, if they continue to lose, then players determine a set limit they will not go over, which tends to be a low number to keep stakes relatively low. The goal is to keep having fun within a set of boundaries to help plan for the long term.
Without knowing it, many marketers give themselves the same limits when it comes to taking risks in their field. The key is to determine limits beforehand so marketers don’t lose track of their goals. It’s this sort of push-pull that drives the risks and rewards of affiliate marketing, and with practice and a cautious hand, the risks pay off.
The Risks of Affiliate Marketing
Due to the fact that affiliate marketing is so flexible, it is also extremely relative. Internet and tax laws vary depending on each country, which can be quite difficult to work in multiple markets. It’s important to either study the laws of the country or countries to assure no laws are being broken.
Another risk, similar to how relative affiliate marketing can be, is how specific the markets are. While a great part of affiliate marketing appears more trustworthy than traditional advertising, it also means that content and strategies have to be designed for extremely niche audiences. This can be quite difficult for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time on their hands, because a blanket strategy will not do the trick in this case.
Finally, the other risk many affiliate marketers have to battle is fraudulent affiliates. These are people who are willing to take advantage of others, whether by poor business practices or plain old scams. Many affiliate marketers struggle at the beginning of their careers to filter good partners from bad ones, but with time and patience, they are successful.
The Rewards
On the flip side, affiliate marketing has loads of benefits. Once entrepreneurs have their channels, partners, and strategies set up for each market, the rest is a cakewalk. Furthermore, once a brand is on its feet, it tends to expand quite fast, some as little as six months. However, that’s not to say that affiliate marketing is a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and dedication to nurture and develop the relationships involved to truly grow.
Luckily, it’s also a much more cost-efficient option compared to other forms of advertising. Ultimately, as long as they take care of their relationships and pay attention to the details, affiliate marketers do quite well.
That’s because they’re working with niche, yet active, audiences. While niche audiences might be a blessing and a curse, when it comes to activity, working with smaller groups tends to be much more effective than with large ones.
