Affiliate Marketing the easiest and best to start off in Internet Marketing?

[bertuseng]

A lot of people think this is the easiest way to start in Internet Marketing. I came up with a list of pros and cons and was wondering what you all think:

Pros:
- Easy to start in
- Don't need a website
- Low start up cost (could be free actually)
- Can use free traffic generation techniques
- Great commissions
- You don't need your own product

Cons:
- You need to learn more to become really successful
- You probably need a website and autoresponder for long term profits
- You only get part of the profits of the product you sell.

What do you all think. Is the really the best way to start out in the Internet Marketing world?

[RGallowitz]

I wouldn't say it's the BEST, but at least for me it was and still is.
Once you get everything down to a T and you have a system in place then it becomes something very big, very quick.

You actually outweighed the cons in your post with the Pros.
Fact is, Affiliate marketing is the easiest and fastest way to make money online. It's good old referral marketing on steroids ;-)


Cheers
Reinhardt

[Amelia O]

Yes.. That is so true..

In fact alot of the marketers didn't realise that in order to get the best out of affiliate marketing , is to actually have their own site and autoresponder.

[DrewG]

I would say so, yes. I read a great post by Glowleaf and how affiliate marketing compares to being a mercenary - We are mercenaries Glowleaf

You're not really 'tied down' to anything, you can promote and push any product/thing you want.

[Nelson Guedes]

Can you be successful at affiliate marketing without a website or autoresponder?

I tried it. I used twitter as my traffic source and got a few hundred people to go to my links. The result? 1 sign up for a free service. He didn't take the OTO. So I got nothing out of it.

But... if I had a squeeze page and an auto-responder, I could have around 100 people in my list now, and I could have sent a few e-mails to them and made some money. Instead of exposing them to 1 offer, I could have exposed each one of them to, let's say 7 offers. So that would have been 700, or 7 times more traffic into my offers, had I used that strategy.


In other words.... affiliate marketing without a squeeze page and auto-responder is not that different then a regular job based on active income!

[VinnyBock]

I do think it is the best way to start, IF, and its a big IF you do it right...
It's The best way to start only because of the convenience of it, its free, no customer service.. ect...
But I would have to disagree that it's the easiest. It's not easy, if it was easy, everyone would be a super affiliate, and the failure rate wouldnt be in the high 90's percentile...

[JohnMcCabe]

You might have been able to expose that list to seven offers, but if they were the wrong 100 people, you still would not have made any money. The gap between 'free' and 'paid' is huge, even the $1 trial.

The best list is people who actually buy something from you or your recommendation. Next best is people who have bought, within the niche, from someone. One more step lower on the ladder, and you have people who have never visibly purchased anything, but belong to a niche market known for spending money on the niche. Bottom rung, you have the freebie hunter, willing to take anything someone will offer them for free, but refusing to part with nickel one.

You might monetize the freebie hunter with a CPA offer, but that's about it...

Originally Posted by Nelson Guedes

Can you be successful at affiliate marketing without a website or autoresponder?

I tried it. I used twitter as my traffic source and got a few hundred people to go to my links. The result? 1 sign up for a free service. He didn't take the OTO. So I got nothing out of it.

But... if I had a squeeze page and an auto-responder, I could have around 100 people in my list now, and I could have sent a few e-mails to them and made some money. Instead of exposing them to 1 offer, I could have exposed each one of them to, let's say 7 offers. So that would have been 700, or 7 times more traffic into my offers, had I used that strategy.


In other words.... affiliate marketing without a squeeze page and auto-responder is not that different then a regular job based on active income!

[actionplanbiz]

i say its always best to test a nich with an affiliate product before you make your own anyway.

so yes i agree, its the best and easiest way to start.

[bertuseng]

Of the course the ultimate is if you create your own product and let other people be YOUR affiliates. Not so easy though...

[Nelson Guedes]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

You might have been able to expose that list to seven offers, but if they were the wrong 100 people, you still would not have made any money. The gap between 'free' and 'paid' is huge, even the $1 trial.

The best list is people who actually buy something from you or your recommendation. Next best is people who have bought, within the niche, from someone. One more step lower on the ladder, and you have people who have never visibly purchased anything, but belong to a niche market known for spending money on the niche. Bottom rung, you have the freebie hunter, willing to take anything someone will offer them for free, but refusing to part with nickel one.

You might monetize the freebie hunter with a CPA offer, but that's about it...

The best way to deal with freebie hunters is by capturing them on several membership sites and viral branded e-books. They get everything for free... including your cookies!

Eventually they will buy something, or even if they don't, you don't have to worry about them.

As for the difference between $1 and FREE, you are absolutely right! This is one of the reasons why I'm strongly considering selling my upcoming e-book for $1 instead of giving it away for free....

[Nelson Guedes]

Originally Posted by bertuseng

Of the course the ultimate is if you create your own product and let other people be YOUR affiliates. Not so easy though...

That's the ONLY way to go. There are many advantages to having your own product! You can use it to build your credibility, build your list, create joint ventures... what are you going to use to get yourself a jv with a successful affiliate? An e-book that can be purchased for $6? It's VERY important to have your own thing going, your own product. These are some of the reasons why I'm starting my whole "carreer" with one!

[pcjunior]

Hi everybody!!
Im relatively new on the online marketing field. Still looking for information so that i will be able to get the hang of things. great post, just like to add.

Phil