You see them everywhere you look: websites promising that
they'll tell you how to get rich and quit the day job – as
long as you pay them some money first, that is!
They can be very tempting. After all, who wouldn't pay $49
if it meant learning how to make thousands a week? Most of
them assure you that without their help, you have no chance
of becoming a successful affiliate marketer. But is that
true? Or is it possible to work out what to do on your own?
It can be argued that yes, it is possible. After all, what
do these programs really tell you? That it's a good idea to
build a website? How to drive traffic to your website? How
to write a good sales pitch? There are some who would say
these things are just common sense. Most people now realise
you need a website to make money on the internet, and there
are websites that tell you how to get traffic and write
good copy for free.
So why do people continue to spend money on affiliate
programs?
One good reason is to save time. It is possible to become a
successful affiliate marketer without help, but you'll make
mistakes along the way. A good affiliate marketing program
will tell you what to do and where to do it. The author
will already know the most effective ways of generating
sales, and they'll pass that information on. The money you
spend on an affiliate marketing program could therefore be
earned back in the first week, as you save the money you
might have spent on ineffective marketing techniques.
A second reason is because setting out to become an
affiliate marketer can be quite a daunting task. After all,
where do you start? What product do you choose to promote?
Is it best to try several products at once? Where do you
find said products? The list of things you need to organise
is long – a website, link tracking, autoresponders,
affiliate links for the products you want to promote. You
need to submit your site to search engines, find ways to
drive traffic to your site, try to improve your page
ranking…an affiliate program can be useful simply because
it takes you though how to do these things step by step.
For those of us who sometimes struggle with organisation,
that alone can be worth paying for!
And finally, you might pay for an affiliate program because
you need the information. You might be new to the internet.
You might only have heard the words `affiliate marketing'
for the first time yesterday. You might not even really
know what it is. If that's the case, an affiliate marketing
program could be the best thing you ever buy. Many are
aimed at people who have no idea what affiliate marketing
is or how to get started. They simplify everything, making
it simple to get started making money through the internet.
You could find out all this information on your own, as it
is out there – but how long would it take you? And what
marketing tricks would you miss?
Of course, none of these reasons might apply to you. You
might know what affiliate marketing is and have a good idea
to get started. You might already know where to find the
tools you need and how to use them. You might not mind the
idea of making mistakes while you learn – or feel so
confident that you think you won't make any!
If that's the case, then why should you buy an affiliate
marketing program? It won't tell you anything you can't
learn yourself through trial and error. But it's perhaps
the second of those two words that is the most important –
`error'.
You might not mind wasting time and money on mistakes. You
might not mind losing sales through inexperience. It can be
a good way to learn – and once you have made a costly
error, it's not likely that you'll make it again. But most
people want to become successful as smoothly as possible,
without the set-backs a lack of know-how can cause.
Affiliate programs don't eliminate mistakes. They will not
protect you from errors. But they do make the chances of
you committing one unknowingly less likely – and for that,
I say they are worth the money.
Anita Buchan: Is a full-time affiliate marketer who now wants to
help others become a success. For genuine affiliate
marketing opportunities and free resources visit http://www.dont-get-scammed.biz
