When you’re new to affiliate marketing, no doubt you want to know how long it will take to become a full time affiliate marketer. While you can start making money within the first couple of months, I usually tell people to give it at least 6 to 12 months before they can expect enough of an income to quit their day job. The reason I say this is because giving the answer “it depends” usually doesn’t sit well with people. But really, it does depend on your specific situation. Let’s get into what those variables are.
How Much Time Are You Spending Building Your Business?
If you take two people creating nearly identical websites around the same topic, but one person works 40hrs per week while the other one works 7 hours per week, it’s obvious who will likely see success first.
Creating an online affiliate marketing company is ideal for those who want to start a business without quitting their regular jobs. So naturally, many people will only be able to work on their business a couple hours per day or even less. I’m here to tell you…
That’s ok!!
You really can work on your affiliate business on your own time and you can go as fast or as slow as you desire. Just know that in general, the more hours you put in up front, the sooner you’ll see success. And what happens when you start seeing success? Your income will be residual! Work you do today will make you money for years to come.
The more pages you build on your site and the faster you do it, the quicker that residual income can begin compounding and allow you to quit your job.
What Is Your Niche?
Some niche topics are more competitive than others. If you have a niche related to the weight loss industry, it will probably take you a lot longer to reap the rewards of your efforts compared to an obscure industry, like reviewing and promoting harmonicas. Can you make more with a competitive industry? You bet! That’s why it’s competitive! However, I highly recommend for your first website you start with a smaller niche. Seeing residual income flowing in, even when it’s a small amount, is a HUGE confidence booster. I know from experience!
Choose Your Affiliate Partners Wisely
When I first launched DogFoodInsider.com, I was planning on promoting PetFoodDirect.com since they have a high paying affiliate program (up to 40% of the sale). The thing is, I wasn’t converting many visitors into paying customers.
I decided to try using Amazon.com instead, even though they only pay out up to 8% commissions. Know what? I’m making a ton more with Amazon than PetFoodDirect. But why?
For a couple reasons. First, everyone knows and trust Amazon already. Most people have an account and use Amazon all the time anyway. This increases my conversion rates substantially. In addition, even though my site is about dog food, most commissions I receive from my Amazon Associates Account are from sales of non-pet related items. It seems as long as I get people “through the door” so to speak, they tend to make purchases on Amazon. So make sure whoever you are partnering with not only pays well, but also has a great conversion rate. In some cases, like in my example, the lower paying business is actually more profitable.
What Are You Promoting?
Let’s say you have a website promoting e-books under $5. Even if you receive a 50% commission on each sale, you’re only making $2.50 per sale. That means, you’d need a LOT of traffic to be able to quit your full-time job.
But what if instead, you started a website selling million dollar homes? Even if you only received a 1% commission on a $1,000,000 sale, you’re lookin’ at a $10,000 commission on just one sale!
Of course, there will be far more people willing to buy a $5 ebook than spend $1,000,000 on a home, so you can start to see the balancing act that needs to be played here. Obviously, these are both extreme examples, but it gets the idea across. Find the balance you are comfortable with.
How Many Mistakes Are You Making?
Some of you reading this may have already spent a lot of time and effort trying to earn an affiliate income, but without a whole lot of success. Others might be totally new to affiliate marketing and still researching if this is a viable business to get into.
In either case, there’s one thing I can tell you for sure – mistakes are inevitable. What separates those who find true success from those who simply give up is how you label those “mistakes” in the first place.
Thomas Edison attempted to create the lightbulb more than 10,000 times. So even though he failed the first 9,999 times, he didn’t care. In fact, I love a quote of his that says: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Each “failure” of his was actually a step towards success.
If you are able to take mistakes with ease and simply learn from them as you push forward, you will reach the finish line MUCH faster than those who don’t handle mistakes and failures well. If you’re one of those people, the chances of you finishing this race is very slim. So decide to change your attitude about failure and making mistakes right this second. No longer will mistakes hold you back, because you know that for each mistake you make, you are one step closer to success.
Of course, the ultimate goal in any business is to do things right the FIRST time!
And hey, that’s why I’m here! If you haven’t done so yet, I highly recommend you sign up for my free 7-day affiliate marketing e-course. If you lay the proper foundation for your business, you will be much more likely to succeed while also limiting your mistakes (not eliminating mistakes, but limiting them). That’s exactly what I teach in my e-course. How to develop a rock solid business plan that WILL WORK.
How Much Of Your “Work Time” Is Actually Spent On Work
Right now, you’re researching. Which is great! But sometimes, new affiliate marketers spend so much time “researching” that they never actually BUILD their business! At some point, “research” actually becomes a detriment to you and slows down your success. I think a lot of new affiliate marketers get caught up in this trap due to anxiety. They don’t feel like they are “ready yet” and are actually subconsciously avoiding actual work by justifying their lack of action with “researching.” Don’t fall into that trap. The best way to research and learn is to just jump in the pool and start swimming.
The internet is also a very distracting place. Make sure your work-time is actually being spent on work. No Facebook, no emails to friends, no YouTube and no going to the bathroom. Well, ok, you can go to the bathroom, but make it quick!
Final Thoughts About Becoming A Full Time Affiliate Marketer
When discussing how long it will take to become a full time affiliate marketer, there really isn’t a right answer. This is unfortunate, because EVERY new affiliate marketer wants to know how long it will take. The short answer is… wait for it…
GET RICH QUICK IS A SCAM!
This website has nothing to do with helping you get rich quick, but it has everything to do with helping you start a successful BUSINESS. A real business. If you expect to succeed without putting in any work and seeing success in 2 weeks, you’re on the wrong website.
But if you’re looking for a way to grow a LEGITIMATE online business, this is the place to be. If you have enough patience, you’ll be rewarded with a career that pays exceptionally well and one that runs on autopilot 24/7/365. I literally wake up every morning (without an alarm clock, I might add) and the first thing I do is check my phone to see how much money I made while I was asleep.
Oh, and I never have to provide customer service to anyone, store my own products, rent an office or even leave my home. There has never been a better way to make a living than becoming a full time affiliate marketer.
You can either try another get rich quick method, or you can start growing your BUSINESS today. In a year from now, you’ll be 1 year older. Will you be in the same position you are now? Or will you be the owner of a revenue generating online business?
Start today! RIGHT NOW!
Sign up for my free 7-day affiliate marketing e-course and let’s get started! Making money online really is possible and yes… even YOU can do this! Let’s go!
