In this week’s episode of the Extra Paycheck Podcast we’re talking the Affiliate Marketing business model in 2018 and beyond.

Also available on: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | Tunein | Google Play | YouTube

“Affiliate Marketing is dead!”

“You can’t make money with affiliate marketing in 2018 (or 2017, or 2015, or 2011)”

I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard the same things about selling on Amazon, drop-shipping, creating websites for clients, becoming a freelancer and everything in between. Yet I keep meeting successful people who just started a new e-commerce store just a year ago or who became freelancers less than 6 months ago.

The reality is: people who don’t really want to succeed will always find an excuse for not starting. It’s much easier to feel bad for yourself and hate in potential competitors than actually take action. I get it. I am here today to talk about a very specific part of online business: affiliate marketing and its viability in 2018.

Numbers Don’t Lie

Here are some interesting numbers that you should pay attention to.

80% of U.S. retailers have some kind of affiliate program. That’s 8 out 10 brands.

U.S. retailers spent $4.7 Billion on affiliate marketing in 2016. Then $5.3 Billion in 2017. This amount is expected to grow to almost $7 Billion in 2020. That’s $ 7,000,000,000.00 if you like looking at those zeros. The best thing, you can grab a piece of this pie as well if you want to.

16% of all online sales are generated through affiliate marketing. The same amount of sales is generated through email marketing. This number has been growing year after year.

Let these numbers sink in. The affiliate marketing model has been growing and will only be growing. This alone proves that there is still a lot of money to be made in affiliate marketing.

Have You Noticed The Affiliate Marketing Model?

If you purchased any kinds of products or services online in the past few years – chances are you’ve made that purchase through an affiliate link. Have you ever bought anything through this very blog?

Maybe you bought some cool gifts on ThisIsWhyImBroke website. Maybe you followed a recommendation from Ask Men or Forbes or any other big online publication.

It’s also possible that you did your research before purchasing that 60″ TV and you finally made your decision after reading a review on Tom’s Guide or theWireCutter or TechRadar. These are all affiliate websites. By the way the WireCutter was launched in 2011 and was sold to The New York Times in 2016 for $30 Million, just a fun fact.

Have you used Momondo or Booking or Expedia or Hopper to book a flight, hotel or rent a car? Well all these websites are making their money through affiliate marketing.

Just because I named these huge websites doesn’t mean that you can’t make money as an affiliate marketer. I believe there is more opportunity now than ever before and just wanted to open your eyes that affiliate marketing is everywhere. It might seem like an obscure business model but it’s slowly becoming the biggest marketing strategy out there.

There are more details and examples in this episode so scroll up and make sure to listen to the full episode. You can also check out these resources:

How to start with affiliate marketing today

How to use Amazon Influencer program

Scroll up and press the PLAY button to hear the full episode.

Also available on: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | Tunein | Google Play | Mixcloud

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If you do have any comments or question, please do use the comment form below! I will answer every single one

– Alex

The post EPP 147: Is Affiliate Marketing Still a Viable Business Model In 2018? appeared first on Extra Paycheck Blog.