Affiliate marketing has proven to be one of the best ways of making money online But, can affiliate marketing make you rich? Well, let’s take a look at that.
To put it simply – yes, affiliate marketing can make you rich. I personally know people who have become rich primarily with affiliate marketing. However, you must understand that it almost certainly won’t happen overnight, it takes a fair amount of time and a lot of effort to achieve that.
The following article provides more detail regarding your question. Plus, steps to become rich doing affiliate marketing and many more.
With that being said, let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Affiliate Marketing: What Is It All About?
My definition: Affiliate marketing is a process, tactic, or marketing strategy that involves sharing and recommending other people’s products or services in exchange for a commission.
You find someone else’s product (either a company or an individual product), and you promote it on your blog, YouTube channel, or social media.
And if your audience or someone clicks on your affiliate link and purchases the product, you get compensated by the product creator.
Which is termed as commission.
To break it down here is how affiliate marketing works:
- You find a product you like or have used before either a physical or digital product.
- You then sign up with their affiliate program as an affiliate marketer.
- The product creator or the company will give a unique link, this link is what you’ll use to promote the product.
- Then you’ll have to promote this link to reach as many people as you can.
- And if someone clicks on that link and purchases the product, the product owner will compensate you.
P.S. I wrote another article where I share with you in detail what affiliate marketing is and how it works.
Can Affiliate Marketing Make You Rich?
Becoming rich with affiliate marketing is absolutely possible. You can make extra income or even a full-time income doing affiliate marketing from the comfort of your own home.
But the thing is, affiliate marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean, making money online with affiliate marketing and probably becoming rich with affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick kind of stuff or overnight success.
It takes real work, consistency, effort, persistence, and above all patience to reach that level.
Those who are often considered top affiliate marketers who are making a significant income from affiliate marketing.
I mean those who are making six, seven, and even eight figures from affiliate marketing.
Often spend years of hard work, following the right process before attaining that.
So… If you’re not willing to put in the necessary work, stop dreaming about becoming rich with affiliate marketing.
[bctt tweet="I Don't Care What Anyone Says...Being Rich Is A Good Thing."]
How Long Does It Take To Become Rich Doing Affiliate Marketing?
Making money online and probably with affiliate marketing takes time.
However, how long it is going to take you to make money off affiliate marketing varies based on so many factors.
One of The biggest factors that’ll determine how long you’ll make money from affiliate marketing is the NICHE you’re in.
In some niches, it’s very hard to get traffic to your content and your affiliate offers and this can delay your progress.
Traffic in affiliate marketing is extremely important.
If you can get a lot of targeted traffic to your offer you’ll probably make your first affiliate sale in a short time.
So, how can I get target traffic to my affiliate links? Great question!
Well, it all starts with CONTENT.
If you can write GOOD content that people are searching to consume or address your target audience’s needs and properly optimize for SEO. You’ll probably get the traffic.
So to do that, you want to first figure out what phrases, and terms people are typing into the search engines (Google).
When looking for answers to questions related to your niche or affiliate product.
And after figuring out that, you want to create content answering exactly those queries.
If you can create content that really matches or answers exactly those questions.
Guess what?
Over time, you’ll start getting a lot of targeted traffic to your website and affiliate link which sales and revenues.
How Long to Get Rich With Affiliate Marketing?
Generally speaking – it can take you a minimum of 8 months to 1 year to start making a decent income with affiliate marketing. However, if your plan is to get rich doing affiliate marketing then you need to invest at least 2 -3 years into building your affiliate business.
But more important.
Your overall success depends on your ability to create relevant, valuable, and high-quality content that is optimized for SEO and monetization.
NB: Also you want to focus on promoting high-ticket affiliate products. This is where the money is.
Are Affiliate Marketers Rich?
Yes, there are a lot of affiliate marketers who are making millions with affiliate marketing.
Once you have established a trusted audience and you promote a good product that will be helpful and relevant to your audience, you can get rich with affiliate marketing.
But it takes time and a lot of work in the beginning.
What Percentage Of Affiliate Marketers Are Getting Rich With Affiliate Marketing?
First and foremost, success in affiliate marketing depends on your marketing skills.
That said, out of the 100% of people who attempt affiliate marketing only 3% of them are getting rich with affiliate marketing.
The truth is, that 97% of people who fail with affiliate marketing are not actually GOOD at affiliate marketing.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean, a lot of people who try to make money off affiliate marketing don’t know or understand what it actually takes to succeed with this business model.
A lot of people think throwing their affiliate links across social media is going to make them money.
Well, that’s a wrong marketing strategy. With that kind of strategy, it’ll only lead you to failure in the long run.
So… If that’s you, you want to change your approach by first educating yourself on the topic of marketing.
I mean… Take time to learn about affiliate marketing so you can approach it the right way.
[bctt tweet="Your MIND Will Make Your RICH Or POOR, Depending On The Use You Put On It."]
How To Get Rich With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the profitable online businesses that can filthy make you rich and allow you to become financially independent when done right.
Here is a step-by-step guide on what it actually takes to become rich with affiliate marketing:
#1. Choose A Niche
Everything starts with a niche.
This is the most important part of affiliate marketing, the niche you decide to build your business around can make you succeed or fail.
That said… You need to take time to identify the niche you want to go after.
Don’t go after a niche simply because you see other marketers making a lot of money from it.
I recommend you pick something you’re at least passionate about, interested in, or want to learn about.
Why?
Well, the thing is, if you’re passionate or interested in something, you’ll definitely take massive action on it no matter the challenges.
Passion is the drive or the key to success.
Now, when you finally decide on the topic (NICHE) you want to build your business around.
There are a couple of things I want you to look out for, some of these are:
- You want to first figure out whether there is money in this niche or not
- Is there a demand for products in this niche
- Are there very good products in this niche that you can promote that your audience will love?
- Are there other affiliates making a decent income in this niche?
If you’ve found the answer to those questions and you’re satisfied with what you see.
Great!
You can then go in for that niche.
By the way…
If you ask for my advice, I would recommend you choose evergreen niches.
Why Evergreen Niches? Great question!
Well, with evergreen niches people are already familiar with them and the demand for products in this niche is very high and people never get tired of them.
People are constantly looking for products to purchase in this niche year after year.
It is not a seasonal niche, it has a product that people have the potential to better their lives.
Here Are Examples Of Evergreen Niches:
- Health & Fitness: In the world, we live in, there will always be a time when people want to lose weight, want to be healthier, want to build muscles. And if you have knowledge about this field, you can make decent money just by sharing helpful information with people.
- Wealth: In the world, we live in today, due to the financial crisis, people from all walks of life are looking for ways to make extra income for themselves and family. For some, they want to learn how to invest their money and for some, they want to learn how to start a business and make more money. And if you have a product, course, or any piece of information that teaches about any of that, you can build a business around this niche and make a handsome income simply by sharing a product or helpful information with people that you think will help them.
- Relationship: As human beings, in one way or the other we would love to interact with each other, be it through family, marriage, friendship, co-workers, etc. And people are always looking for ways to grow that relationship or repair any damage or misunderstanding in it and if you have any knowledge that can help people with that, they’ll be more than happy to pay you a lot of money to help them.
These are the 3 best niches online that can make you wealthy.
By the way, if your niche doesn’t fall under any of the areas I mentioned above.
- P.S. I have another post where I share with you some profitable niches in affiliate marketing. Check it out.
#2. Pick A High Ticket Affiliate Product
If you’re trying to become a millionaire or get rich doing affiliate marketing, then you probably need to promote a high-ticket affiliate program.
Promoting products that pay high commission is the only way to get there faster.
Instead of promoting low-ticket products that will take you forever to reach that level.
That said…
There are tons and tons of high-paying Affiliate Programs out there that you can choose to promote to your audience.
By the way…
There are two kinds of products that you can promote as an affiliate. Physical and digital products.
You can choose to promote physical products which are available on Amazon.
But one thing about physical products is that their commission level is a bit low.
But…
Digital products pay a pretty good commission.
For digital products, one of the best places to find them is:
- ClickBank
- Cj affiliate
- ShareAsale, etc.
By the way, you can check my Resource Page for my #1 recommended program. This program offers a high ticket product, meaning no more small commission.
They have a team that does the high ticket selling for you and also they offer one-on-one coaches that work directly with you.
Now… Here is what I want you to do.
After you have found the BEST product of your choice, don’t start to promote it to your audience right away.
Why? I recommend you buy the product yourself and use it.
Why?
Well, this is simple, so that you can find out whether or not it’s of GOOD QUALITY and will add value to your audience’s lives or not.
Because you don’t want to be promoting fake products to your audience…
Promoting products that add little to no value to your audience’s lives can do a lot of harm to YOU.
I mean… It can destroy the TRUST you spend years building with your audience and that can hurt you and your business in the long haul.
You must recommend products or services you care about and have experience with.
Foundationally, promote products that will TRANSFORM your audience live, If you can do that you’ll win.
I mean you’ll succeed in affiliate marketing.
I WANT YOU TO TAKE NOTE OF THIS:
- Make sure you sign up for affiliate programs that are profitable and will generate sufficient income for your effort.
- Take time to do thorough research about the product you choose to promote to be sure if they do payout commission to their affiliate or not.
- Check to see if other affiliates in your industry who are promoting the same program you’re about to promote are making money with it or not.
#3. Choose A Platform To Promote Your Product
Now as you’ve decided on your niche and you’ve selected your affiliate product.
The next thing is, you need to drive eyeballs (views) to that product before you can generate sales.
But not just any kind of view, it has to be targeted traffic.
What do I mean by targeted traffic?
Well, I mean people who may be interested in what you’re promoting and will likely buy it from you.
Not some sort of freebie seekers.
That means you need to know who your ideal customers are and where they mostly hang out online.
So you can target them specifically, not just anybody.
That said…
Here are some best online platforms where you can find your targeted audience:
- Blog
- YouTube
- Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc)
- Forums (Quora, Reddit, etc)
Above are all amazing platforms to find, connect with your audience, and promote your affiliate product to them.
But if you ask for my advice I recommend you focus only on ‘Blog & YouTube’.
Why?
Well, these two platforms have the potential to drive qualified, targeted, and relevant traffic to your affiliate offer which over time can turn into a lot of sales for you.
All the top affiliates in the world I know who are making significant income online with affiliate marketing all leverage the power of these two platforms.
And the strategy they utilize on these platforms to drive the right kind of traffic who are more likely to buy their offer is ‘Content Marketing’.
What then is content marketing?
Well, this is what we’ll be looking at in the next paragraph.
By the way, if you’re ready to get started with your own personal blog which I highly recommend you do.
- PS: If you don’t have a blog yet, which I highly recommend you do I wrote another article where I share with you step-by-step how to start a successful blog.
In the post, I also share with you how to research and write content for your blog and also some mistakes to avoid when blogging, and many more.
#4. Create Content People Love to Consume
As you’ve chosen a platform where you’re going to be promoting your affiliate product.
The next thing you need is traffic.
You need traffic in order to make sales with your product on that platform.
And one of the best ways to get quality traffic to your offer which will eventually result in affiliate sales is through content marketing.
As I stated earlier!
Online CONTENT is said to be king, but that’s halfway true, relevant, valuable, and high-quality content is indeed king.
Now…
As you’re on that platform you don’t want to start spamming your affiliate links with people.
That’s not professional!
But rather.
You want to start producing valuable content that your target audience will love to read.
I mean problem-solving content.
Content that will help solve or answer a particular question, problem, pain, or challenge that your audiences are facing.
By Definition:
Content is any piece of information that addresses or solves your target audience’s top challenges, problems, and pain.
Content provides solutions or answers that an audience sees value in.
That said.
I want you to keep this in mind:
Your content has to be relevant to the niche you’re in and the kind of product you promote.
For example, let’s say you’re in the ‘Health & Fitness’ niche, you can’t be creating content around how-to-make-money-online.
That’s not congruent.
The content you should be creating has to fall under the niche or topic you’re in.
Also, your content must be interesting and engaging enough to keep your audience coming back for MORE.
If you can do that, I bet you, over time you’ll start generating tons and tons of affiliate sales.
In the world of Zig Ziglar.
[bctt tweet=”You’ll Get What You Want If You Help Enough People Get What They Want.”]
DON’T FORGET THIS:
When you’re done with your content, before you press publish don’t forget to place your affiliate link within the content.
Why?
Well, we are here to make money. LOL!
#5. Capture Your Visitor’s Email Addresses And Build An Email List
This is where the money-making machine starts. If you don’t take anything from this post remember this.
The only way you’re going to make money with your affiliate business is through email marketing.
Why?
Well, the thing is, not everyone who sees your product for the first time is going to decide to buy that product at that moment.
People don’t do that, especially online.
I don’t know how true this is but it’s often said that people get to see an offer seven (7) times before deciding to buy it.
That means if you’re just sending people to a direct affiliate link without first capturing their email list so you can remarket your product to them if they don’t buy the product at their first exposure.
Guess what?
You’re leaving YOURSELF out of the equation, I mean you’re leaving huge money on the table.
If you truly want to make money online off affiliate marketing.
And become rich (that’s your dream right?) then you need to get serious about building your email list.
- P.S. I have another post where I share with you the importance of email marketing for affiliate marketers. Check it out.
That being said, to build your email list you’re going to need to sign up for an email service provider (I recommend GetResponse).
Here Is How To Build An Email List Fast For Affiliate Marketing:
1. First you need to sign up for an email service provider.
2. You must have a lead generation campaign (eg: Free PDF download, Free training course, etc).
Why?
- A way to build interesting prospects. But it must be real value that’ll solve some of their problems.
3. Promote and share your lead generation campaign.
- Promote it on targeted Facebook groups in your niche.
- Promote it in any of your content, eg, blog posts, YouTube, etc.
4. Build your audience and engage with them on a daily basis.
- Now as you have people on your list, you want to make sure you reply to any of their questions, or emails and provide an answer to whatever they may ask.
5. Follow up with your list through autoresponder on a daily basis to build the Know, Like, and Trust factor with your list.
- Continue adding useful value to your audience’s lives while they’re on your list. this will help you build strong trust and relationships with them in the long run and allow you to easily sell to them without hassle.
6. Sell to your list.
- You want to be marketing your product to them while you’re adding value to their lives.
IMPORTANT: Building an email list can change the course of your affiliate business.
If you’re going to focus on something in your business apart from content I’d highly recommend you focus on building your email list.
Which will grow over time AND can change your life and business in terms of financial growth.
There are tons of email software available on the internet that you can use to create a Landing Page/Squeeze and capture your visitors’ email addresses.
One of the best email marketing software I’ll highly recommend for you is GetResponse.
Why?
GetResponse offers all the marketing tools you need to run a successful email marketing campaign.
I use GetResponse myself and my experience with them was superb.
You can get started with Getresponse here for free.
( I’m an affiliate to Getresponse, meaning I’ll receive a small commission if you decide to go through my link, this is no additional cost to you, this helps me to focus on delivering more helpful content for you and others) Thanks For The Support!
Here is the link again to GetResponse.
Why Do Top Affiliates Keep Getting Rich With Affiliate Marketing?
Most successful affiliate marketers you see online today, who are making millions of dollars from their affiliate business and traveling around the world.
One thing you have to understand about these people is that they have already done the work and are now reaping the fruit of their labor.
That means.
If you also want to become rich with affiliate marketing, then you need to put in hard work.
But the thing is, hard work alone won’t get you there.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean you can’t be working on the wrong thing and expect to get rich.
You need to work smart.
That is, must you first commit to learning everything you can about the topic of affiliate marketing (thus, what is it all about, how it works, pros and cons, dos and don’ts, etc).
Why?
So, you can know you’re actually working on the right thing.
The thing is, you can’t be working on the wrong thing and expect to have a positive result.
Nope! It doesn’t happen like that.
Here Are Some Things To Do:
- You need to educate yourself on search engine optimization (SEO).
- Learn how to market online properly
- Focus on creating quality content.
- Learn about web design (optional). But learn as much as you can.
The above are all important but I recommend you focus more on SEO and CONTENT.
Why?
In affiliate marketing traffic is what will determine whether or not you’ll make money.
And if you can generate tons of traffic to your affiliate offer, you’ll likely make money.
And SEO is one of the best ways to generate a large amount of relevant and high-quality traffic or leads to your offer.
Which over time will eventually lead to sales.
So work on SEO and try to be helpful by providing useful VALUE for your audience.
[bctt tweet="A "Job" Won't Make You Rich."]
Why Can’t I Get Rich Doing Affiliate Marketing?
There are a lot of valid reasons why some people don’t get rich with affiliate marketing.
One of these is that people give up too early. If you don’t give up, your chances of success or getting rich are far higher.
Also, a lot of people approach affiliate marketing as a quick easy way of making money online.
They think they can just post their affiliate link on their blog or social media and the next day they’ll start seeing money rolling into their bank account.
Sorry! It doesn’t work like that.
And by the time they figured out that it’s not easy and that it requires hard work, effort, consistency, and time.
Guess what?
They quit.
With that being said there are a good number of people who actually make a handsome income from their affiliate business.
Here Are A Couple Of Reasons Why You Have Not Seen Any Real Results With Affiliate Marketing & Some Of Them Could Be:
- You’re Not Providing Any Useful Value
- Lack Of Required Skill Set
- Wrong Expectation
- Only Focusing On Making Money First
- Not Build Trust And Relationship With People
- Lack Of Consistency
- Lack Of Patience
PS: I have another post where I share with you 14 reasons why you’re not making any affiliate sales.
Who Are The Richest Affiliate Marketers In The World?
There are a vast majority of affiliate marketers out there who are making a very sustainable income from affiliate marketing so there is no definitive answer to who is the richest affiliate in the world.
However, as I did my research I found Pat Flynn to be one of the most successful affiliates in the world.
When it comes to affiliate marketing, Pat Flynn is considered to be the best.
He’s extremely successful with affiliate marketing and is completely honest and transparent about it.
Another one is John Crestani.
This guy makes a huge income from his affiliate business.
He has generated over $30,000,000 from his business so far but I think the majority of that comes from his own product.
Here Is A List Of Some Of The Richest Affiliates In The World:
- Pat Flynn
- Robby Blanchard
- Jeremy Shoemaker
- Affiliate Summit
- Zac Johnson
- Andrew Payne
- Adam Enfroy
- Mark Ling
- Darren Rowse
- Mathew Woodward
- David Risely
- Ian Fernando
[bctt tweet="SomeDay, I'm Going To Have It All."
FAQs About Can You Get Rich Doing Affiliate
Can You Get Rich With Affiliate Marketing?
Yes, you can get rich doing affiliate marketing. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you can start with no initial investment and when done correctly with the right strategies, it can definitely make you rich. However, it is not an overnight process, it takes a lot of work and time to achieve that.
Is Affiliate Marketing Easy?
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online but it is not an easy or quick way of making money online as a lot of so-called gurus proclaimed it to be. Affiliate marketing, in theory, the process seems easy but in practice, it is not, it’s very hard. It takes a lot of hard work, effort, and determination to see success in this business model.
Why Is Affiliate Marketing So Hard?
Well, generally affiliate marketing is not hard. But it can be hard if you’re just starting out with no proper knowledge and guidance. However, if you have the right help everything becomes easy. So, commit to learning everything you can about affiliate marketing and implement what you learn and you will get there.
Does It Cost Money To Do Affiliate Marketing?
To put it simply -no, it doesn’t cost any money to run an affiliate marketing business. Most of the affiliate programs are free to join and you can absolutely market your product for free on platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, Forums, etc, and still make a handsome income.
However, going for free, you’re going to put in a lot of effort in order to see success and it’ll take much longer than if you invest in advertising, software, tools, and products to grow your business.
- PS: You can read more here on: It Cost How Much To Do Affiliate Marketing
How Much Can A Beginning Affiliate Marketer Earn?
How much you can earn doing affiliate marketing is endless. I mean there’s no specific amount of income designed for one to earn doing affiliate marketing.
That said, you can earn anything from $0 to $100,000 or even more depending on your effort, the amount of targeted traffic you’re getting on your affiliate offer, your knowledge level about your niche, the quality of your content, etc.
Generally, most beginning affiliates can earn anything from $100 to $1,000 per month, average affiliates earn $10,000 to $45 per month and top affiliates earn $100,000 or more per month.
- Recommended Reading: How Much Money Do Affiliates Make
How Long Does It Take To Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing?
Making money with affiliate marketing takes time, however, you can start making your first commission within 6 months or a year if you work hard enough by producing more helpful content on your website and driving a good amount of targeted traffic to your affiliate offer.
It doesn’t have to take you 3 to 5 years before making your first affiliate commission if you do things properly.
- PS: You can read more here on: How Long To Affiliate Marketing
Is Affiliate Marketing Saturated?
Well, the answer to this question can be YES and NO in some cases. However, affiliate marketing is not saturated in general. It is only getting saturated in certain niches such as health & fitness and the finance industry.
This is simply because more and more marketers are jumping into this field because they see a lot of money being made in these niches.
That said, if you want to be successful with affiliate marketing today, the best path to take is to go after a niche you’re passionate about, which is relatively low but has a high search volume.
Going after a niche like Health & Fitness, Finance, etc chances are that it’ll take you forever to make your first affiliate sale.
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth The Effort?
Absolutely yes, affiliate marketing is worth the effort. The affiliate marketing industry is expected to increase to 8.2 billion and this alone shows that affiliate marketing is going to be with us in the coming future.
In the years to come, we’ll still see affiliate marketing growing tremendously by adopting new technologies, strategies, and trends.
So, if you’re looking to start an affiliate marketing business or you’re already into it.
And you’re wondering if this whole business model is really worth your effort or not, yes it’s still worth the effort and you’re not behind.
Staying updated and learning new things is the key to success not just in Affiliate Marketing alone but in other fields as well.
Affiliate Marketing has developed and adapted new marketing strategies so be willing to learn from your mistakes as you go along.
Investing in a course and learning how to properly approach affiliate marketing the right way is the best investment for anyone who wants to get started with affiliate marketing.
- PS: You can read more here on: Is Affiliate Marketing Really Effort The Effort
Is Affiliate Marketing Still Profitable?
Yes, it is. Affiliate marketing is still profitable and will be profitable for years to come as more and more companies are getting online and are willing to pay affiliate marketers to promote their products for them.
However, affiliate marketing is only profitable for people who build relationships and trust with their audience by first offering valuable content that solves their audience’s problems, before recommending a product to them to purchase.
Can I Join Multiple Affiliate Programs?
“Well, the answer to that is yes. Promoting more than one affiliate product can allow you to make more money in your affiliate business.
But if you’re just getting started, I recommend you focus only on promoting one program until success before moving to another one.
Promoting more one than one product can get you overwhelmed which is the main reason why most newbie affiliates fail.
So, after you get used to promoting one product and you’re getting enough attraction for that product, then you can promote something different.
So, first, focus only on one offer and then something else later.
Wrapping It Up!
If you asked me years ago whether or not affiliate marketing can make you rich I’d say NO but today.
It definitely YES, affiliate marketing can make you rich. However, it doesn’t happen overnight.
However, affiliate marketing can put you in a position of making a passive income which can literally change your life financially.
But remember… Your success in affiliate marketing, like any other type of business out there, is determined by the amount of time and effort you put into building your business.
Also…
- How much quality and targeted traffic you’re generating on your affiliate links.
- The way you convince your audience to purchase your product, etc.
That said, you need to also understand who your target audiences are and learn how to market to them properly.
That means…
You’d have to follow a good affiliate marketing course that teaches everything about affiliate marketing and the best way to approach it to find success.
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