As a 6-figure affiliate marketer, my immediate answer to Is Affiliate Marketing worth it is, yes. I’ve owned many businesses from catering to children’s clothing, to real estate and beyond, and by far, affiliate marketing is my favorite, and worth it.
Affiliate Marketing is worth it for the passive income, recurring affiliate commissions, low start-up costs, high profitability, the benefits for the family, the fun creative process, the ability to set my own schedule and take time off, the ability to work from home, and the proven repeatable process.
Here’s More.
Passive Income
The income you earn through affiliate marketing is considered passive income. Other sources of passive income include retirement accounts, dividend stocks, and more. You can think of affiliate marketing as owning a website on which you get paid to promote products.
While the actions you take to generate affiliate traffic are active, when the money comes in, it’s passive.
I recently took 2 months off and was able to keep up my income the entire time. I don’t believe I could retire today and earn money, forever, but for a while, yes. Eventually, it requires me to step back in, and write another blog, or create another video, or teach another class to keep the traffic coming.
I create evergreen content. It’s the kind of content that doesn’t require frequent updating and brings in traffic long term. My favorite platforms for this kind of affiliate marketing are Youtube and Blogs.
Recurring Affiliate Commissions
Another reason I consider affiliate marketing worth it, is because some affiliate programs offer commissions for the lifetime of the client. And with subscriber-based referrals such as software, this can add up quickly.
By promoting essential software that one is likely to stick with long-term, this stream of income can grow quickly, and last years.
I have one relationship where the brand pays me 45% of each recurring customer. And there are more than 200 customers now paying about $75.00 per month.
I have another that only pays me $14 per month per customer, but is over $1,000 every month.
Rinse and Repeat Process
Once you have a proven process or adopt a model from another successful marketer, you simply rinse and repeat for success.
Some affiliate marketers use paid ads, others use video, some use blogs, and some affiliate marketers use social media as their main source of referrals.
For example, I know that if I create a tutorial video on Youtube that does well, and I include affiliate links in the description, I’m likely to generate referrals.
When I have a blog that climbs the pages of Google and ranks for a particular term, I’ll generate traffic to that website. And when I have traffic to the page, I can drive traffic to my affiliate offers.
Work From Home
Another reason that affiliate marketing is worth it is that it can easily be done from home. I’ve done it from my phone in bed, laptop in the park, and desktop in the dining room. The possibilities are endless when you can work from anywhere with internet access.
I can control the temperature, go to work in my pajamas, and have my cat nearby. I can play music, open the window, and eat whatever I want without offending co-workers.
Working from home is an advantage that makes affiliate marketing worth it.
Customizing the Schedule
Being able to control your schedule is another benefit of affiliate marketing. As I said in the opening of this article, I just took two months off in order to move into a new house. I got to unplug from work and focus on getting my move done properly, customize the new house, and take my daughter to college. Not once did I feel guilty about not working.
I’m an early bird. I’m up usually around 4 AM and have the most creative energy during the coffee hours. By the time evening comes, I’m not quite as sharp, and enjoy that time off.
There’s no missing ball games or dance recitals, date night is never contested, and day trips to office hour only businesses, don’t require a formal request for a long lunch.
Therefore, making my own schedule makes affiliate marketing worth it.
Family-Based Business
In my case, I have used my affiliate income to benefit many members of my family. In fact, I was recently able to buy a house for my Mom to live in based on my affiliate income.
My brothers now have affiliate streams of income because I was able to teach them how to repeat the process.
My kids have the option to work in the business, become partners, or run their own streams of income.
Imagine creating a legacy that can pass down to your kids, or include them from a young age. Many spouses and partners work together to build their affiliate marketing businesses.
The fact that my business benefits my extended family makes affiliate marketing worth it.
Low Start-Up Cost
For affiliate marketers taking to Youtube, Blogging, or Social Media, the start-up costs are minimal. While you’ll need the basics: computer, camera, microphone, web hosting for your website, they are nothing compared to starting a brick and mortar business.
Outside of my favorite SEO Tool, my link builder tool, and my CRM to communicate with my database, my marketing stack is a pretty small expense.
Those who start with advertising to generate traffic will certainly have a higher start-up cost.
The low start-up cost makes affiliate marketing worth it.
Highly Profitable
Out of all of my businesses, affiliate marketing is the most profitable. With low monthly expenses and recurring affiliate commissions, I can operate a very profitable business.
My business doesn’t require me to have a big team or manage a large payroll. In fact, I’m the only one on the payroll.
My biggest expense is content, which I sometimes hire out from content brokers and ghostwriters.
In this case, I actually used my AI writing assistant, Jasper, to help me move this blog along. It’s a cool piece of software that makes suggestions as you type for content you may want to include in your blog.
It’s also great for writing headlines, product descriptions, meta descriptions, google ads, and more.
My second highest expense is software, and there isn’t much to speak of after those.
When I have the cash flow, I invest heavily in content. When I need more available cash, I can pause on the heavy content push.
The fact that this business is so profitable makes affiliate marketing worth it.
Affiliate Marketing is Fun
I love affiliate marketing because it’s challenging and exciting. I find that it’s never boring, and I’m always learning and growing in the craft. Whether I’m chasing Google rankings with search engine optimized blogs, or creating a video designed to introduce my offers to viewers, I’m never bored.
I do enjoy sitting behind a computer for long periods of time, so that helps, greatly. I keep my time on camera quite a big shorter, however.
I also enjoy teaching, and the affiliate marketing business is a fun business to teach. The fact that this is a fun business, makes affiliate marketing worth it.
