Intro To Affiliate: What You Need To Know
136: Easiest business model to start, but the hardest one to master.
Welcome reader! Today’s post introduces affiliate marketing as a business model and what one must understand before starting. Affiliate marketing is not often portrayed accurately. It tends to be flashy and presented as if it only takes a few clicks for you to get results. There is some truth to that. However, affiliate marketing is one of the most complex business models. Yet to start or look for more information? Start with this post.
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What No One Will Tell You About Affiliate Marketing
What is affiliate marketing: How often have you heard of it without understanding its process? The truth is that it all boils down to promoting products and getting commissions. That is what affiliate marketing is all about, and it covers 80% of the key principles. For those who are just starting and have zero ideas about how the process looks: 1) find an affiliate network, 2) choose an offer you like, 3) sign up for that offer, 4) get accepted, and 5) receive your link that you will post around. We won't be getting deeper into the underlying mechanics. How do the link, cookies, and everything else work? Leaving it up for you to research. We will also avoid discussing how different industries pay different commissions and the idea behind that. Our advice? If you want a competitive advantage, understand the product and the industry you are trying to promote.
Master of all trades: Another common misconception is that it only takes getting a link, posting it online, and waiting for sales. This approach works if you build a personal brand (source) and have enough credibility for others to trust what you say. A great example is large political accounts on Twitter that often have discounts on products and special links. It should be clear to anyone reading this what they are doing. This method is more passive and requires much less effort. On the other side you have those who do it actively. Working on creatives, publishing videos, running media buying on social media, using spy tools to gain an edge over competitors, or playing SEO games trying to rank and pull organic traffic. What is the difference between the two? Huge. The active approach requires knowledge of multiple business skills—from creative development (coming up with the ad) to understanding human behavior (knowing what makes people click). Once you reach a certain point, things become even more complicated as you need to know how to bypass restrictions, ensure you are not getting blocked by payment providers, and ensure the network covers your bills. At the same time, affiliates are the ones who put specific codes into their landing pages (so if someone tries to rip them off, they still earn commissions) or build custom software (cloaking - CRM-type applications). This tells you much about the field and what it takes to play on a high level. Affiliate marketing is the easiest business model to enter but the hardest to master. The gap between those barely making anything and those at the top is huge. It is one of those things where higher risk means more money. What comes with the risk? Stress and sleepless nights. The choice is yours.
The dark side of affiliate marketing: This concept is hard to grasp. Yet… No one will ever tell you that most successful affiliates don't care about their customers. If you are wondering why this matters in the first place, it often comes down to them selling subpar products or using manipulations to get what they want—commission. Does that mean you should avoid trying affiliate marketing altogether? Far from it. It means you should recognize what it often takes to succeed. More accurately, consider what your competitors are doing. As big companies play their games to maximize profits. The same goes for affiliates trying to win over their target audience. Selling energy savers to boomers (source)? How about using Elon as the face of a product and manipulating viewers into believing this is the real deal? No one can deny that this could generate a commission. Another common one you can. Playing straight up on man's insecurities and human nature. Something you can’t go against. It is the same reason cosmetics and beauty products will never go out of fashion—playing on insecurities. These are basic examples we could think of. Take 30 minutes out of your day and browse any social media. Quickly, you will find multiple examples of what we have described here.
FAQs
This article will cause a lot of questions, so the best approach is to keep it simple and go over the question before diving into the basics and expanding on the main ideas.
Is affiliate marketing difficult? Affiliate marketing is the easiest online business (source) to enter and the hardest to master.
Do you need to have money to start affiliate marketing? You don’t need to have money to start. There is both organic traffic and paid traffic.
What is affiliate marketing about? Being a creative individual (source) ready to play the angle game.
Do I have to drive traffic well to make it in the affiliate? Yes, you have to—that is the basic mechanism behind how affiliate marketing works.
What is great about affiliate marketing? You only need a link and an internet connection. It's hard to beat that in terms of requirements.
Are the numbers posted on social media real? Maybe. But those numbers rarely appear without a story behind them—often shared among multiple people, having low margins or being fake.
What does it take to win as an affiliate? To be an above-average—you must be tech-savvy and creative. This involves ripping landing pages, automating processes, and finding ways to work around restrictions and bans. This is the basics, and the game goes much deeper.
Does the product matter? Most affiliates don’t care about the quality or value of the product they are pushing. If you are ethical and consider the other side, you must focus on the long game with clearly defined goals.
How many regulations are there, and do they impact the business? To keep it simple, there are many. There is so much to say as it depends on the case.
What resources would you recommend for someone just starting? This post and websites such as cpa.rip or fb-killa are good options. Dive deeper into case studies.
Do you need to be technical for affiliate marketing? Some would say no. We would argue yes. Understanding how IP addresses work, avoiding bans, and managing multiple accounts all fall into the technical category within our books. You need to know all to play the long game.
Why do companies love affiliates? There is nothing negative about it for them. Affiliates do all the work—driving traffic with multiple approaches and shady practices (cloaking or deepfakes for example). What do companies care about? Sales. More so if it is not a well-established brand.
Are courses a good place to learn affiliate marketing? 90% of affiliate course material is outdated. There are methods you can use and should know how to do. But no one will reveal the top method because there will be less for them once everyone starts using it. Remember, it is all about angles.
What is the formula to win affiliate marketing? Early + creative + recognizing the arbitrage opportunity.
Being an affiliate marketer is very cost-effective. You don't have to put much money in an affiliate program in order to gain a lot – Russell Brunson
Basics Of Affiliate Marketing
Why is knowledge of affiliates powerful: Before going further, it is worth mentioning that after spending a year or two understanding the space. How to do the conversion. Understanding marketing principles. Understanding the basics of human manipulation-nature. You become someone who can’t be easily manipulated. What do we mean by that? We have covered this in articles such as the digital rat race (source) and what gurus don't want you to know (source). Both should give you a unique perspective that will help you understand how the internet operates. Not only that, but also they will help you recognize funnels, nonsense, and everything else that doesn’t deserve your time in the first place. Knowledge of affiliate marketing and everything under that umbrella protects you from falling for affiliate tricks and marketing propaganda. Which is a big thing once you understand that it is everywhere. That fancy car and watch? They’re just part of a funnel. A famous person recommending a product? It’s either fake, or they earn a 50% commission on each sale. There are thousands of examples out there. It won't be difficult to notice these patterns after a year or two of observing how the affiliate world operates.
