When it comes time to get serious about earning an income online and you want to find a course, you may wonder are affiliate marketing courses really worth it. I’ve invested in multiple affiliate marketing courses and yes, some are worth it. Check out my Millionaires Challenge System review for an example.
Before investing in any affiliate marketing course, it helps to have an understanding of what affiliate marketing is and how it works. I’ve been doing affiliate marketing for a while now. I make both low-ticket affiliate commissions and high-ticket affiliate commissions.
It wasn’t until I invested in my affiliate marketing education through affiliate marketing courses that I began to get results. So let’s dive into the world of affiliate marketing and figure out if buying an online course is going to be worth your time and money.
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Is Affiliate Marketing Worth it in 2024?
Now that we’re approaching the new year (and depending on when you’re reading this, already in the new year), it isn’t uncommon to wonder if affiliate marketing is worth pursuing. Let’s consider that:
- Affiliate marketing is a billion-dollar industry
- The affiliate marketing industry is growing (estimated to reach $40 billion by 2030)
- A bulk of eCommerce sales are due to affiliate marketing
In short, affiliate marketing isn’t going anywhere. It is an industry that is constantly growing. Therefore, if you are interested in starting, there is no better time than now to start.
Is Affiliate Marketing Easy?
This is a common question. Most people new to affiliate marketing want to know if affiliate marketing is easy or is it hard. I do think that affiliate marketing is easy in terms of the type of business model that it is.
Think about it. You don’t need to create a product. There is no customer service involved. You don’t need to source inventory, stock it, or set up an eCommerce store. Your job as an affiliate is to recommend other company’s products in exchange for a commission for every sale that you refer.
What makes affiliate marketing difficult is not being consistent with your marketing efforts. Marketing can be in the form of creating short-form content on social media platforms, creating content on a blog, running paid ads, or a combination of all three.
However, what many beginners do is start their marketing campaigns but they do not stay consistent. Then they never get any results, they give up, and then decide that affiliate marketing doesn’t work.
The biggest piece of advice I give to beginners is to stay consistent!
How Fast Can You Make Money with Affiliate Marketing?
I don’t recommend going into affiliate marketing with expectations that you will make money fast. The make money fast mindset is a sure way to not make any money online. Shifting your mindset for the long term can lead to a higher success rate.
Are there affiliates that make money fast? Sure, even I made my first high-ticket commission a week after I started promoting a high-ticket product. That is not common. There have also been times that it has taken months before I’ve made an affiliate commission from a product I’ve promoted.
My advice is not to focus on how fast you can make money with affiliate marketing. Instead, focus on building a business. I want my online business to generate a steady high-income month after month.
How to Start Affiliate Marketing with No Money
I get it. When I got started with affiliate marketing, I didn’t have money to spare. Yet, there was an online course I wanted to take so that I could start getting results. I knew there were so-called “free” ways to start affiliate marketing but going the free route can take a long time.
Let’s say, for example, that you want to promote an affiliate product and you choose to do so by building a following on Instagram. Social media platforms are free. You can post your affiliate link in your profile.
You can post content (consistently) and make sales. It isn’t impossible. However, you’d also be leaving tons of money on the table because you’re losing potential customers by not sending your audience to a sales funnel and building an email list.
Growing a business requires money. You’ll eventually want to level up your income and that will require tools, software, and sometimes taking online courses to learn more skills.
Getting results means learning the skills to help get them. I paid for my first course every month, even though it was a struggle each month. More than anything, I stayed consistent, took action on what I learned, and I started getting results. I began making a steady income online with affiliate marketing.
Can Affiliate Marketing Make You Rich?
It is possible to become rich as an affiliate marketer. That is why many people decide to get into affiliate marketing in the first place. They want to improve their financial situation. That is exactly why I follow my mentor and do what he tells me to do. My mentor is a multi-millionaire due to affiliate marketing.
If your goal is to get rich by becoming an affiliate marketer, I recommend following super affiliates who have already achieved what you desire. Become a sponge and soak up everything that you can learn from them.
Many super affiliates have YouTube channels. You don’t necessarily have to buy what they’re offering but learn from what they are teaching. Getting rich will not come easy. My goal is to make $15K – $20K per month online. I don’t feel that it is out of reach. Understanding that it will require consistent effort is key.
Is Affiliate Marketing a Pyramid Scheme?
Affiliate marketing often gets lumped in together with MLMs, network marketing, and pyramid schemes. However, affiliate marketing is not a pyramid scheme, nor is it multilevel marketing, or anything related.
Another term for affiliate marketing is “digital freelance marketing.” That’s because you are essentially doing freelance marketing for other companies. Becoming an affiliate marketer is simply a matter of deciding whether you want to be one.
You can then find an affiliate offer that you want to promote and begin a marketing campaign for it. Unlike a pyramid scheme, you don’t recruit other people into your downline. As an affiliate, you can work solo or hire virtual assistants for day-to-day tasks as your business grows.
There are no products that you have to buy and no sales volume or points that you have to meet each month. How much you earn and how often you work is completely up to you.
Are Affiliate Marketing Programs Legit?
I have yet to come across an affiliate marketing program that wasn’t legitimate. However, I’m sure some out there are not managed well or are not legit at all. One way to be sure an affiliate program is legit is if it is managed through an affiliate network such as ShareASale, Impact, Awin, Clickbank, Digistore24, and others.
If you have purchased the product that you want to promote as an affiliate, then the affiliate program is likely safe. Sometimes you may not realize an affiliate program is not operating on the up and up until it is time for your commissions to be paid. There have been times when an affiliate program ends and doesn’t pay out commissions to their affiliates. It doesn’t happen often but it can happen.
For the most part, I’ve never had issues with an affiliate program not paying commissions. I have had to reach out to a couple of affiliate programs for not paying on time but there was usually some payment issue on their end.
Why I Think Affiliate Marketing Courses Are Really Worth It
When I first learned of affiliate marketing, I did a lot of research on my own. I’d try all types of methods and never got anywhere. I also treated affiliate marketing like a hobby and wasn’t consistent with my efforts.
After a job layoff, I decided to become serious about affiliate marketing. I didn’t want to waste any more time learning methods on my own. However, I did know that I wanted to make money with a blog. It took me some time researching the types of courses available and I finally found one that I resonated with.
I made up my mind to follow the course, stay committed, and stay consistent. In other words, I wasn’t going to quit. Thank goodness I didn’t. By having the proper mindset and doing the work, I began to make a steady income online.
An Online Course Only Works When You Do
It won’t matter how good an affiliate marketing course is if you do not complete it and implement what you’ve learned. I’m even guilty of buying courses and not completing them. I no longer do that now when I invest money into a course or online business coach, I follow through.
Investing in your affiliate marketing education will always be beneficial. It is a non-stop learning process. The basics don’t change but there are new strategies that may come up that may help your business grow.
Types of Affiliate Marketing Courses
There are all kinds of affiliate marketing courses to choose from. They all teach different methods. Some examples of affiliate marketing courses include:
- Making money with a blog
- High-ticket affiliate marketing
- Amazon Associates affiliate marketing
- Clickbank affiliate marketing
You can find these courses on platforms like Udemy. Or you may be referred to a course by someone else. Regardless of how you find a course you are interested in, do some research and check out user reviews before investing.
In Conclusion
In my experience, investing in affiliate marketing courses has been greatly beneficial. I know I wouldn’t have been able to make the affiliate commissions I’ve made without having learned from other successful affiliate marketers.