What is Affiliate Marketing Like As a Career?
A lot of people love the idea of working in their pajamas and making tons of money, but they don’t always stop to wonder, “What is affiliate marketing like as a career?” That’s a shame, too, because affiliate marketing as a hobby is very different from affiliate marketing as a career.
As an affiliate hobbyist, you can afford to work “when you feel like it”. When you are a full-time affiliate, you don’t have that luxury. In all likelihood, you’ll spend your first couple of years working especially hard to make sure that you have a comfortable cushion to your finances in case campaigns fall apart or some kind of disaster occurs.
As an affiliate hobbyist, you can afford to skip critical steps like market research or tracking. You’ve got a career to fall back on. As a full-time affiliate, every step you skip represents a blow to your income and security.
If you’re like most people, you almost definitely think you’re ready to work from home. Even if you’re making a bit of money, though, be sure that you’re truly ready before taking the leap. If at all possible, do a trial run where you take a week away from your normal job and see what it’s really like to spend an entire week working from home. It won’t be a perfect test (since the desire to quit your job adds to your motivation), but it will give you an idea of what distractions and issues you may need to deal with before going full-time.
You can also prepare yourself better by talking with other full-time affiliates. Be direct. Say, “What is affiliate marketing like as a full-time career? What is the hardest part? What worries you?” You alreay know the amazing upsides - so try to get more of the downsides to help balance your perspective before you put your entire lifestyle at risk.
None of this is to say you shouldn’t quit your job and become a full-time affiliate if you’re making a good living at it. The questions here are designed to help you make sure that you’re ready for the responsibility and difficulty of motivating yourself day after day in this challenging career.