Thread: Affiliate Marketing Websites

Read the fabulous book and joined this forum, found some great posts already!
I was made redundant 18 months ago and because jobs are very scarce in this area (30 people+ going for 1 job) decided to give the Internet a go as i did make some money on Ebay a few years ago.
To get to my point, so far i have built websites for small businesses and have built myself a dozen websites with affiliate links to various products. Lately i have been looking at Google Places optimisation for local businesses. Made a bit of money but not nearly enough to live on.
But are any of these fastlane? I dont think so because building websites can be time consuming if the customer wants regular updates and affiliate sites need traffic so your at the mercy of Google and trying to get ranking. Plus my affiliate sites need updating daily with new products deals etc.
Has anybody on here made good money with affiliate marketing but not had to spend many, many hours working on it?

Originally Posted by David Rees

Has anybody on here made good money with affiliate marketing but not had to spend many, many hours working on it?

I doubt it. IMO, this is like asking if there are any professional athletes who got to the pros by not working out and not practicing.

The AM game is very competitive and if you want to make some serious bread, it requires a lot of time with testing (conversions, landings) - I liken it to a game of arbitrage. Nonetheless, AM skills are some good skills to have.

Good point...i must admit i have found it harder and harder recently to make more money with affiliate marketing, i guess you have to be the affiliate and not the marketer to make serious money!

Originally Posted by David Rees

Has anybody on here made good money with affiliate marketing but not had to spend many, many hours working on it?

I think probably not.

It's a little subjective: it depends what you call "good money" and what you call "many, many hours", too.

I've spent a total of just under 5,000 hours working at it, over the last 3+ years. At the moment I earn more from it than either my doctor or my lawyer earn from their businesses (a little bit more - not a fortune more), but unlike theirs, mine is income that will continue to grow, now, even if I do very much less work in future. It is a genuinely asset-based business. I'll always have to do some, though, as you rightly observe above.

It's not for everyone. I don't know if it's "fastlane", really, but it's certainly not bad. I think I probably earn more than anyone else who was "in my year" at college (even the people studying for their MBA).