Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 3:46 pm by Helen Montgomery, AC Magazine
A little longer blog post than usual today…
We’re in a funny sort of business. From the inside, affiliate marketing is in its boom phase. Our industry is growing tall and wide and strong. An estimated 30% of shoppers will buy holiday gifts online, and some percentage will click through affiliate links. We’re not just flexing our muscles in the retail sector. We’re power-lifting.
Yet from the outside, affiliate marketing is a misunderstood child still. Amidst our cherished holiday memories are images of distant relatives casting us a suspicious glance and asking “What exactly is it you do for a living?” It’s as vivid as a YouTube vid. You: Keen, animated, sparkling with enthusiasm. Aunt Jane: Polite, wary, skeptical, bored. (Final cut: Auntie’s desperate dive into the punch bowl.)
The disconnect between the way insiders and outsiders perceive affiliate marketing won’t destroy your self worth or your bank account. But funny, it’s hard not to feel rattled when your nearest and dearest assume that you’re in a “fringe” business because they can’t grasp the concept of “cookies.”
So at this most wonderful time of the year, when I become aggressively grumpy at relatives, acquaintances, and all those outsiders who just don’t get it, I reach for the antidote: gratitude.
Instead of trying to explain to the uncomprehending what I do for a living, I tell them why I thank my lucky stars, every single day, for affiliate marketing.
1. I’m thankful that affiliate marketing allows me to work not only from home, but from the road, a bed, or a hospital. People like me, who battle chronic disease, know how painful (literally) it is to hold down a conventional job. So every morning I bless the affiliate marketing industry - it has transformed my life. I earn more, with less physical stress, than I could in a “non-fringe” job.
2. I’m grateful for the freedom to market what I want, to whom I want. You get to choose your industry, your niche, your market. You get to choose which products you want to sell, and which merchants to promote. You even get to change your mind without the threat of getting fired.
3. I’m thankful for the online world, where affiliate marketing was born and lives and thrives. The Internet is still the freest marketplace in the world. The little guy can build an empire without having to beg - and pay off - a dozen different bureaucrats to obtain permission to change the color of the sign above his store.
4. I’m grateful for the people who make me proud to be in the affiliate industry. People like my publisher, Anik Singal, who has devoted most of his career to professionalizing affiliate marketing. Through Affiliate Classroom, Anik is making our industry accessible to ordinary web-loving people like me. I’m also grateful for people like Shawn Collins, Linda Buquet, Jim Kukral, Rosalind Gardner… too many to list, but you all know them. In a world plagued with corrupt CEOs and corporate thieves, these people should be held up as business heroes and role models.
5. I’m thankful that I get to work with so many successful people who are so young. For a mid-lifer like me, these kids are a joy. They’re smart. They’re fast. They don’t care about corporate politics (what’s that?). They don’t need 13 meetings to make decisions. They believe in action. Thank you, thank you.
6. I’m grateful that affiliate marketing is gender, age, color, and limitation-blind. My 73-year-old mother, who retired from retail management a few years ago, is now an affiliate marketer. Sure it’s competitive, and for someone her age, it takes a lot of time and effort to get started. But you can do this if you really want to.
7. I’m thankful for the forward-thinking affiliate networks and management firms. Companies like PepperJam, PartnerCentric, ShareASale, and many others… again, you all know who they are. The people who run these companies believe affiliates should be managed with tact, intelligence, care, and humanity. May their influence increase.
8. I’m grateful for people like Ben Edelman, who works so hard to keep our industry clean of badware. Honest affiliates and networks owe you a debt. Dishonest affiliates and networks should fear you.
9. I’m thankful for the growth in the affiliate industry - and the growing pains. When your rankings tank or your keyword costs bloat, yes, it’s a bad day. But most of us would rather be Seabiscuit’s beat up jockey than a passenger in a small, slow, safe little donkey cart.
Since nine is a nice lucky number, I’ll stop. But I could go on with nine - or nine times nine - more reasons to be thankful for affiliate marketing. Gratitude reminds me that even when those loveable outsiders don’t get it, the people who read this blog understand. You know that affiliate marketing is not just a living. It’s a blessing.
So if you’re the sort who says grace before your Thanksgiving feast, don’t forget to thank your God for affiliate marketing and the people who make it work. And even if you’re not the praying type, take a moment to look inside - deep inside - our industry, and be grateful for how it enriches your life and our online economy.
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