As pretty much the whole of the UK ground to a halt today due to a foot of snow falling and the prospect of more to come, public transport services are being shut down left right and centre, people are stranded, can't get to work and generally battling a losing battle with snow. Even Phillip Schofield's stranded and has left Fern on her own on This Morning for goodness sake, things must be bad!
However, my commute to work didn't take any longer than usual, I wasn't late and I didn't even have to put any shoes or a coat on. That's because I'm fortunate enough to make a full time living from affiliate marketing and I work from home. My daily commute is a 20 second walk from the bedroom to my downstairs study. I don't worry about the weather outside, and I don't waste time/money on a daily commute anywhere. The picture above is the view of my back garden today from my study, very relaxing to watch the snow fall outside while I'm all wrapped up warm with my coffee and mid-morning Kit-Kat :)
So for those of you who think it's all doom and gloom out there and the economy is shot and there is nothing that makes any money any more - let me leave you with this thought. The Internet is still growing, it is one of the only, if not the only sectors that is growing in our slowing economy. Amazon, had their best Christmas ever for example and Internet retail sales in December 2008 were approximately £238 million here in the UK. And here's the best bit, that's a 19.6% increase on the same period last year.
So yes, in a recession, Internet retail sales grew almost 20%.
My advice to anyone looking to get into affiliate marketing and make a full time living from it is the same as always:
Don't look for shortcuts, there are none. Don't write content for the search engines, write it for people. Don't build a site around a niche just because other people are and you think it makes money.
Do build a site about something you are passionate about, build the best ever site there is on that subject, write engaging content that you and others actually find useful and relevant. Get involved with the online community. And don't give up, keep on going, it will take time but it will be worth it in the end.
If you're coming along to Think Visibility this year I'm going to be running a session telling how you can grab some of this pie and make a full time living from affiliate marketing.
In the meantime, here are some more pictures of snow for you!
Ciaran Norris
AndrewMason
Will Carling
Patrick Altoft
Phillip Schofield
Shak
What I'm listening to right now: Mutya Buena feat. Amy Winehouse - "B-Boy Baby"The benefits of working full time in Affiliate Marketing
As pretty much the whole of the UK ground to a halt today due to a foot of snow falling and the prospect of more to come, public transport services are being shut down left right and centre, people are stranded, can't get to work and generally battling a losing battle with snow. Even Phillip Schofield's stranded and has left Fern on her own on This Morning for goodness sake, things must be bad!
However, my commute to work didn't take any longer than usual, I wasn't late and I didn't even have to put any shoes or a coat on. That's because I'm fortunate enough to make a full time living from affiliate marketing and I work from home. My daily commute is a 20 second walk from the bedroom to my downstairs study. I don't worry about the weather outside, and I don't waste time/money on a daily commute anywhere. The picture above is the view of my back garden today from my study, very relaxing to watch the snow fall outside while I'm all wrapped up warm with my coffee and mid-morning Kit-Kat :)
So for those of you who think it's all doom and gloom out there and the economy is shot and there is nothing that makes any money any more - let me leave you with this thought. The Internet is still growing, it is one of the only, if not the only sectors that is growing in our slowing economy. Amazon, had their best Christmas ever for example and Internet retail sales in December 2008 were approximately £238 million here in the UK. And here's the best bit, that's a 19.6% increase on the same period last year.
So yes, in a recession, Internet retail sales grew almost 20%.
My advice to anyone looking to get into affiliate marketing and make a full time living from it is the same as always:
Don't look for shortcuts, there are none. Don't write content for the search engines, write it for people. Don't build a site around a niche just because other people are and you think it makes money.
Do build a site about something you are passionate about, build the best ever site there is on that subject, write engaging content that you and others actually find useful and relevant. Get involved with the online community. And don't give up, keep on going, it will take time but it will be worth it in the end.
If you're coming along to Think Visibility this year I'm going to be running a session telling how you can grab some of this pie and make a full time living from affiliate marketing.
In the meantime, here are some more pictures of snow for you!
Ciaran Norris
AndrewMason
Will Carling
Patrick Altoft
Phillip Schofield
Shak
What I'm listening to right now: Mutya Buena feat. Amy Winehouse - "B-Boy Baby"
This entry was posted in Affiliate Marketing. Bookmark the permalink.
28 Responses to The benefits of working full time in Affiliate Marketing
Leave a Reply
about me
Welcome to my blog. My name is Kieron Donoghue and I am the founder of ShareMyPlaylists.com, ContentNow.co.uk and some other stuff. I have no idea why I'm blue on this photo though but I like it!
what i’m listening to
subscribe to the rss feed
find me on facebook
follow me on twitter
see what i’m listening to on sharemyplaylists
nothing could beat my commute this morning: a leisurely walk through bloomsbury. very dickensian, very cool.
Yep, same here. I’d have missed all the snowball fights, snowmen and general snow-related-malarkey if I’d stayed at home.
I’d agree with you on the days when it’s slinging it down with rain though!
Wish I was going to Think Visibility. I was in Asia on holiday when it was announced and when I got home and seen the news I was gutted. Anyone want to sell me their pass? please…
It sounds great, but do you ever miss the buzz and social interaction of working in an office? I’d like to give full-time AM a try but am afraid I’ll become sad and lonely at home all the time!
Stephen – in a word no. Maybe the fact that I have virtual conversations on Twitter, MSN Messenger, Facebook etc all day as well as phone calls helps. It also means I’m free to do what I want during the day so can go and meet friends for lunch, coffee, pub sessions etc. Then there’s the fact that if I don’t feel like working some days, then I don’t. Heaven! Actually I did try to go down the office route a couple of years back, I rented one, got staff…and absolutely hated it. Felt like “real work” so closed it down and am much happier working out of my home.
I love doing my business at home. affiliate marketing basically is the best job ever. no traffic, no lates, no absences, no BOSS or co-workers to argue with!
I can spend my time reading books, eating, going out with my kids… as well as play and chat online.
I’m almost at the working from home stage. Been working for that goal for a few years now and if all carries on at the rate it’s been going for the last few months then I will take the jump and leave my day job of 10 years.
I’m with you on this one Kieron. Society has moved on from a genuine work-place community to a look-after-oneself one. Can’t blame anyone for that – just don’t count me in!
Got to agree with you on the working from home thing. Just as nice in the summer when you can decide to down tools and go for a leisurely walk down the canal to the pub.
You can’t beat working at home. I know it’s been mentioned by many others but for those who do have to commute each day why not take a read of “The 4 hour week” book!
As you say Kieron it’s brilliant when people ask where your office is and you can say it’s in the next room to your bedroom or something
I like how you encourage new people into AM and telling everyone to grab their piece of the pie. Do you think AM could ever become too saturated making your slice smaller?
Steven, if you look at the stats the Internet is still growing at a huge rate. So, I reckon there is more than enough to go around
Loads and loads of new opportunities every week too.
affiliate marketing is large that no one could ever lower it down into small pieces. i, for example, have products to sell, as well as my clients, and my valued client’s clients.. i work at home and my office is the center of my life.. fridge is beside me, coffee table, my dining table, gaming station, tv, except for the kitchen haha.
my job is advertising and marketing and i have 3 different virtual office (my main site, my prototype, and my personal site) to control
Affiliate marketing is huge and very competitive. You have to really rise above the best to be the best.
Great post, thanks for the links too.
Yes the affiliate marketing pie is large and is getting bigger (despite it being harder than it once was) but there is room for more. I think many will have to concentrate more on a handful of areas than being able to have a go in loads of sectors like was previously easier to do (obviously I’m more talking about the one man bands here).
Be careful about stuffing your face with Kit Kats all day combined sitting on your bum playing with the computer doesn’t equal an Adonis
Oh Its so cool! This is what I felt on seeing those pictures. But the idea is really hot. I too believe that Affiliate Marketing is the only business that allows to work from where ever you are. The do’s and dont’s that are specified are to be followed exactly inorder to make the best through online business.
That’s good advice and nice picture.
Looks like we’re in a for another day of it again.
One of the biggest and most attractive benefits to having your own online affiliate marketing business is that you are afforded the opportunity to work from home. The freedom to escape the trappings of a traditional nine to five job and earn good money at the same time is something that appeals to many people. Thanks
You’re a lucky man Kieron, I dream of working full time from home, just so I can spend more time with my daughter! I have a blog that is getting picked up by the search engines but unsure of how to moneytize it and should I moneytize it?
I will mull it over but as I said, you’re a lucky man!
Kenny
Very well-written article indeed! This has made one thing very clear in our minds that affiliate marketing is still in its beginning!
We are a group of four guys and we made the concious decision to get an office so we could seperate work from home. We also thought it would be better for us in the early days of our affiliate business to be in an office together everyday. I guess because we all worked in an office before setting up our business we just figured this was right. But when we couldn’t get in during the snow and we all worked from home, I think we realised that office isn’t always the best thing (i got more done on my own). It’s annoying that after working in the corporate world for 7 years i was brain washed into thinking businesses don’t exist without offices and people travelling in on trains everyday crazy!
Nice tips however not all people will spend their time in trying to growing their affiliate business since its big and have a lot of people who will compete with you. So the chance of successful from affiliate marketing is 1:1000. So i will probably just spend my rest time in growing my affiliate product but never expect too much from it, and most of it, will spend it in my office.
I did hear something amusing the other day and i can’t remember where. BUt someone commented that “it was a good job the Germans did try and beat us with Snow Bombs, otherwise they would have won hands down!” HAhaha
)
hey Kieron,
Thanks for the “pep talk.” It’s easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom (because there’s a real basis for it). I hadn’t heard about Amazon’s sales… thanks for the good news. ~ Steve, display booths
PS. Awesome snow picture. I agree with Matthew that is is a bit Dickensian.
Dear Kieron, may I ask you 3 (hopefully not too embarrassingly stupid, uninformed…) questions? Would you be so good and give me whatever answer you consider appropriate? I live in Germany, am 57 year old, single mum of 14year old daughter, lost job at university…managed to make a living with freelance work (translations/ journalist/ ghostwriting, English-tutoring etc.)… now, with the global cholera lurking behind every next corner, I find it harder and harder to get by, people (me too) do seem to (understandably) suffer from bad old not-merely-German no more Existential Angst and hold on tight to their purses…
Here my questions: Would like to create and , well, make it “work”…whatever that may mean… (here my questioning begins), a Blog of my own . Now following your , to me, sound advice: I have a number of topics, themes, subjects… I am pretty much “passionate” about – and everything in the field of linguistics, literature (Anglo-American, German, others in translation …), ethnology, sociology and philosophy I also can come up with academic degrees like Staatsexamen -Germany and PhD in Philosophy, London, and theatre (scientific aspects) plus trained actress, RSC, London… plus loads of professional experience, also including PR-work, publications = of my own, and editing , moderating more or less each and anything from sypomsiums, seminars, colloquiums to festivals, events of all sorts etc etc…) where was I: yeah: will try to get this structured now: 1.) How do I get my own homepage when being -for the time being – totally broke?
2. How would I get “traffic”, what would I have to do to get near(!) to where you seem (judging by your very convincing text!)to be?
3. How can – or rather: can I “combine”, “offer” several themes like , say “Philosophical perpectives as mind-opener on psychological, sociological, …”yes, and the rest”…, problems of whatever sort, on all paths of life… with: (at first glance) more mundane (not though if put into, again, broader contexts: history/ethnology) subjects like “beauty”/”beauty-ideals”/”cosmetics/cosmetic treatments- surgery”, etc./ Ageing/ food-supplements and the “hope moves mountains” (German idiomatic phrase) advertising techniques, ever so skillful marketing methods pushing the “Anti-Ageing” expectations (als old as hell, well of youth… ) over the edge (of reason), not withholding there are a few things that may do good, and (hope always does everybody some good), there then I would love to share experience (lots of it) of my own combined with e.g. interviews with experts etc. or maybe get an online-ongoing personal exchange…
AND: stories of women having experienced, experiencing breast-cancer in all its multifold varieties, newest medical state-of-the-art knowledge or rather hpotheses (oncologists, radiologists, researchers… would be cited or I would love to interview them and report), portraits of women of all ages, nationalities in relation to their “dealing” with this disease from diagnosis to treatments to living , “survivers” (of which I am one, by the way)
Gee, got a bit long, apols: still, if you would give me a tiny bit of your time and send me some advice/answer to my questions above, I really, honestly, I would be ever so grateful!
Marie
Pingback: Top 10 Must-Read Affiliate Marketing Blogs | Freelancing and Outsourcing Tips, Commentary, Analysis, and News from oDesk