The benefits of affiliate marketing and the 3 big reasons why I decided to go online
Starting your own online business can be challenging and frustrating. There are a number of reasons why people decide to start their own online businesses.
I am in the medical field. I have been doing my current job for 27 years. To be totally honest I love my job. I have the opportunity to work with kids as well as adults and I really feel like I am making a difference. Maybe not on a global scale but on an individual basis. No day is ever the same and no problem ever presents the same. The solution is different for everyone. This makes every day really interesting and challenging.
So, you may be thinking… if you love your job so much why did you decide to start an online business?
There are three main reasons why I started my online business.
One: Over the years the medical industry has changed. When I first got into my job I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my patients. I enjoy working with people and making a difference. I was providing a service. In case people haven’t noticed medicine has changed. Well actually, it’s not that medicine itself has changed but the amount of paperwork required has increased exponentially.
More and more of my time goes towards paperwork and less time toward working with my clients. Or, I spend that same amount of time with my clients and then work overtime and from home in order to get my paperwork done. The amount of documentation that is needed these days is crazy.
Two: The other thing that I realized is that my body is taking a beating. I work with a lot of kids in wheelchairs and that means I am sitting on the floor leaning forward. I know that for a lot of people this may not sound like much but over time this has put an incredible strain on my back and hands. Sometimes getting up from the floor is a real struggle. I worry that by the time I retire, I will not be able to do the things that I want to do.
Three: With the crazy long hours that I work I don’t get the time to spend with my husband/family/friends. These people the most important part of my life and I spend the least amount of time with them. That seems kind of backward to me. I look forward to retirement so that I have the freedom to spend time with the people that I love.
So…about four years ago I started on a mission to find some kind of job/industry that would give me the freedom that I am looking for. I have played with Network Marketing and in fact, I am involved with a couple of great companies. I will be covering them in later posts. The industry that has really caught my interest is Affiliate Marketing.
This is where you promote someone else’s product. You do not need to worry about shipping, customer service, fulfillment, product creation etc.. If a sale is made as a result of your promotion then you would be paid a commission. This does not increase the price to the customer. Awesome!! If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing I wrote another blog post that walks you through what you should know before you get started.
More and more businesses are taking their companies online. This seemed like the perfect time to get in and start building my online business. I wanted to have my online business thriving and be able to replace my current income before I think about leaving my current job.
Benefits of being an affiliate marketer.
The ability to promote quality products/services/software/tools and get a commission by connecting people is really attractive to me. These products already exist and were created by someone else.
I still get to “help” people by giving them valuable information on products and services. I review products that I am currently using so I am able to give people my honest opinion on how well they work or don’t work.
If what I promote is a good match and a sale is made, then I get a commission. Sweet… I love the ability to promote quality products that I know will help others.
One of my mentors is an eight-figure earner and he gave some advice on Forbes Magazine. You can read that here.
The Bonus
The bonus to being a successful Affiliate Marketer is that I get to make my own hours. I don’t have employees. I get to work from home and spend time with the people I love. To me, that’s a win/win!
If you are interested in learning how to build a business (it does not matter what type of business you are interested in) I recommend the 15-Day Business Builder Challenge. This challenge will take you thru step by step on how to build your business.
You get to work one on one with your own advisor who will help you create your individual business plan/blueprint. This is essential for every business. I have gone through this challenge myself and I thought that the amount of value that I got in the training was incredible.