8 Challenges of Affiliate Marketing: [They Can be Overcome]

Intro

If you want to build an online affiliate marketing business for the long term, then listen up!

Many ‘so-called’ gurus will have you believe that affiliate marketing is simple, that you just need to write content and embed a few affiliate links. Once this easy task is complete, the commissions will start flowing.

Well, I’m here to tell you that although this is the basic premise of affiliate marketing, unfortunately it’s not that easy. There are challenges with most things in life, and changing career to become an affiliate marketer is no different.

Although there are many challenges of affiliate marketing that will crop up along the journey, I’m going to help you through 8 of the major challenges that every new affiliate marketer will go through at some point.

Understanding that these are only hurdles, and not major roadblocks is critical. Any of these challenges can be overcome. I’ve gone through all off them, and am still hear because I was determined enough.

Whether you’ve tried affiliate marketing before, and think this list sounds familiar, or you’re about to start the journey and are interested to know what you’re getting into, I hope this article can help with alleviating the fear of these challenges.

#1 Motivation and Persistence

Without a doubt, this was my biggest hurdle, and I’ll imagine it will be yours also. It’s easy to begin with all the enthusiasm in the world, writing article after article with fervour and energy.

Apart from earning an income once you’re well on your way to success, this is the most joyous part because you’re so eager to get stuck in, imagining the commissions that will follow if you’re consistent enough.

However, there comes a time when doubts creep in, and it will happen to just about everyone on this journey. To get the rewards and financial earnings, you’ll need to push through the hard times.

As I’ve stated in other articles from time to time, Google doesn’t hand out high rankings to just anyone that wants to start an affiliate marketing business. Search engines require you to be consistently producing good content over a lengthy period of time. By this I mean 6-12 months.

Many experts suggest the 6 month mark is the first indicator of a rankings boost for your content. If you are then steadily pumping out articles over the next few months, you’ll notice not only better rankings, but also some decent earnings.

This is not going to be the same for everyone though. Rankings can depend on many factors like, how often you publish articles or which niche you are in. Those in the MMO niche (Make Money Online) or the weight loss niche are going to find it a little more difficult to rank.

This is due to the fact they are on the list of the most popular blog topics. However, if you’re to narrow down your niche instead of being so broad, it becomes easier.

Waiting for rankings to rise is painful, and I couldn’t blame anyone for throwing in the towel. Having said that, the rewards will come to those willing to push through the pain barrier.

It would be a waste for you to write 50 great articles within 4-5 months, then give up. Even after 8 months of constant writing, your success could be just around the corner. You’re at the business end of this journey and the results will soon show. You need to keep motivation for a website to thrive and you’ve already done most of the hard work.

So, push on, keep motivated, think of the success that will come and you will be rewarded.

#2 Time To Create Content

Whilst keeping motivation can be difficult enough, you also have your daily life that is already full. Finding time to create content is going to be easier for some people than others.

If you’re a stay at home parent, finding a couple of hours per day may be easier than a full time worker. That’s not to say parenting during the day is easy. I’ve done it, and it takes up more time than I ever imagined.

But if you want to succeed at this game, you’ve got to be determined enough to find a couple of hours per day to create website content. Google does not take kindly to dormant blogs, your ranking will drop dramatically.

We can all come up with excuses why there are not enough hours in the day, and that we need to spend more time with family. I too had these issues as I worked in a full time job. Do you know what I did?

I wrote my articles on the train to work on my iPad. The when I got home, I’d have dinner with family, play with the kids. Then later in the evening, all I had to do was copy and paste the content into my blog, and add a couple of images.

This may not be for everyone, but I’m trying to convey that most of us should be able to find a couple of hours per day that we usually waste on playing games on our smartphone or watching YouTube. I was watching everyone else on the train wasting time, whilst I was building an online business.

The self satisfaction I got when I started making good coin online, was immense. It made all those train journeys worth the time I spent. Sometimes you just have to work for nothing to reap the benefits later on.

#3 Gaining The Correct Knowledge

When you get this fantastic idea in your head, that affiliate marketing is going to make you financially independent, can you just go ahead and attempt to do it without the correct knowledge?

Well, it’s certainly possible, especially if you’ve been employed in an IT industry that uses similar practices. If not, you’ll find that there is certainly a fair amount of education required to succeed at this.

Now, you could go searching YouTube or Google to find all the information you need. After all, the majority of the information can be found there, so this is one way of gaining the knowledge required.

I have two problems with this method of education though. Firstly, how do you know what you’ve found on YouTube is the correct information. You could come across conflicting advice and end up running around in circles. In fact this is very likely.

Secondly, the time it takes to find all the information, in the order that you need it, could well take a very long time. It’s fine to get setup with a website, that’s the easy part. But do you know all about these affiliate marketing topics:

• Keywords
• Autoresponders
• Social marketing
• Internal & external links
• Image compression
• WordPress plugins
• Affiliate Networks
• Affiliate programs
• Content creation
• Meta data
• Indexing
• Webmaster Console
• Analytics
• And so on, and so on…..

Getting into the affiliate marketing game is exciting and interesting. But maybe not as easy as you first think. I learned this the hard way, dicking around for years before I found the education platform I needed.

If you want to get all the information in the order that it’s required, go straight to Wealthy Affiliate without passing ‘Go’! This is where I was taught everything I know about this subject. I’m also a member there still, so if you need any help or advice, just contact me via a private message at Wealthy Affiliate. You can check out their course outline here.

I don’t want you to fail at affiliate marketing. It’s a brilliant option to change career and free up more of your time down the track, once your site is established. Just get the knowledge you require, it’s a must.

#4 Too many Affiliate Networks

This is not so much a problem, but a challenge to keep up. There are literally loads of affiliate networks that have hundreds of affiliate programs assigned to them. Joining up to these affiliate networks is simple and applying to each affiliate program will have to be approved.

Keeping track of all these affiliate programs and networks can be a challenge in itself though. In my opinion, I wouldn’t sign up to more than 4 or 5 affiliate networks. This is because each one will require a new account. Once you start making money from your blog, it’s much easier to keep track if you sign in to view your account status and income summary with limited accounts.

The thing is, there will be thousands of affiliate programs to sign up to anyway, with under 4-5 affiliate networks. You’ll have so much choice, there’s really no need to sign up to a new affiliate network unless you really desire to be part of a particular affiliate program that uses a different network.

Keeping it simple, especially when starting out, can make keeping your documentation and organisation so much easier. If you do intend creating multiple accounts, I’d suggest joining a password manager program to keep all your passwords safe. In my opinion, this is the best password manager software to do the job.

#5 Family Pressures

Have you ever told your family not to worry, that all the money problems will go away soon, just wait until I become a successful affiliate marketer! Different people have different reactions, but be prepared for the worst.

If you’re a stay at home parent, writing content between chores and school pick-up, it may not be so bad. You could however be working full time, then spending your spare time on your blog. Unfortunately, this could be at the expense of neglecting your family.

This is where there is a balance between the #1 challenge (motivation and persistence), and spending quality time with family. Even though you should still be able to find time to write, the pressure from family that thinks you’re in fantasy-land attempting to build an online affiliate marketing business, can be consuming.

I’ve been there, I had my wife telling me to prioritise my children before my website. She was right, so I had to find varied times when I could write content. That’s when I changed to writing on my train journey to and from work.

What you need are results, small commissions after a few months to show what is possible. Once a few dollars start trickling in, your family will be more open to the idea as they can see the potential.

So, if you can keep the family happy first, and keep your day time boss happy second (until your become a full time affiliate marketer), you need to use the rest of your time wisely. Even if you write during your work lunch break, this won’t impact on the family.

#6 Sticking to Your Niche

It’s fairly easy to get sidetracked from you’re initial idea. This is where you have to think long and hard about the niche you choose, before going ahead and start building it out.

If you’ve chosen a blog topic that will only allow for a limited number of articles, you’re going to have to look in other directions for things to write about. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Let me explain.

If you choose a niche about golf clubs for instance, your website could expand to include other golf equipment. So what I’m suggesting is, if your niche is narrow, make sure it can be diversified within a more broad niche.

Now when it comes to writing articles, try to keep on track with your post topic. Often you may find yourself struggling to write enough content for the post in question, so you start wavering into other subjects.

Keep a clear thought process and use a template of what you’re going to write about. Jot down headings and subheadings before you start your posts, this will align you with what should be included within your article.

#7 Stop Looking at Google Analytics

Ha ha… we’ve all done it so don’t concern yourself too much if you do this. But checking your analytical data when nobody is visiting your blog is demoralising, so don’t check your statistics for your first 6 months.

I know this is difficult, especially after you’ve synced your website to Google Analytics. Viewing your ‘Real-time’ visitors when they are live on your site, is fun, almost addictive. However, there’s no point doing this too early as it will only be minimal and sporadic traffic.

What’s the point of looking at Analytics like this!

As I’ve mentioned in challenge #1, your blog will not rank highly in search engines until at least the 6 month mark. So don’t get your hopes up by watching your analytics. Posting your next article, then indexing it is the correct thing to do. Watching your live data is not. Not yet anyway.

Watching for an article to rank in the first 6 months, is like watching grass grow. Depending on your niche and how often you publish, this could blow out a little more. But the rewards will come if you’re prepared to build a foundation. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this takes persistence.

#8 Keep Away From Scams

There’s loads of ‘gurus’ out there that claim they have the next best product that will have you earning thousands of dollars per month. If they sound too good to be true, they generally always are. 

I’ve reviewed loads of scams on this website. Here’s are few you can check out so you know what to look for. There’s Click4Kash, Lottery Maximizer, Fast Home Sites or Autopilot Profits. All scams that have lots of indications that should alert you to steer well clear.

You may come across lots of these unethical products that promise lots but deliver very little. Keep focused on one program (like my No.1 recommendation), and stick with it for the long haul. Deviation and distraction needs to be pushed aside. 

Wrapping Up

So there you have it. An honest opinion of the challenges you can expect if you intend building a successful online affiliate marketing business. And if you are wondering how all these other website rankings are much better than yours, stop wondering.

They’ve all gone through the same process that you’re going through. Longevity, persistence, consistency and perseverance. These are the traits that Google love, and will get you to the top. Remember these words every day until you see a constant income begin to flow in.

Then you can thank me. 😉