17 biggest pros and cons of affiliate marketing

Or in other words. You need to know the pros and cons. And most important 17 I'm going to share with you now.

Note that these are the pros and cons for you as publisher. Not for advertisers.

Benefits of affiliate marketing

Here are the 7 biggest benefits of affiliate marketing:

Benefit 1: You can put every spare minute into your hobby project 

If you have a job, then you probably have to be there between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.. If you are a freelancer, then you can already set your own hours much more.

But with affiliate marketing, you just work whenever you want. Got 30 minutes free in the evening? Go write content.

Don't have anything to do on Sunday? Go write content. You can put every spare minute you have into your project.

Benefit 2: You have fairly little contact with externals.

You have no customers of your own. You have no supplier and you have nothing to do with virtually no one. You are not distracted and can focus primarily on findability.

You don't have meetings that require you to be on location for and are not bound by regular working hours.

So you can work on your affiliate project anytime, anywhere.

Advantage 3: You have virtually no risk and no start-up costs (just a laptop + internet)

Because you have no inventory of your own and no location, for example, you have virtually no costs. You only need hosting. And that can be as little as a few dollars a month.

Other than that, you don't really need anything besides a laptop and internet. So financially it is not a risk at all.

Benefit 4: You don't have any hassles with customers

Did a product break down? Then people don't come to you. After all, you didn't sell them anything. But the advertiser did. So no bad reviews and angry customers for you.

Benefit 5: Affiliate Runs on, even if you don't put in the time for a while 

Suppose you've been working on your affiliate product for a year. You're making a nice penny and then life hits you hard for a while. Someone close to you falls ill, for example, and you have to take care of them.

You can't work on your project for months.

That's not nice, of course, but your website and your findability continue to run as usual. Without you having to do anything for it at the time. So you will get commissions every month, and if you have done everything right, your findability can even continue to grow.

Benefit 6: If your website is running well, you can always flip your revenue model and start selling the product yourself

This benefit conflicts with the previous benefits, but the value of your affiliate project is in your findability.

Suppose you are really a big player in the affiliate field and you are earning very well by now.

If you want to earn even more, you can always change the earning model. You can always choose to turn your website into a web shop and start selling the products yourself.

You will then immediately start earning more. But beware: you will then also get more "whining". Because then you will be the person liable for broken products and angry customers.

So think about this carefully.

Benefit 7: There is no quick ceiling on what you can earn

Of course, the commissions are not infinite, but you won't reach a ceiling in the affiliate field very soon. There is always more you can do.

Different keywords, YouTube video, an e-book, start email marketing and so on, so if you think you're there with 500 euros a month....

Wrong - there is always something you can do to drag in even more commissions.

Disadvantages of affiliate marketing

Here are the 10 biggest disadvantages of affiliate marketing:

Disadvantage 1: The first few months you are going to earn nothing to little

An affiliate marketing project takes time. Becoming findable in Google takes time. So that means you're going to grab pretty little commission for the first few months because you'll probably have little to no visitors.

Disadvantage 2: You are dependent on advertisers and the affiliate networks

I personally do not consider this a very big disadvantage, but it is important to mention.

If you're working through an affiliate marketing network, you're dependent anyway. If the advertiser chooses to lower the commission, there's pretty little you can do about it.

And if the network chooses to stop accepting your niche for whatever reason, you're also quickly done.

Disadvantage 3: There may be no one in your niche who is affiliated with a network

Are you crazy about custom sneakers? Or are you an electric bike fanatic? Then there may be no good advertisers (in the Netherlands). If your niche is too specific or if the niche is too small, then there is a chance that you won't be able to affiliate for anyone at all.

So check carefully, before you start your project, if there are advertisers who want to pay you commission.

Disadvantage 4: Not every product is suitable for affiliate

Not every product is suitable for affiliate. For example, because the margins are too small, a product yields too little, or because few parties offer it.

In that case, there is no chance of anyone admitting affiliates. This is very much related to drawback 3. Only with drawback 3 is there no one affiliated and with this drawback the product is simply not suitable.

Disadvantage 5: Certain products and markets have very high competition 

Suppose you are a big fan of TVs or other electronics and you want to write a blog about them. Then you can join behind the big comparison sites that have been around for years.

In that case, you're better off choosing a different market and a different product. After all, you're really not going to win it. There is simply too much competition and it is going to be very difficult to make your project profitable.

Disadvantage 6: Due to returns, it can take a long time to get paid

Suppose you are a publisher for a clothing webshop. Then it can take quite a long time, before you get your money. This has to do with returns.

This is because the customer who buys the clothing can also return the clothing. The affiliate must then process that again at the affiliate network.

Then, when all that is settled (this can sometimes take as long as 30 to 60 days), only then will you get your commissions paid.

Disadvantage 7: A product or advertiser can quit at any time

Suppose you've been a publisher for an online store for years. In the niche you're in, there are only three players. One day the webshop is taken over and the new owner decides to stop affiliate marketing.

Then you often still have a few months - because the advertiser is also tied to a contract - but then it ends. You then have to remove all your affiliate links and banners and you don't get paid anything anymore.

It is then very annoying if there is no other shop you can join. And a waste of all your hard work too.

Disadvantage 8: Income can vary greatly

You get paid, of course, based on what is sold. But that can vary every month. This is because it depends very much on, for example:

• Holidays
• Weather
• Sale(s)
• The News
• What's going on on social media
• Etc.

Take, for example, an affiliate for oak processionary caterpillar products. In winter he will earn little, but in summer he will walk in.

Or take, for example, an affiliate for ice skating. He will earn nothing in the summer, but will make his money in the winter.

Disadvantage 9: You sometimes need a long breath

Disadvantage 9 hangs is a kind of extended disadvantage of disadvantage 1. You may earn nothing for the first few months, or you may earn nothing for the first 12 months.

But it could also be that many competitors have caught up with you and so you really need to step it up. Or that your product is completely out of the picture for whatever reason.

No matter what, in affiliate marketing you really need a long breath. I have projects I'm working on that I give 3-5 years. And only then do I expect them to pay off. Especially if there is no market for it today.

Disadvantage 10: You have to do everything: findability, measurability, content writing, website maintenance, etc.

If you follow my advice, for the first few months you really do everything yourself to minimize costs.

So that also means doing everything. Maintaining the website, making it more findable, writing blogs and so on. I personally just like that, but if you are not technical at all, for example, you still need to master that knowledge.

Those were all the advantages and disadvantages of affiliate marketing.

But I see more disadvantages than advantages. Does this mean that affiliate marketing is not a good revenue model?

No, it certainly can be. Only there are many small disadvantages of affiliate marketing that you have to consider. And in my opinion, they don't outweigh the benefits that are there.