Statistics on the web state that about a quarter of new businesses fail during the first year of being set up and only 10% of those who set up websites actually earn money online. Now, I am not sure how close to the mark these statistics come, but it is fair to say that many online affiliate businesses fail and even more internet marketing business go under within the first five years. Why is this? I believe that there are three crucial considerations for a new affiliate business.

I am a year down the road now, and only about 40% of what I have learned do I really need to know. If you are in the throes of setting up your affiliate marketing business, or if you have just started your affiliate marketing venture, then I wish to point you in the right direction. If I had known what I know now back then, I would be starting my affiliate marketing venture in a different place, in a different way and with different resources. Knowing the three crucial considerations for a new affiliate business would have been really useful too.

The first crucial consideration has to be the actual decision itself. If you are thinking of starting your affiliate business then I would advise that you do some research and start writing lists of why you are going into this business. Do you know enough about it and do you know why you want to do it. Are you sure that you know all the pitfalls and what do you hope to get out of your business. Think of all the pro’s and con’s of affiliate marketing and make lists upon lists then go through these lists. Because, if you are simply looking to get-rich-quick, then this is not the business for you. If you think that you will be earning a mega-fortune in a fortnight’s time then affiliate marketing is definitely not for you. However, if you are going into affiliate marketing because you know that it takes hard work and perseverance then this is the business for you. You also need to know that affiliate marketing equals one thing and one thing only. TAKING ACTION. If you want your business to succeed, then it’s no good sitting there, waiting for a miracle. You will need to take action all day every day. Even if this is researching and writing articles or working on your e-mail marketing campaigns, you need to take action.

Don’t ever give up. For instance, if your website is not getting the amount of traffic you want, then you need to keep going, refine and continue. Don’t ever give up because you would have wasted all that time and effort. I don’t want to put you off, so let me tell you why I went into affiliate marketing. I wanted to work from home (paramount to me) and I wanted to start my own business. I had been a PR exec years ago, and I wanted to work online, and having said that, I am not a sales person. I don’t enjoy selling one-to-one with people, but I enjoy marketing to some degree. So, affiliate marketing for me seemed the only option. I think I know myself quite well and I can say, a year down the road, that I made absolutely the right decision. However, I need to let you know that for me it wasn’t about the money. Don’t get me wrong, money is important to me; I love money. But I didn’t need to earn huge sums of money urgently because I was lucky, I had prepared. But I did need to work because I love working.

Times have come and gone when I could have pulled my hair out; especially with all the technical stuff. I would say, at this point, think about what your technical capabilities are, because this is a real factor to be considered. Affiliate marketing means that you need to have some IT experience. I was severely lacking in this area, I can tell you. So, this is the first of three crucial considerations for a new affiliate business.

Your second crucial consideration must be; how much do you know about what you are about to take on, for instance, do you know what affiliate marketing entails and do you know how much IT is going to be involved in setting up your own affiliate business. I say this, because a very good friend of mine decided that she would, too, set up an affiliate marketing business and work from home, simply because I had. The only problem is that she really doesn’t know how to use a computer, and I mean at all. So, this is a consideration. I wish I had been more skilled in IT before I started, but having said that, I have coped, just about. Although I say that, I have been really lucky because I joined a fabulous affiliate marketing training program that provides everything I need anyway.

You will also need to have some idea of what affiliate marketing is, although it is possible to learn. I have had the best teacher. I decided to join an affiliate marketing training program first because I knew absolutely nothing about affiliate marketing. If you are new to affiliate marketing, or even if you are au fait with it, you might find that you gain real benefit from joining an affiliate training program.

There are so many scams and cons out there that I would say investigate and research a reputable program so that you are not ripped off. To help you to avoid being ripped off, I would advise that you must not, at any time, part with any amount of money simply to find out about an affiliate training program. You would not pay to attend a job interview so why would you pay to find out about finding work? Also, steer clear of anything that purports to make you an overnight success or a millionaire by tomorrow because this is not the case. You will get to grips with the scams out there the more research you do, so be careful. I will say again, affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme so if you go by this rule, you should be fine.

The affiliate marketing training program I joined provides everything including all the training, tools and support. For a minimal monthly membership fee, I get all the training, including videos, tutorials, downloads, articles, blogs and so on, all built around a comprehensive 8-week action plan that hand-holds the affiliate through the entire training schedule. There are 8 categories to get to grips with, but all have a great ‘Getting Started’ Guide about the particular category. As well as this, I am provided with all the tools, resources and aids with which to build the most successful marketing campaigns. But the most useful part of the training program must be the support. I have access to real people, including the top marketing experts as well as the owners of the program, themselves, they are on hand to guide, offer advice, and nurture me so that I am never left to just figure things out for myself. This is so useful. I was able to earn quite quickly, through the affiliate program, I get commission on new referrals to the program. I would not have been able to set up my business without the affiliate training program. Now, I have given you a brief overview of what my program offers (and for less than the cost of a latte each day) so that you can use it as a model comparison. If a training program can give you all this (and more) then I would say go with it

The third crucial consideration for a new affiliate business must be how much time and effort do you want to put into your affiliate business. There is a lot of information about affiliate marketing online, but I would have appreciated a warning about how much work is involved. As I previously stated, you will not become an overnight millionaire, but consistent action on your part will pay its rewards. If you are prepared to continue taking action and applying what you are learning or have been taught, then you will succeed eventually. It is really possible to earn as you learn, from the right program, so you will have some income coming in. The work that you put into your business will correlate with your success as an affiliate. You will need to test and track your efforts too, so that you can determine which campaigns are proving successful and which are not. This will enable the best use of your valuable time. There are free test and tracking tools out there to use. Affiliate marketing is about selling the right product to the right customer at the right time. If you get this right then you will be a huge success. Tracking your campaigns will help you to maximize this success. The program would agree with these three crucial considerations for a new affiliate business.

As I stated previously, I have been affiliate marketing for a year, and have earned residual income. However, if I had this overview, I would probably have realised profits earlier rather than later. I really hope that these three considerations for a new affiliate business provides you with a true picture about what it is you will be taking on with your new venture, and I wish you all the success in the world.