I’ve gotten into quite a few arguments during my seven plus years of marketing online. But the last couple of days have been something else altogether. Over at the Warrior Forum, one of the newer members has proclaimed that affiliate marketing is NOT sustainable as a business model. Heck, one person said it isn’t a business model at all. Needless to say, this really got me all hot and bothered. Well, in this article, we’re going to beat this horse to death. Sit back and relax because this is going to take a while.

I guess I need to start with why this person says that affiliate marketing is not sustainable as a business model. He claims that in order to have a sustainable business model, you have to be in control of at least two of three things and, if possible, all three. These three things are product, price and service. As an affiliate, you have no control over any of those things. He also states that no bank will give you a loan if you tell them that your business is as an affiliate marketer. Let’s take point one.

I can’t argue with the basic statement that as an affiliate, you have no control over those three things. The product is somebody else’s, they set the price and they handle the customer service. If they drop the ball on any of these things, you’re pretty much helpless as far as what you can do. In fact, all you can do is pick another product. So he’ll get no argument from me over these facts. However, these facts by themselves do not dictate that affiliate marketing is not sustainable, but we’ll get back to that soon.

Let’s go to the next point…that a bank won’t give you a loan if you tell them that your business model is marketing other people’s products. Well, many banks won’t. But some will IF you show them a solid business plan of HOW you’re going to market these products. Think about it. Many off line business sell other people’s products (or have you never been in a department store?) and they get loans. Truth is, Internet businesses in general are not taken seriously by many banks. So this is really a non issue as it can just as easily apply to somebody who IS selling their own products.

Getting back to the product, price and service issue, while on the surface this is true, so what? It’s not like you only have the choice of one product and if that should turn out to be crap you can’t sell something else. There are thousands of products out there that an affiliate marketer can sell. Some of them are evergreen or close to it. Besides, even with your own product, eventually, the product becomes old, doesn’t sell anymore and you have to create another one. So what really is the difference?

As a product creator, I will say that there are definite advantages to selling your own products. But to say that affiliate marketing is not sustainable is just ridiculous. I know quite a few affiliate marketers who don’t create their own products and are very successful.

So before you decide to pack in the affiliate marketing model because it’s not “sustainable”, take it from somebody who does both…you CAN make very good money as an affiliate marketer for a very long time as long as you put in the time and effort.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.