The 7 Most Common Reasons Why Most People Fail at Affiliate Marketing

If you start affiliate marketing just by jumping into it with no advanced preparation, chances are quite high you will fail. I know this is the kind of thing that you don’t get from the typical affiliate marketing guide book, but this is reality. If you are unclear on why people fail in this type of marketing, then the likelihood of you falling short increases. 

Be aware of the seven reasons why many marketers fail in the affiliate game so you can do things differently. At the very least, if you understand why they fail, you would be able to spot the warning signs as far as your own affiliate marketing efforts are concerned. 

Reason #1: No niche selection strategy

If you do not use a well-designed niche selection process, do not be shocked if the niche you pick is a loser. Maybe it gets a lot of traffic, maybe it gets a lot of media attention, but for some reason or another you’re not making any money out of it. Your websites pull a lot of traffic, but few people convert. Worst yet, people might convert but you don’t make much money from the conversions. Something is wrong and if you do a postmortem on your business, it may be because of the fact that you did not have a credible, tried, and proven niche selection strategy getting out of the gate. You built your business on sand instead of rock.

Reason #2: Bad niche selection strategy

Just as bad as having no niche selection strategy is a bad niche selection strategy. What is a bad selection strategy? Well, it can mean you use “experts'” niche recommendation. This is a serious problem because it’s way easy for us to think that if a person is an expert or a recognized authority, then they would know what would work for you. But here’s the problem, they’re not you. They’re not living your life. They don’t have your particular set of circumstances. They don’t have your particular collection of needs. They’re living their own life. So, their decision as far as the “best” niche for them probably will not fit you. They can recommend a “winner”, but it often turns out that the reason why they do so well with that niche is because it fits them. It doesn’t necessarily follow that that niche will fit you. You have no business automatically copying and pasting their niche recommendation. You have to have a niche selection strategy that makes sense as far as your needs are concerned.

Reason #3: Trendy niches

Just because a lot of people are excited about a niche doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to jump in. It may well turn out that this niche is short-lived. This is especially true for everybody promoting that niche. You might want to research deeper regarding the demand curve and sustainability of the demand for a trendy niche. Otherwise, you might end up holding an empty bag.

Reason #4: No unique selling proposition

A lot of affiliate marketers fail because they put up website after website that at the end of the day doesn’t really offer anything new. People interested in their niche would always ask themselves, why am I in this website, when I can get the same exact stuff from other websites that I get here? Why go here? If you cannot answer that question, you have no unique selling proposition. Your website as a practical matter, is not going to succeed. 

Reason #5: No independent affiliate branding effort

A lot of failed affiliate marketers share a common trait. They have websites that simply promote an affiliate product. They didn’t bother creating a specific brand for themselves. They just create website after website pushing a particular affiliate product and leaving it at that. It is no surprise that when people are no longer searching for that affiliate product, they really have no incentive to search for these websites that these marketers have put up. These websites end up dying.

Reason #6: Instant millionaire mindset

If you automatically think that you’re going to be a millionaire the next time you put up an online venture, then that may be the reason why you’re failing. Affiliate marketing is a marathon. It is a long term game. It is something that you have to stick to for a long time. It is a commitment. It is definitely not a sprint. If you have an instant millionaire mindset, you might not remain interested or passionate long enough to see your venture succeed. 

Reason #7: Unwillingness to invest

If you are only willing to spend spare change or chump change on your business, don’t be too shocked to discover that it’s only capable of producing chump change. You reap what you sow.

Keep the seven reasons above in mind if you don’t want to fail as an affiliate marketer. Work around them. Learn to detect them before it’s too late.

