Most people start off their affiliate marketing business by getting traffic from Google AdWords. I know, because that’s how I started. If you are anything like me, you purchased Google Cash or another pay-per-click ebook, and you set up your first campaign. Later on, after many campaigns, you found out that it was a lot harder than you originally thought.
Here’s why! Pay-per-click advertising works well for businesses that can count on repeat business. As an affiliate, you usually don’t have that luxury. You’re relying on one purchase per customer, and then you’ll probably never see that customer again. A good e-business, on the other hand, knows that with every person that becomes a customer, they can count on x number of purchases from that customer. This also allows them to bid significantly higher than affiliates because they can make their profits on the back end. A business that can rely on a minimum of four purchases per customer, for example, can burn up its profits on the first and second purchases and still make profits on the third and fourth purchases.
The last reason affiliates have a hard time is because conversion rates for a typical pay-per-click campaign average less than 1%. It’s hard to make a profit with that kind of conversion rate. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but affiliate marketers utilizing pay-per-click advertising for their traffic are definitely fighting an uphill battle.
