How does affiliate marketing work?

How much can you earn through an affiliate in 2020?

Is affiliate marketing still profitable? How much time needs to pass before I start earning a decent income from affiliate programs? I am considering quitting my job and becoming an affiliate marketer, will I make enough? These questions and dozens of similar are shouting out from numerous forums. And you can always find newbies excited by the idea of passive income skeptically assessing this opportunity to earn.

So, the key question is, how much can you really earn in affiliate marketing in 2020? And in this article, we address the challenge of answering this question.

The affiliate marketing industry is growing steadily. Statista reported that spending on affiliate marketing only in the U.S. is expected to rise to $8.2 billion by 2022. Thus there is definitely a space to grow and earn. And we believe that even more then we see examples of super-affiliates publicly sharings their income reports and telling their success stories.

According to their monthly income, we can divide affiliates into:

• Total beginners, who are only losing money at the moment;
• Low-level affiliates, who earn up to $300/day;
• Intermediate affiliates, who earn from $300/day up to $3,000/day;
• High-level affiliates, who earn above $3,000/day;
• Super affiliates or, as you can often find them being called, “gurus of affiliate marketing,” who make more than $10,000/day.

Success in affiliate marketing is about persistence and continuing nature. You can’t assume that your profit will always be the same if you once earned 300$ per day. In Affiliate marketing, there are plenty of cases when, after earning somewhat a very modest income for a long time, people skyrocketed overnight. It is all about choosing the right niche and the right strategy. And there are plenty of opposite cases when affiliate marketers went from high incomes to sod.

Examples of famous super-affiliates to get inspired:

• Well-known affiliate marketer Pat Flynn grew his affiliate business from $8000 to $100.000 per month;
• Tom from Onlinemediamasters went from $20k to $150k of annual income over two years;
• Doug Cunnington made $70k in 2017 from just one niche website.

Isn’t it inspiring? But then, in reality, after some months spent with no earnings or just small ones, people become more impatient and skeptical. Some lose hope and give up; the others start looking for questions, ways how to earn more. Because yet they are far from the desired sums. So, what’s the real affiliate earning?

Recently StM conducted a poll where they asked about affiliates’ annual income. And you can see the results in the chart below:

Broadly speaking, this chart must give you a vision that income in affiliate marketing can vary a lot. You can see there are plenty of bloggers and affiliate marketers out there who earn less than $20.000 ($1.600 per month). But then there are also those who make tons of mOney.

How long does it take to make a steady income?

Getting to the point where you earn consistently from affiliate programs might take a while, so you probably should not quit your job from the very start. Usually, it takes from 6 months to several years to start making profits with affiliate marketing. More precise timing and your overall success depend on your ability to create quality content, optimize for SEO, drive traffic, and promote your affiliate products. Don’t forget about the active usage of social media and email marketing. You will not skyrocket overnight. But by being consistent in the promotion of affiliate products, having the right marketing strategy will bring you to your desired income.