Written by T. Alan Younker, posted 4 August, 2021
I recently read an article in Entrepreneur Magazine, â50 Work-From-Home Jobs Paying as Much or a Lot More Than the Average American Salary.â Hereâs a link to the article: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306578
The author, John Rampton, didnât claim to be rating them from best to worst, but instead covered a broad array of potential financial pursuits. Some require specialized skills, such as event planner, handmade crafter, intellectual property lawyer, or online teacher. But others just require an interest in the subject, a desire to become skilled in it, and a measure of determination.
I found it interesting that the first one on the list is âAffiliate Marketerâ and the fourth one is âBlogger.â Of course, an important way that bloggers make money is by including lots of affiliate links in their blog posts.
Though the subject of âwork from homeâ is broad, in this site, with a site name that includes âaffiliate marketingâ, Iâll keep that the focus of this article. After all, I donât want to pretend to know how to teach you to work from home as a Baker/Caterer/Chef. That would be a disaster!
If you’re in a hurry, here’s a summary of the advantages:
- Low Startup Costs – just the basics necessary for a typical online blog/business (hosting, landing page, autoresponder, etc)
- Huge Choice of Products / Services to Promote – affiliate marketing networks & e-commerce stores, new choices arriving frequently
- No More Commuting Struggles -unlike those who started working at home during the Covid-19 lockdowns, you can avoid the commute permanently
- Work From Your Home, or From Almost Anywhere – your bedroom, your home office, your motor home
- Control Your Workspace – choose your space, your furnishings, your decorations, etc. No rules for you
- More Privacy – no co-workers listening to your private calls, no need to step outside to make a call
- Greater Time Flexibility – no more 9 to 5 grind, design your own schedule, try the Pomodoro Technique!
- A Proven Path to Work From Home Success – a time-tested 3 Step approach to the affiliate marketing world
Now it’s time to get into the details of how these advantages might appeal to you.
THE WORK FROM HOME AFFILIATE’S CHEAT SHEET: CONTENTS
- Low Startup Costs
- Huge Choice of Products / Services to Promote
- No More Commuting Struggles
- Work From Your Home, or From Almost Anywhere
- Control Your Workspace
- More Privacy
- Greater Time Flexibility
- A Proven Path to Work From Home Success
Advantages of the Work From Home Affiliate:
Low Startup Costs
Setting up and running your work-from-home affiliate business requires very little financial resources to get started, so itâs way more practical than, say, buying a franchise.
As long as you have a decent computer, reliable online access, and a reasonable familiarity with basic computer operation, youâre a great candidate to start your own small business.
Services such as hosting companies, autoresponders and landing page providers donât cost much, and often give you a 30 day free trial. As you build your business you can increase the capabilities of your autoresponder, for a extra monthly fee, to accommodate your growing list of subscribers to your site. Think of it as your pay-as-you-go plan.
Huge Choice of Products / Services to Promote
There are many affiliate marketing networks (such as ClickBank and JVZoo) and e-commerce stores, such as Amazon. Each one has a wide array of products from which you can choose. Some of the products are physical, and others are downloadable files, or online courses.
And the selection changes over time. Whenever demand for a new, or improved, product shows up, someone will be stepping up to make it available for people who see it as a marketing opportunity for them.
Hereâs a very important point you need to remember concerning the marketing of affiliate products. On your website, you need to be careful to follow the Federal Trade Commissionâs guidelines to disclose that you will be compensated in some way if the viewer follows your link and makes a purchase.
This disclosure canât just be in a link at the bottom of the page, next to your âPrivacy Policy,â though you will need it there also. It must be clearly disclosed near the offer, so that it is âclear and conspicuous.â
No More Commuting Struggles
Though work from home was mandated for many when the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns got started, those were people who were still working for others, but were temporarily able to stop commuting. Recently many such employees are now being asked to go back to commuting to the office.
Before I got going with a home business, the best commute I ever had was when I bought a condo in downtown Seattle and had a four-block walk to the office. It was a great arrangement for three years. Then I moved to another state!
But now my commute is simply from room to room within my home, and you can come up with a similar arrangement.
Work From Your Home, or From Almost Anywhere
When you consider a possible work from home affiliate opportunity, itâs easy for you to picture yourself setting up an office space in your home, or even your bedroom, if youâre in a small space. But you might want to think more broadly about what the term means.
I read an article last year about a middle-aged woman who decided she needed to get away from her high stress job. She sold everything and bought a motor home. In the last several years, she has traveled all over the US, and visited Canada and Mexico.
So how does she finance all of this travel? She teaches other people how to earn a living online! She can work from home, anywhere her motor home is parked. Thatâs a travelerâs dream life.
The term “Work From Home Space” is very flexible, and can change over time, even just for a short time.
Control Your Workspace
Instead of working in a cubicle, or in an office thatâs designed by others, you can choose your furnishings, your decorations, whatever meets your needs. And if you decide to make changes, you donât need to get permission from a boss.
More Privacy
Ever try to make a personal phone call while working in a cubicle in a typical office? Itâs tough, and you may end up having to make your call while youâre on a break and can walk outside. But in your own home, hey, you have no one eavesdropping on you (except maybe your kids).
Greater Time Flexibility
Your work schedule is up to you. Of course, if you arenât very good with self-discipline, that might be a problem. Itâs tough to make money while binge-watching Netflix. But you can sneak in an episode now and then, as a reward for completing a challenging task.
You can make up your own schedule, and tweak it until it fits your task demands and lifestyle. Personally, I like to use the Pomodoro Technique. Basically, you set a timer for 25 minutes, and focus on one task exclusively. When that time is up, you take a five minute break and then start the next Pomodoro period. After four Pomodoros, take a longer break.
This time-management method was developed by Francesco Cirillo. Thereâs more to it than my brief summary, and you can learn more of the details at his website: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique
Also, if you work in an office you may be locked into the typical 9-5 schedule. But maybe you are someone who is more productive in the evenings. Years ago, when I was a freelance engineer, I often found that I got more done between 9 PM and 2 AM than I had during the previous part of the day. I was able to get into a âflow stateâ and really shut out the world around me.
A Proven Path to Work From Home Success
If you are curious enough by my listing of benefits of the work from home lifestyle, youâre probably wondering how to get involved. You probably donât want to try out a variety of ways to sell affiliate products, hoping to stumble across success, but would like to have a path thatâs well defined and has worked for many others.
Youâre in luck, Iâve already covered my favorite path to success in a previous post! Itâs a tried and true approach, so Iâd suggest you read through it, and consider if it might be right for you.
Hereâs the link: https://affiliatemarketingtips.net/3-simple-steps-to-affiliate-marketing-success/
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