So we are still at the beginning of the year and people are making business moves and there are some decisions to be made. In today’s article, we look at MLM vs affiliate marketing. At the end of this article, I hope I would have made your decision easier.

MLM vs Affiliate Marketing, First Lets Look At Affiliate Marketing

The way affiliate marketing works as I have mentioned in many of my previous posts is that you get to sell other people’s products by promoting them to your audience. And you make commissions that way. And to be honest affiliate marketing is not a new thing, people have been doing it for decades.

It’s just that they did not call it affiliate marketing. For example, have you seen a TV commercial where someone would talk about a product and then give you a code to use when you go and make the purchase? the code he/she gives might secure you a % of discount but that is not all. By using the code, you are telling the shop that you were sent there by the guy on the TV or radio which means he will get a commission from your purchase.

Internet Has Made It Very Easy To Start Affiliate Marketing Business

Now, the internet and technology have made it easier for affiliate marketers to make money because it’s so easy these days to set up a website or a YouTube channel. Moreover, there are so many affiliate networks and millions of products to promote. So to be honest anyone interested in affiliate marketing, can start an affiliate marketing business in a matter of hours.

Building a website these days takes less than a minute. it’s just a case of a few clicks, once you are all set up you are able to find products to promote. Actually some networks like ClickBank will allow you to grab an affiliate link and start promoting the product in any way you like.

Whether it is by social media, YouTube, or a blog.

That being said, the easier it gets to start an affiliate marketing business, the hotter the competition. So it’s up to you to be unique and to do your best to establish your brand.

It Does Not Cost You Money To Join Affiliate Networks

Unlike Multy Level Marketing where you are required to purchase the products before you can even start. Affiliate marketing does not require you to spend money in order to join affiliate networks. its completely free to join any affiliate network and that includes the giants like Amazon Associates, eBay, Etsy, FlexOffers, which has brands like DrScholls, Marcys, Sephora, Guess, Reebok, eHarmony, Kayak just to name a few.

Flexoffers have more than 12000 advertisers and millions of products to promote. Whether you want to venture into the sports niche, online dating, or fashion or gardening, whatever it is you will have products to promote. And that is just one network, of course, I don’t have to mention how many products can be found on Amazon.

And Now let’s Look At MLM

Multi-level marketing is a different kind of business model from affiliate marketing. Now I understand that there are all kinds of content out there trashing MLM. Mine is not that kind of post. I just want us to look at the MLM business model, assuming you will be able to find one of the legit ones, we want to see how easy it will be for you to make money online with MLM.

First, let me share my experience in multi-level marketing

I would like to thank a blogger called Christina Piccoli because I remembered my MLM experience after watching her YouTube video. Thank you, Christina. And now back to my story.

Back in 2012, when I was venturing into online marketing, and trying to figure out what affiliate marketing was, I spoke to a friend of mine who told me not to bother with online marketing. And instead, join her in an MLM company that she was involved in. I joined under her and I had to buy a bunch of supplements because that was what the MLM company was about.

What Do You Do With A Box Of Supplements?

So I bought a box of supplements that contained 12 bottles of different kinds of supplements. the box of 12 was the minimum requirement. Now, my next task was to sell those supplements and also recruit people to join me in this venture. And also hope they can sell the supplements and also recruit more people to join so my network can grow. Needless to say, I failed miserably.

I was not able to recruit not even one soul. And to make the matters worse I was not even able to sell the supplements that I had bought. OK, so maybe I am not such a good salesperson 🙂 so there I was stuck with a box of supplements and lots of angry friends and family members. Who by this point had started avoiding me because I was very annoying in my quest to try and convert them lol.

All MLMs Are Not Scams Or Pyramid Schemes But…

As I mentioned earlier, the MLM industry has come under fire in recent years. and there is even an online community called anti MLMs. The problem is, there is a very thin line between MLM and Pyramid Schemes. Which means they are always under constant scrutiny especially in the US.

The FTC ( Federal Trade Commission) has Investigated many MLM companies including the big ones like Amway and Nu Skin, these two companies have had to pay huge fines, for giving misleading information about their products, and issues relating to being accused of being pyramid schemes.

All Hope is Not Lost You Can Still Make Money With MLM

But there are some really successful MLM companies out there. One of them is Mary Kay, and of course who haven’t heard of Avon? I Know someone who works for Avon and I do buy products from her but we almost had a fall out at some point because she was working too hard to try to convert me.

I told her I will give her business by buying her products but I am not going to join Avon. Not that I have anything against the company, it’s just that, as we have learned from my story, I did not perform very well as a salesperson lol but also I prefer affiliate marketing. It makes me feel good to earn money doing something I love.

Conclusion

In my opinion affiliate marketing is better, because first of all, you don’t really need to buy the products in order for you to join affiliate networks. Also, you are free to join as many affiliate networks as you like and promote as many products as you like. its only time and your ability to create content that will limit you.

Also unlike MLM where the growth of your income is dependent on other people’s ability to sell or to recruit new members. In affiliate marketing, it’s totally up to you to scale your business.

The next advantage of affiliate marketing, you don’t have to directly deal with customers.

Anyway, those are my opinions. And now I would like to hear what you think, do you think MLM would be a better fit for you in 2020? or like me, you would rather do affiliate marketing?

Would You Like To Learn Affiliate Marketing Today?

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I will leave it there today. Thank you so much for your time and comments.

Rose

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