Personally, I couldn't care less for feel-good crap. "Satisfaction of a job well done." Uh, no. Talk about being a pussy.
"Satisfaction of a large bank statement."
That I can appreciate.
I'm not saying that affiliates are at the bottom of the totem pole, nor are we at the top. However, there are a number of reasons why it's a
good position to be in. I'm super exhausted, but here's what I can come up with:
- No inventory (physical items).
- Depending on the advertising method, we usually have much lower costs than the advertiser.
- The "mercenary for hire" effect. Payout at network Y too low? Go to network X. Network Y decides they want your traffic. Network Y offers a higher payout. etc.
- We are self employed. This means if we want to work at three in the morning in our underwear, we damn well can.
- We can be in as many niches as we want. It's possible to sell Christian inspiration books while you're pushing the latest "teen anal destroyers XVII" DVD.
- Many of us, had we not discovered AM, would be pushing pencils at shit office jobs. I was.
Those are all examples of why Affiliate Marketing is a great industry to be in, despite its faults (and you're stupid if you think that this business isn't in a constant state of evolution).
It's certainly not "feeling good about accomplishing something nice." I accomplish something nice in the bathroom every morning after I have a cup of coffee and a cigarette, but it sure as fuck doesn't pay my bills.