I run a small online store, completely unrelated to flashlights, and receive direct messages on a regular basis from individuals wanting to ‘collaborate’ and work as affiliates. It sounds like a no-brainer to me as as any percentage I lose in payout should be covered in extra sales as well as visibility.
So, I’m getting ready to spend the next few hours on Google. I wanted to get a little insight as well from those involved. Even if it is with flashlights, the idea and method is the same.
-Pros/cons from your end?
-Do you claim your earnings? lol…not trying to get anyone into trouble here. I honestly don’t know how that works. I’m sure I will after I put Google to work.
Appreciate any feedback. If it go through with this, I want to make things easy for me as well as for any affiliates.
i pay nearly 45% taxes of what banggood/gearbest/... send me
(considering paypal and exchange fees its more than 50% that do not reach my bank account)
my business is legally noted as “kinda sales branch“
so i pay income tax
as well as governmental fees for running a business
mandatory health insurance
mandatory social fee
here something - there something
some of that expenses are fixed - some related to the total amount of earnings per year...
since January its my only income - my wife is working 40 hours and i take care of the kids and house during daytime and try to make a bit extra during the nights ;)
i am not happy with the fact that more and more copy/paste businessman spam the online world :(
and some even “borrow“ even personalized codes hook them up with their own afflinks (shortened) and tell the recipient not to tell someone. (we need a vomiting smilie...)
happens even here on BLF
and if i search youtube and facebook its a shame.
:(
affiliate marketing a cool thing to get direct reward for reviews and advertising work - but then its just peanuts.
if you want to make money it can be cruel sometimes if you want to play fair
What I would like to know is how much work it actually is to review/share codes/run blogs/contribute to forums/etc.
I am not looking for any confidential information or even actual numbers (like a salary) - but I am keen to understand how much work all of this is and whether it even pays off.
Like… .would anybody quit a full-time salaried job with full benefits and health insurance to go into the affiliate business?
edit: I don’t want to derail WillyDs thread, apologies if this is off-topic.
Thanks for the reply M4D M4X. You actually answered one of my questions that I didn’t ask, and that was whether or not you had to eat the Paypal fees.
FPV, I would have to say that those who make a considerable living doing this are most definitely putting in crazy time. With my business, my weakness is social media. I don’t like it, I’m not drawn to it in any way, and I view it as this black hole with the ability to suck one’s life away. What I’ve come to realize, though, is that social media probably makes up 90% or more of today’s marketing. There are Instagram users out there with say a million followers. If you click on their pic, you can see all the different brands they have tagged. Now these ‘social influencers’ can post several pictures a day…and I’m talking professional shoots that must take all day. Some even comment and answer the hundreds of questions they get for each post. Now add a blog to the list. No joke…these people have to be working their social media accounts around the clock.
I spend several hours setting up lighting and trying to get just one good picture when I decide to post something. But, with each new post I get a surge in hits to my store. It’s a necessary evil in my opinion. That’s why I’m considering collaborators/affiliates. They are actually reaching out to do this. It’s what the younger generation does. They get the attention, extra cash, and free merch.
Thanks all for clarification, this is the beauty of BLF. You can learn so much on here, not just about flashlights.
Sounds like I should keep my day job! Doing social media 24/7 or the internet wouldn’t be my cup of tea.
If you subtract all the insurances, fees, private pension etc it wouldn’t work out for me. But I guess there are people out there who know what they are doing or do this at scale!
