It is common to ask why affiliate marketing is better than MLM. Why? Many people claim that MLM or multi-level marketing program is the best way to earn money online. However, those who say so are already on the topmost or higher level. It is hard to believe people who are already on the top ranks.
They were the people who were present when their group or program was just starting out. That or they are fantastic in selling products to people. Sadly, it is next to impossible to make money with MLM programs. If truth be told, only those who are lucky enough can gain from MLM.
Personally, I do not like MLM. I will tell you that outright. For that reason, I have searched for different yet realistic ways of making money online. Thus, I found affiliate marketing. In my years of doing this, I can tell you why affiliate marketing is better than MLM.
However, it would not be fair and right if I just decide this fact for you. And for that, we will briefly talk about the two business models so you can compare and judge for yourself, and tell why affiliate marketing is better than MLM.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
This is a business model wherein you promote someone else’s product using your own website or social media accounts.
There are three parties involved in this business model. The product creator or owner, the affiliate, and the customer. Basically, you are a middleman when you do affiliate marketing.
What? A middleman? Oh no.
Even after this short explanation, how can you still defend why affiliate marketing is better than MLM? Let us explain further before you react negatively.
When people search for products or services, they immediately head over to Google (or any other search engine). If your website happens to be on the first few pages of the search engine results and people visit your page, you will have a chance to sell them a product that interests them.
If you are an affiliate of a product or service and people buy them through you (or your site), you get a commission from those sales. Let us give you a better example.
For instance, a woman is looking for ways to get rid of her cellulite, so she does a Google search. Then, your website is on the first page of the results, so a potential client visits your site hoping that she will get a solution there.
Your site has tons of articles and information that can help her get rid of her cellulite. You also promote and review different products on your site. After that, she decides to buy one of the products she sees on your site. Because of that, you get a commission.
If, let’s say, hundreds of people buy through your site on a weekly basis, you have a huge earning potential right there. That is a great source of online income.
What Is MLM?
MLM or multi-level marketing is a business model wherein you invite and recruit people to sign up to the company you are working for. The more people join your company or team, the more commissions you get.
Yes, we know it works and sounds pretty much like affiliate marketing, but here’s where they differ. If the people you recruit also recruit other people into the company, you can still earn commission from those referrals. Thus, the main objective of the people in MLM is having more people join them than focus on selling their products or services.
What Are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing over MLM?
Now that we have briefly introduced the two business models, let us now proceed to the comparison and discussion of affiliate marketing’s advantages over the other model. Through this comparison, we can say why affiliate marketing is better than MLM.
Affiliate marketers can sell pretty much anything. You can sell a service or product based on your niche or target market. You can decide how you promote it, too. You can try online or offline strategies, or even both. There is no limit to what you can do. We can expound that later.
Having said so, we can tell why affiliate marketing is better than MLM. Yes, we cannot stress that fact enough so we keep repeating it.
Here are the pros of affiliate marketing:
1. You can pick the products to sell depending on your interest. There are thousands, even millions, of merchandises or services online. And no, we are not exaggerating. You can even work with as many brands as you want.
What this means is that you can focus on opportunities that you are genuinely interested in. When you promote products that you use, you can better give your readers an insider look or sneak peek of what they will be using. You can greatly help them in making sound decisions before buying a particular product.
But with MLM, you can only sell what your company is selling. You will be forced to sell the product even if you do not believe in it and you do not have a say in this. This puts you in a difficult position.
2. You don’t need to spend that much. It is free to join affiliate marketing platforms. You get a commission for every sale you make. Wealthy Affiliate, for instance, gives you a chance to have a website for free where you can sell other people’s products. Now, isn’t this amazing?
MLM, on the other hand, requires membership fee and other costs. You need to buy kits which are expensive. Also, you need to reach a specific number of points to earn real money. Most of your earnings here will come from recruiting other people to join your team or structure.
3. You have total control on how you promote your selected products. Affiliate marketing platforms use tracking links to monitor affiliate’s sale. The brand or product owner will see that the buyers came from your site and will reward you for selling products for them.
You can do anything you want with those links (provided you follow the platform’s rules) and post them anywhere you like as long as you do not spam.
If you decide to do online, you can sell to people you don’t know as long as they have the same interests as you. You can use YouTube, Facebook, or other popular social media accounts for this purpose.
MLM, on the other hand, relies largely on recruiting members. Therefore, a more personal touch is needed to persuade people to join. You need to talk to your potential members face-to-face to do this.
Conclusion
You are wondering why affiliate marketing is better than MLM? That is easy to answer!
- You have the liberty to choose products.
- Startup requires minimal cash.
- You can promote the products any way you want to.
Best of all, there is no hard-selling involved (and no severed relationships because of the annoying tactics that people in MLM use). No need to build up a team just to get money. Many MLMs just require members to recruit other people without the need to sell anything… which is just fishy to us. Where does money come from when you don’t sell anything? How can the company sustain that kind of strategy? Well, from the membership fees of the new recruits – that’s where. It makes you really think. Making this your bread and butter is just difficult and bothersome too.
Moreover, since you are passionate about the products that you are selling with affiliate marketing, you can better help people make the right choices in buying. You will be their go-to guy when it comes to a particular niche which is great for you and your site as this will attract more visitors. The feeling you get when you help others is more fulfilling. This is a more rewarding business model.
However, you need to know that there are cons to affiliate marketing. You need to find a niche. In addition to that, you need to find winning products – products that sell well. You also need to create your own website, set up its social media accounts, and drive traffic to it so that people can actually buy the products that you are selling.
You need hard work and commitment to do all those things. Furthermore, you need to be patient as your online presence will not be established overnight. You need to do all that. But if you have done all those correctly, you can just sit and wait.
If you have no idea how to get started, you can head over to Wealthy Affiliate to create a free account. They have the tools that you need to begin, and the learning materials to learn all you need to know when it comes to affiliate marketing.
Click Here to read my Wealthy Affiliate Review
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