Conventional Wisdom would dictate that during a recession, when people are supposed to be spending less an industry such as Affiliate Marketing, based as it is on commissions from other people's spending, would be hit hard.
The logic would be less spend = less commission = less income.
How wrong can you be.
The recession is of anything a boon to the Affiliate Marketing industry because people are spending their money more carefully and are taking their time looking for the best deals. So it doesn't matter whether you're selling clothes, holidays, computers or anything else the key is still to turn your visitors into customers by doing exactly what the Affiliate Industry does best, pre-selling goods so that customers want to buy.
If people are taking time to look for bargains gthey are more likely to find your affiliate site than if they just went straight to the web site of a major store or manufacturer and that's your chance to pre-sell your goods.
Also as I think I discussed previously forward thinking companies will not be closing down their advertising during the recession as it is only those that retain customers who will survive.
In order to do this the companies are competing for customers like never before. The Christmas sales seemed to run in February and the Easter sales started soon after. Then we had Spring sales and now that summer is here, in terms of BST if not the weather, expect Summer sales especially in the holiday, hotels and travel markets. It seems sales are now the norm and not the exception.
To illustrate my point Marks and Spencer has just launched their 'Back to School' sale. This is the first time this happened to my knowledge before the schools have even broken up for summer.
Crazy? Yes, but let's not waste an opportunity to sell thing even if the price is slightly less and the margins tighter than ever.
The merchants are not just competing for customers. They are also competing for affiliates with a range of bonus payments for hitting sales targets, prize draws for first sales, and holidays all currently on offer.
Now is not a bad time to be an affiliate; it is just an interesting time.
