Marketing products and services as an affiliate on the internet has become one of the best independent contractor jobs available. Operating as an independent contractor, you can start your own online business literally overnight with very little upfront expense. As an online marketing affiliate, you can develop an ongoing income stream with minimal monthly or yearly costs.
All you need to succeed is a computer and a good high-speed internet connection. This means that you can operate your marketing business from almost any location in the world. With today’s technology, you can change that location whenever you want to where ever you want.
I have been an independent contractor most of my life because I didn’t want a job – I never wanted to be someone’s employee. Even though I did not have a boss to report to or an office building to commute to every day, I was not truly independent. I was geographically bound – I was “locationally handicapped.” I knew that my prospects, clients and customers would go away if I went away.
Marketing as an affiliate online allows you to be virtually an “independent” contractor (technically a “virtual independent contractor.”) The potential market is global and there is no need to meet face to face with anyone. Producers and suppliers are looking for contractors online. Clients or customers come from all over the world directly to your computer.
Software applications allow communication via voice and video conferencing to practically anyone anywhere around the globe. Mentoring and coaching is also available online. There are countless internet marketing mentoring and coaching services available online. Many are bogus, some are good, and a few are outstanding at teaching you how to succeed online as an affiliate marketer.
As is the case with most things that provide benefits to us, we can expect to encounter some pitfalls when developing our income as an independent contractor. The most challenging of these is the willingness and ability to focus on our business building endeavors. The “no boss” benefit is the double-edged sword that prevents most would be entrepreneurs from achieving their goals. There is no one to tell us when to show up for work or to help keep us from being distracted. As independent business owners, we have to do that on our own.
This is why an effective mentoring and coaching support is critical. A good mentor is someone who is willing to help us set realistic goals and encourage us to reach those goals. Success as an independent contractor depends on our enthusiastic dedication to the accomplishment of the task we have chosen to undertake. Accountability to our mentor or coach can facilitate that process.
Affiliate marketing on the internet, with the support of a strong and effective mentoring and coaching program has definitely become one of the top ways to succeed as an independent contractor in today’s highly competitive business climate.
Finding The Right Franchise
Whether it’s hamburgers, pizza, telecom, coffee, Internet, muffler parts, or seniors’ services, there are Franchise opportunities available to evaluate. There are great Franchise systems, good Franchise systems, and bad Franchise systems. The challenge is to ask the right questions to find the right system that will fit your goals and dreams. The key is to ask the questions – and listen closely to the responses. Only then can you determine if the Franchise opportunity is the right fit for you. So whether it’s food services like burgers or coffee, professional services like telecom or IT, or manual services like cleaning or oil changes, ask the questions and record the answers.
How Big Is The Market?
The Franchisor should have a good handle on the available market for the product or service that you will be offering as a Franchisee. Presumably the Franchisor has done extensive research on the current market size, as well as the potential market size for the future.
The Franchisor should be willing to share that information with you so you can assess the data to make sure that the opportunity is going to be of sufficient size to satisfy your own goals. You may have to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, but the information is important to you, so it must be assessed. The whole idea of Franchising is to ensure that the goals and dreams of the Franchisee, and those of the Franchisor, are unified. If the market availability will allow for strategies to be implemented by you, which are consistent with your goals, and those penetration goals are congruent with the Franchisor’s goals, then all is good.
If it’s a long-standing and stable market, then there should be plenty of statistics to back up that conclusion. If it’s a new and burgeoning market, there should be analysis that you can assess to give you a comfort level that you, together with Franchisor, can go get a significant share. If it’s a fad market, or limited life market, then the strategies should reflect that, as should the agreements.
The caution is that if the Franchisor is wishy-washy about the market, or is unwilling to discuss the issue in depth with you, that should be a significant warning sign.