Got asked how much to expect to make in affiliate marketing. Thought to make it a post…
Note: All the numbers assuming we are talking about PROFIT(!) (from SEO) and you are working solo. If you are working in a team with others, or employ a team, those numbers can be multiplied of course.
Also paid traffic could be scaled very differently.
I think it’s similar to stock trading, the majority makes nothing or chump change. Mostly because they hop from method to method and don’t stick with something long enough. If you stick long enough, you will make money. You don’t need to be very clever to make money online.
Some who actually make money make around $100, maybe $200 a day. I think this is pretty common and makes many leave their jobs.
I would say in profit, most more successful ones make around $1k per day. I would consider you ‘good’ and ‘successful’ then already if you are able to make that on a steady basis.
I think $1k is kind of a barrier for many, because it starts getting comfortable with that amount steadily coming in. Especially if it’s a bit more than $1k per day. You are losing your hunger and need to push yourself hard to move beyond.
To really push beyond $50k per month and reach $100k-$150k you need to scale and work hard or have some lucky punch with a website you own.
Most just don’t have the will to work that hard. Again, don’t underestimate the comfort zone you dwell in once you reach a certain amount.
Again, same as in stock trading, it’s rare to find people doing affiliate marketing making more than $100k per month steadily over months and years.
Most will have ups and downs, where they have months or a year that went exceptionally well while the next year went bad.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t people making way more than $100k per month in affiliate marketing. But it’s an exception and it would raise false expectations here.
tl;dr: A realistic expectation would be $0-$1k per day from affiliate marketing as a solo player in the SEO traffic game in the first years.