ClickBank, Thank You Mam:affiliate marketing anyone? – Chawm Ganguly

“What would you do to earn US$ 1100 per hour, 24X7, for as long as you want? Trust me, I am now doing USD 15,000 per day and I am a college drop-out – a total duffer as duffers go by. I have earned so much that I want to share my “tried, tested and proven” technique to make money – oodles of it – from the close confines of your study.”

If you are a more or less, regular in the net, chances are, you have received a teaser mail like that. If the plug had been interesting enough, chances are you had followed the lead, dream of becoming a millionaire overnight building steadily within you, through the maze. A maze, with the author leading you on, testing your patience, egging you by just the right prod, throwing nuggets just when you are about to press the escape button, your interest sagging.

Very few of us have made it to the end – the end where you have to buy the key to unlock the treasure chest of opportunities.  Suffice to say, in most cases, it boils down to selling digital products in the virtual space using techniques of affiliate marketing. And, if that is what you believe is your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, then, may I suggest that you check out the ultimate? Yes, I’m talking of ClickBank.

Never heard of it? Well, the numbers are compelling. Founded in 1998, ClickBank is a secure online retail outlet for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers. They make a sale somewhere in the world every three seconds, safely processing more than 30,000 digital transactions a day, serving more than 200 countries, and are consistently ranked as one of the most highly-trafficked sites on the web. With more that US$ 2.0 in client earnings, that is a lot of money!

So how does it work? And why has it not taken off in India the way it has in the US or Europe? The answers are not far to seek:

  1. Unrealistic expectations: People approaching affiliate marketing with a single point agenda of becoming rich overnight fall out easily. This is a highly scientific and proven method no doubt, but here too, those who persevere and slog it out are more likely to taste success than the instant fortune seekers.
  2. Connectivity, internet density: India may be one of the biggest markets, but sadly, most of it is still not connected. Thus the actual market for affiliate programmes is still too small to attain critical mass. But hang on, things are changing and India is getting wired at an incredible rate.
  3. Purchasing Power and lifestyles too is a possible barrier with Indians by and large being less adventurous in virtual space with their marketing, especially digital products. eBooks, which are one of the hottest movers in the digital world too are yet to become a craze in India, which along with the sale of App’s and other digitized products are expected to be the next big thing which in its wake, experts opine, will make such sales pitches gather momentum. eMarketing is finally catching up in India and in the wake of their success many a mental myth is about to be busted which augurs well for affiliate programmes as well.
  4. Trust issues: Affiliate, network, pyramids are all loosely referred to as the money market companies who have been blatantly flouting norms and raising money from the poor which everyone knows will one day go burst. That is why there seems to be an invisible barrier that makes many to shun the opportunities, even though such efforts are totally unrelated.
  5. Chicken and Egg: Affiliate marketing networks do not grow as the general feeling is that India is yet to become a mature market offering enough depth for such networks to thrive and prosper. On the other hand the lack of such an efficient and effective affiliate network discourages entities with products to test the market and nurture it in the early years. Guess we’ll have to go to a restaurant and order a chicken and egg sand witch each to see which comes first!

The opportunities are there and you may well become one of the early movers. So sign up as an affiliate and plant the seeds. You know, like they say, “even the mighty oak was once a nut like you”!