Like many people, my first exposure to affiliate marketing involved a lot of hype. I was dazzled by internet marketing gurus who led me to believe that I too could become an overnight internet marketing millionaire if I buy their affiliate marketing program. And, so I bought one, and then another one, and then another one. And, what I learned from those programs is that I should follow what they did.

After reading chapters filled with general information fluff about affiliate marketing, they would get around to teaching me that I needed to promote their moneymaking system that involved something called a sales funnel. It’s the same funnel that led me to buying their products and that’s why it would be a winning product for me to promote and earn big just like them.

So, I got busy setting up rudimentary website pages, and created sales copy that sounded a lot like theirs. Oh, and I also made sure to include several affiliate links on those pages. I also wrote content pages that included free promotional content that was guaranteed to get people excited to click on my affiliate links.

Well, as you might have guessed, all of that time and effort setting up those moneymaking pages made me zero dollars. That’s right. I didn’t make any affiliate money.

I got the same results after I paid to have a service drive traffic to my web pages. Finally, what I realized was that what was working for them, wasn’t working for me, and I gave up on trying to get rich quickly that way.

I’m sharing this because I want you to know that I too was once captivated by these internet marketing programs that make big income promises. Those people use our desire to quit our jobs and live a life of financial freedom to their advantage.

The only ones living the dream life are them. They’ve learned how to use emotional triggers to entice us into spending money on what basically amounts to “fool’s gold”. Fool’s gold is a mineral called pyrite that resembles gold but it’s worthless when compared to real gold.

Stay away from internet marketing programs and opportunities that make claims about making thousands per month and growing wealthy. They’re usually filled with fluff and hype, and you won’t get what you’re looking for from them.

It’s unfortunate that so many people have been burned by these big-money sellers that they think affiliate marketing is a scam, or that only a few “lucky” people can be successful at it.

I get how being let down over and over again can make you want to give up altogether.

But I was one of those people who believed that there was something real about this moneymaking system, and I was determined to learn more about it. And so, I kept seeking out people who came across as authentic and had authentic information to share about affiliate marketing.

So, to save you from going through months, or years, of disappointment, I’m giving you a quick overview to clarify what affiliate marketing is and isn’t.

Here’s what affiliate marketing is:

• It’s a legitimate moneymaking method that requires learning and implementing a system.

• It’s a moneymaking method that requires research and planning to create a good strategy that works for you.

• It’s a moneymaking system that requires creating a lot of quality content.

• It’s a moneymaking system that requires a lot of time and effort to reach even a small amount of success.

And here’s what it isn’t:

• Affiliate marketing isn’t a moneymaking method you can use to get rich quickly.

• Affiliate marketing isn’t a make “easy money” online strategy.

• Affiliate marketing isn’t about luring unsuspecting people into a sales funnel, and then making them false promises in order to earn big affiliate commissions from promoting a marketing guru’s expensive program.

• Affiliate marketing isn’t about posting a bunch of links and waiting for people to click them and buy products.

• Affiliate marketing isn’t about creating cheesy sales copy that makes you come across like a stereotypical sleazy used car salesman.

Now that you know the truth, you can decide for yourself if you want to continue learning more about how to be successful at it.

What Affiliate Marketing Is and Isn’t

by Donna Gets Real, an affiliate marketer and experienced online content writer.