I was just reading an article I wrote seven years ago for ClickZ, “Affiliate Program Growth Potential.”
Two things struck me when I came across the article. First, a recession doesn’t kill everything in it’s path. Second, I should have started affiliate fatblogging back then, because I hate my picture on ClickZ.
The economy was on the minds of many affiliate marketers back when the article came out. Back on March 10, 2000, just as I was launching the affiliate program for ClubMom.com on Be Free, the Dot-com bubble burst.
I was pretty freaked out that the affiliate program was going to stop before it got started.
But a funny thing happened. The affiliate program continually grew and did great as Dot-coms imploded all over the place.
Anyhow, talk of recession is hot and heavy again, so I figured I’d trot out an excerpt from my old ClickZ article…
It’s official: A declining economy is no enemy of affiliate marketing. James Marciano, founder of Refer-it, once referred to affiliate marketing as “a recession-proof marketing channel,” and he was right on.
The reasoning is that affiliate marketing is all about paying for performance, as opposed to other marketing efforts that are not necessarily tied to measurable ROI.
So don’t sweat it too much. It’s just time to tighten the belts and focus on the marketing channels that give the most bang for their buck.
Now your friends working on CPM… they should start sweating.