Affiliate Marketing vs Cryptocurrency - Which is Best
One of the many things I have learned here at Wealthy Affiliate, other than the many legit ways to make money online at home, is how to spot scams and hyped up opportunities. In this post, Affiliate Marketing vs Cryptocurrency, I will give my opinion as to which one is best at making you money from home.
IS CRYPTOCURRENCY JUST ANOTHER BUBBLE?
I have been looking into this whole cryptocurrency opportunity for a while now and I place it in the somewhat same class as the stock market. Basically one should proceed with caution when investing. However there is more need for caution and research when thinking about gambling on cryptocurrency. After all, Crypto means secret or hidden.
I am not saying that you shouldn't gamble your money on cryptocurrency. What I am saying is do not invest more than you are willing to lose. This also holds true for the stock market, but at least here the stocks are based on real companies with tangible results whether up or down.
Some say cryptocurrency is just another bubble, and though I sometimes think it is, there could be potential here, but it really is a BIG gamble. I seriously doubt it will be widely accepted as a form of usable currency. As it is now, it's value can evaporate overnight, only to rebound and evaporate again. Too risky for me.
WHY I FEEL AFFILIATE MARKETING IS BETTER
You might be thinking that there is no comparison between affiliate marketing and cryptocurrency, and you would be right for the most part. Cryptocurrency is a big gamble with your money. Affiliate Marketing is a tried and true way for you to earn a lot of revenue without spending much money.
I remember seeing a couple of years ago, people claiming that affiliate marketing is dead. Not true. It has been steadily growing with no end in sight. According to a 2016 Rakuten Marketing study, online affiliate marketing will be a 6.8 BILLION DOLLAR per year industry in 2020. That's only two years from now!
As a member of Wealthy Affiliate we have direct access to this ever growing form of marketing. With this training, ordinary everyday people all over the world can earn a living from home. In my opinion investing $49.00 USD per month into the WA training and building of passive income, is a better option than gambling on cryptocurrency.
I am sure there will be those who may think differently. When it comes to making cash money my bank recognizes, I prefer to go with a more sure thing with a long success track record like affiliate marketing. What are your opinions on affiliate marketing vs cryptocurrency? Leave your comments below.
Recent Comments
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I agree, Cryptocurrency is very volatile at present, with pundits saying everything from it will die to it will be worth millions. Invest if you want to but be prepared to lose it.
Wealthy Affiliate, and by extension Affiliate marketing makes no promises, other than you will be rewarded for your hard work. This is a bit ambiguous as not everyone's hard work gets rewarded. Your work has to be appealing to your audience. So it is harder than it looks. But not impossible, and there are people to help you along the way here at WA.
Excellent reply. Different individuals are able to succeed in totally different businesses. To me it depends mostly on your passions and persistence to learn the necessary skills.
I have a passion for truth (as made possible through the blockchain); learning (for both myself and others); and diverse sources of income.
Hi Robert
A lot of Cryptocurrency platforms now offer affiliate programs.
It would really be a benefit to promote a decent exchange or wallet on a affiliate website since these are so commonly used and in demand.
There are many ways to obtain Bitcoin and Altcoins without having to invest money, even by playing games so one would not have to feel like they gambling their money away.
There are also interesting tokens/ICO's being released that reward gamers for their game play like achievements and usually there is a referral program associated with it. So inviting friends to play some games and earning cryptocurrency as a bonus sounds like fun.
There are many positive and negative stories regarding Cryptocurrency (as with most things that are new and make such an impact on society) but at the end of the day it should be recognized as an opportunity.
The Elite want a cashless society, will they get it right with crypto? ^^
As for the affiliate marketing model in this post, Bitcoin can easily fall right into that product category, that affiliate marketers can take advantage of in many ways.
I have made small commissions (via EPN) from my affiliate website by sending people to eBay to purchase their Bitcoin or Ledger Nano S (hardware wallet).
Additionally the wallets like Coinbase or Luno give nice commissions and from exchanges you will receive a percentage when your referrals buy cryptocurrency.
Best regards,
Kamil
Hi Kamil,
Crypto works and most of the time we feel that it is skeptical but it is not.
I don’t believe in it in the past but I getting the knowledge of it behind the block chain technology.
Currency is one thing that bitcoin is trying to address of the issue of middle man and time of transfer of the amount require from source to destination.
John.
It's kind of like gambling - don't go to a casino in Las Vegas and gamble more than you can afford to lose. The stock market and cryptocurrency are no different.
I remember 2008 very clearly. Many NYC teachers lost a huge chunk of their pensions when the stock market plummeted from it's artificial highs. Those who were near retirement really suffered.
Learning to how to make your own passive income stream through websites and social media, etc is always the best way to go.
Thanks for the reminder. :-)
You are welcome Wendy. I always lean toward proven money makers like affiliate marketing and proceed with great caution in other ways that are not yet as safe.
You are somehow right but then we still have a lot of affiliate websites that focus wholly on Cryptocurrency. So easy to refer and cash out.
Will it be wrong to have a website and start expressing your opinion by reviewing various crypto products? Crypto world is here to stay, every blogger should take advantage of the rush.
You don't need to invest your money buying and keeping it directly but you can blog about it expressing your though even if you are against it. It is a source of great traffics.
Regards
John
Yes, I agree that we should blog about it because it can be a win win to express our opinions and to help others who may want to start with it. It looks as if affiliate marketing and crypto can work well together.
What is interesting, and perhaps inevitable, is that many affiliate programs are now offering Bitcoin as a payment option. So you can refer affiliates and accept commissions in Bitcoin.
I'm not talking about the dodgy-looking Bitcoin-focused "programs" (that are probably ponzi schemes) but affiliate programs that sell other products and services and accept Bitcoin as one of the payment options.
There certainly are risks and I would not recommend gambling with Bitcoin or throwing money into it. On the other hand, there are ways to earn or generate Bitcoin without any investment. One of my projects for this Quarter is to build a website to show people how to do that.
So, go careful. Don't risk your hard earned money, but also do not bury your head in the sand.
All the best,
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus
Yes. The marriage of cryptocurrency and affiliate programs is something I just started looking into. Though I will always lean towards traditional programs, it is still worth it to investigate this further.
Definitely affiliate marketing all the way! I think the whole Cryptocurrency thing is a bubble that is going to pop sooner rather than later.
Now, I'm no Warren Buffet, but I know that a diverse portfolio, making slow and steady gains is the smart way to play when it comes to investing.
Affiliate marketing, although requiring some hard work upfront, will produce a solid long term business. The advantage being that's its totally scalable and far less risky.
Yes, I agree. With affiliate marketing, the hard work you do up front will pay off down the road and with little investment of your time.
It becomes passive income, giving you more time and money to scale things upward without much if any risk.
I think being an Affiliate in a Crypto opportunity is the best of both Worlds!
Crypto, like any investment, is a risk.
Yes, Bitcoin has certainly taken a dip in the past month, but it is still worth almost 4 times more than it was 6 months ago.
Some people say cryptos are a scam because they're not regulated by governments and issued by banks.
I believe people who say that don't understand the way governments and banks manipulate the paper currencies that they do own, and therein lies the real scam. To others, that is the very thing that makes them the best thing since sliced bread.
Paper 'money' is based on trust and that is what the detractors of crytpo say is lacking. Crypto transactions, however, a based on proof since the blockchain technology that controls them is transparent, cannot be manipulated and is almost impossible to hack. I would rather have mathematical proof from a blockchain than place my trust in a politician or a banker.
One of the reasons behind Bitcoins spectacular rise in value is the market cap. Only 40 million will ever be produced or 'mined' to use the technical terminology, and so far around 28 million have been. This gives it an intrinsic value, like precious metals - something which paper currencies don't have since governments and banks took their currencies off the gold standard so they could simply print them to manipulate the economy.
Rich :-)
I agree with the idea of tying in to both. Even if you don't want to invest in crypto, there are a lot of ways to earn through referrals.
Cryptocurrency is definitely not a scam and it is definitely not a widely accepted currency, at least not now. With it being prone to hacking, see link I posted in Alan's comment below, and some governments shutting down or imposing regulations, I feel it is way too volatile for my liking.
However I can see a possible opportunity with the combining of the two. This is something I just recently started looking into. But until I make a decision either way, I will stick to what has worked for me for the past 5 years with great results - Affiliate Marketing in popular niche markets with established companies.
Rob, I have taken my gamble, I must admit. But yes, it's a small amount of money which I am prepared to lose without crying over it too much, should the crypto market take another tumble. The other thing about cryptocurrency and the small amount of money I invested in ethereum, is that I am prepared to leave it there for a long time. No rush. And I'm hoping that, at some point in the next few months, the currency will perk up again, so I can make a quick sale and, possibly, make a little profit.
It's another way of diversifying - but as you say, only for money you can afford to lose.
No doubt affiliate marketing is here to stay. The principle is the same, in so far that both are as far from the 'get rich quick' schemes as you can possibly imagine. But the advantage of affiliate mark is that, once established, your business is set to create a recurring passive income with a certain degree of certainty, unlike, as we've seen recently, cryptocurrency.
Giulia
I hope it works out for you Giulia. At least your approach is the correct way. Gamble only the amount you are willing to lose without any worry. Also do not worry about making a fortune anytime soon and look at it as a long term investment.
Hi Rob, Thank you for your evaluation of crypto-currency, which I found very interesting.
I have been wary of crypto-currency as an investment because it seems to be intangible, although the value of Bitcoin (or other crypto currency) is achieved as a result of there only being a finite amount of it mined, so it´s value will continue to increase as a result of its rarity value, so i understand.
It crossed my mind, how long will it be before someone is able to forge Bitcoin (or other crypto-currency)? Maybe this is not possible, I don't know, but if there are people with the capability to manufacture Bitcoin, then presumably it could feasibly be possible to copy or mimic?
Having said all that many people have made fortunes with crypto-currency, so I may be completely wrong in my assessment, and it is possible to make a lot more money with a lot less work than Affiliate Marketing, at least from the increase in Bitcoin during the latter part of last year.
One thing I noted from a recent interview with investors in Bitcoin was that they said it was easy for them to buy, but not so easy to sell in order to get your money out. I don't know if this is true.
Another person who used Bitcoin to pay for a small value item, found that the administration charge for using the crypto-currency to buy the item was more than the value of the original purchase.
Interesting the wild fluctuation of Bitcoin value recently, although the trend is generally up.
Best
Alan
You are welcome Alan. There is just too much volatility with cryptocurrency and safety issues for me at this time. Heck, I have never been one to even risk my money much in the stock market.
Perhaps your concern about forging could be a problem down the road. But what is a problem right now is the hacking into cryptocurrency exchanges. It was just reported today that North Korea successfully hacked into a South Korea exchange stealing funds.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/new-report-north-korean-hackers-stole-funds-from-south-korean-cryptocurrency-exchanges
I noted North and South Korea are entering a joint team in the Winter Olympics, maybe the North are liberating some assets to pay for their share:-)
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Ummm, very interesting read, thanks Robert! Wealthy Affiliate is definitely the best way to invest. Cryptocurrency - yes, don't invest more than you have for sure. I've taken chances in my life... some good, some not so good and I wish I had put more thought into making the decision.
It's all about making smart decisions on smart choices.