Sometimes we can lock ourselves out of opportunity by thinking that it is a finite thing. Those that are yet to experience the true opportunity within the online world have a tough time really understaning the scope of what the "Internet" opportunity represents for all of us.

Not only that, how even a playing field we are all on. Once upon a moon (not too long ago), you needed to understand technology, you needed to understand how to code, and you needed to have a significant amount of time/money on your hands just to get a business up and running online.

Now, with the evolution of technology, with access to all the sophisticated platforms you have at Wealthy Affiliate that simplify the process, and with the scale in which companies have adopted affiliate programs as one of the core company marketing strategies, opportunity is ripe.

As you understand the affiliate marketing world and as you create success within it, you will realize just how endless the opportunity is and have to come to the realization that there is going to be too much opportunity before you, and not enough time.

In this post I want to spend a bit of time putting this all into perspective.

Lets Look at Some Opportunistic Numbers.

It is hard to really get a hand on how vast the online opportunity is without taking a look at some core statistics that reflect the true "state of the internet", the growth it has had in recent years, and the number of affiliate/revenue opportunities that preside online.

There are 3.8 BILLION people online. The world's population is currently around 7.6 BILLION, of these people over 50% of them are now actively participating in the Internet. This means, when you set-up a website which is of course internet based, your potential reach is currently around 3.8 BILLION people, some say closer to 4 billion.

Lets just think about this for a second. New York City has 8.5 million people. Now think about how many successful businesses there are in New York. There are close to 200,000 small businesses for those of you that are number crunchers out there. These are businesses with 1-500 employees.

That is 200,000 successful businesses in one city. A city that is 471x smaller than the size of the Internet.

So questioning the idea of being able to create a business online and having a big enough audience, is questioning business itself.

So that is the first subset of numbers I wanted to run by you, the second is the sheer number of affiliate marketing products/services that you have access to promote as an affiliate marketer. With ZERO overhead, zero shipping, zero customer support, and zero dealing with refunds and returns.

There 550,000,000+ products and services you can promote. The Amazon Affiliate Program alone has 100's of millions, eBay has the same amount, Etsy has millions of sellers, and the likes of Walmart, Wayfair, Nike, and pretty much ever major (and indie) brand you can imagine has an affiliate program. Affiliate marketing has become their focus when it comes to marketing their products/services online.

There are currently 1.9 BILLION websites online. 85% of these being inactive. The other 15% (active) accounts for approximately 285,000,000 online. This means that there is less than a 2:1 ratio between products an affiliate can promote, and the total number of websites in existence. That gives me promise, and to me indicates there is a big disparity between the number of products that need help with their promotions, and the number of actual websites. In fact, there are WAY more products, than there are people promoting them.

This represents a significant, and long term opportunity for affiliate marketers.

In 2017, more than 1.66 BILLION people purchased something online. That means close to half of all people online are also doing a percentage of their shopping online. This number has grown significantly from when I started back in 2002 (and I thought the opportunity online was massive back then).

Global e-Tail sales amounted to 2.3 trillion dollar (US) in 2017, with projections showing growth upwards of 4.48 trillion dollars (US) by 2021. That mean the Internet opportunity is going almost double within the next 4 years!

As you can see based on these statistics, the internet opportunity is one that is growing at pace we have never seen. This should be very exciting to all of us!

People Like US Are Amplifying the Online Economy (Product Devs)

A trend that has become very obvious in the past few years is that new products are being developed by PEOPLE, not corporations. With platforms like Amazon, Etsy, EBay, & Shopify, selling your own products has become so cost-efficient and without technical hurdles, many people are setting up shop as a merchant.

They are also seeking out affiliate marketers to promote their services, or they are selling it within networks like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay which offer affiliate programs.

The rapid pace in which new and innovate products are being created, plus the abundance of "selection" that it is creating with consumers, is leading to even more opportunity for those operating websites and that have a presence online.

Don't Think Scarcity.

Get the idea of a finite supply or scarcity out of your head.

People have the tendency to think that there is scarcity. In reality, there is abundance and every year (for the foreseeable future), that abundance is getting amplified.

If you think it is scarce and you convince yourself of that, you are going to view the online world with tunnel vision. If and when you realize the sheer vastness of this opportunity, doors of opportunity are going to open everywhere.

Now it's your turn.

I want you to share your thoughts on the "internet" opportunity here, if you are new, what your assumptions are going into this business. If you are a seasoned affiliate marketer, what are some things that have reaffirmed the sheer size of this opportunity for you?