Bit late with this one, we had some visitors last week and I didn’t have much time for blogging. However, without further ado…
This is, in my opinion, just about the best occupation in the known universe and here’s my top ten reasons why!
1. No boss telling you what to do, no office politics because of what got said at the Christmas party, and definately, definately no blinking well commute to work. Instead Kirsty is the boss, the only office politics is over how many cups of tea I’m allowed in a day and whether or not Duncan has been getting too much of our cats attention. The commute to work? Up 5 steps from the kitchen to the office and the work uniform is my trusty PJs!
2. Only working WHEN you want to. If I really don’t feel like working, I simply don’t. On those days in life when I wake and discover I feel dreadful and can’t face the screen – I don’t. “Today is a holiday” I say. And off Duncan and I trot to do something fun instead.
3. Only working ON WHAT you want to. Ahhh… this is a truly glorious aspect of our beautiful occupation. I only set up projects that interest me. If its boring, it’s not in my life. Hence I enjoy every second of my working day and get to immerse myself in promoting lots of really cool, weird, and wonderful things!
4. The Excitement. Every single day I wake up and I am immediately excited. I’m still lying there with my eyes closed and already I am visualising myself up and in the office, tea in hand, stats on the screen and planning the day ahead. It really is like Christmas each and every day and the gift is affiliate marketing!
5. Economy of Scale. One person really can create a business with a wonderful economy of scale. You can set a project up, leave it running and maintain it in a few minutes a day freeing up more time to find the next income stream. My new Australian accountant was absolutely blown away that one person could create so much turnover with so little in the way of manpower and resources.
6. The feeling of having found something I’m really “pretty good” at... All through my school days I was a good student, but just “average” and often struggled. I excelled at nothing and failed at quite a few things. Not a good feeling, as I really was trying very hard! I now realise that structure and I don’t get along very well. The more unstructured things are, the better I do! The often bizarre world of SEO was right up my street, and as for affiliate marketing with all its bewildering twists and turns? Well, I felt like I’d come home 
7. The sense of achievement. Sometimes, when I sit back and regard what I’ve done with my life, I get a beautiful feeling of contentment. All that I have done and acquired in life has come from the odd little nooks and crannies in my brain where affiliate niches are born. This is not because I work for a company that has done well ergo I do well – it has all come from me. It’s a lovely feeling of strength that boosts my self esteem and makes me feel incredibly comfortable in my own skin. Also reassures me that having a slightly off the wall mindset is A-OK!
8. The people I can honestly say that the people I have met and befriended in this industry are and incredibly interesting and cool bunch. Even without numbers 1 to 7 just meeting them and hanging out with them would have been a life enriching experience.
9. Hard work – yep, for some odd reason there really is nothing I enjoy more than knowing that I have worked incredibly hard for everything that I’ve done with my affiliate business. A good day for me is one where I’ve crammed in as much work as humanly possible within the hours I’ve decided to work (note I’m not doing 18 hour days – that’s a different thing!!). Working hard is a great feeling. And being honest guys and gals there are very few affiliates who have not worked hard for their money at some stage – even if they’re saying they don’t work all that hard now.
10. Being smug – yes, we all have to feel smug sometimes, and as you’ll see from numbers 1 to 9 I’m indulging in it right now. However, I feel particularly smug when I wander through the streets of a big city and see all the well dressed office workers rushing to their daily grind. I walk on, dressed in my usual clothes that constantly have me mistaken for a backpacker or student and ensure salespeople blank me in shopping malls – smiling my insufferably smug smile 
August 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Really enjoyed reading your article. I couldn’t agree with you more on the 10 reasons you listed. A couple more reasons why I love affiliate marketing are; I don’t need to develop my own product and don’t need to deal with customer issues.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Couldn’t agree more. Although I’m not quite at the stage where AM is providing me with a full-time income, when I do get to work on my AM projects I enjoy it so much!
I look forward to the day I can make a full-time income from my sites and then I can truly feel #10
August 18th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Aaahhh, how the other half live!
Your life and achievements Kirsty are certainly something to aspire to. I know I spend most of my affiliate life now thinking “What would Kirsty do”.
August 18th, 2009 at 7:36 am
@Robert @Greg glad you liked it. I think everyone’s reasons are different (but often along similar lines).
@Zane, well hun you’re a lot of the way there now. “Scale and replicate” springs to mind as your next task
August 18th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Great article. I love the feeling when you think a site is dropping off and then bang… a mega day of commission. Love it. Inspires to get off one butt and work on my sites.
August 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Starting my AM career this week and if this isn’t the perfect list of goals to achieve in AM I don’t know what is. Great write up!
Page bookmarked
August 19th, 2009 at 3:07 am
@Andy yes that is a good feeling, I’ve been having it every day for the last 8 weeks as all my hard work post Figleaves jiggery pokery and general recession woes has kicked in (all at once typically enough!!)
@Dan good luck with your journey I hope you’ll return and let me know how it’s all working out for ya
August 19th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Hi Kirsty,
Love number 10 – brilliant
Brett
August 19th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Even if Shopzilla are quite new in affiliate marketing, hence we haven’t met so many of you yet, I just like the people in the industry. They all seem to be quite laid back and always open for a nice chat
regards,
J
August 19th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Firstly, thanks for a great blog.
Secondly I can only agree on the 10 things you mention, AM gives me the time to spend every Monday and Friday with my daughter and still make a living.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Great post – Points 1-5 act as a great goal and reminder on why we all work in affiliate marketing.
Don’t forget 11. – Helping hundreds/thousands of others to enjoy the benefits of Affiliate Marketing.
Nice one Kirsty, you do deserve it.
August 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
same feeling here, even if 1-3 don’t apply
I would add the fact you can work from absolutely any place in the world, I find that most inspiring, as I get to combine 2 things I love, travelling & working
August 21st, 2009 at 10:04 am
Great post. All the points are valid probably for an experienced affiliate. It will be interesting to explore how valid they are to a new affiliate when they have little knowledge of the affiliate business.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
You sold me the career in AM at point number one! The bit about “No boss telling you what to do, no office politics because of what got said at the Christmas party.” isn’t it terrible how at every office Christmas party, after the Christmas dinner, when the drinks have started to flow we end up with a years worth of office gossip in one evening. I agree with you, give commuting and office Christmas parties the boot and work for your self
August 21st, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Point 6 is a great one to always remember and its a point I have to keep reminding myself of. Life before AM was a bit of struggle for me (although I never new I was struggling at the time!!) I too tried hard at many things but never really excelled at anything – more a jack of all trades and a master of none.
My brother affectionately coined a phrase for my job title – ‘the accidental businessman’ which has stuck between friends – I always chuckle at this – partly because its true but mostly because I know for a fact that its not just an accident and that I have actually found something I have a deep knowledge and interest in – and that that interest and knowledge has lead to a damn good living. I have actually created a career for myself – magic.
August 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 am
Glad you too have found something you are good at Barry, it’s a wonderful feeling!
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
[...] OK here is the positive side of the business: 10 Things I LOVE About Affiliate Marketing! [...]
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I also like point number 10, I try not to feel too smug because there’s also a thin line between success and failure but it really is a great feeling generating a decent income without having to dress up, commute or play by society’s rules. Sometimes a perfect day for me involves getting up and spending the entire day in my PJs.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
With the decent income and lounging worklife…does this mean affiliates all have luxury PJs?
Alas I think I’d raise an eyebrow or two rocking up to the affilinet offices in mine
Good to here the +ve stuff Kirsty!
Pete
August 26th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Dunno about anybody else Pete, but I get my Mum to send me over jammies from Primark!!
March 24th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
“I can honestly say that the people I have met and befriended in this industry are and incredibly interesting and cool bunch”
Why thank you
March 24th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
You again Barrie! How are you?!?