How Long Do You See Affiliate Marketing Working?

I've been pondering a lot today.

How long do you think clickbank affiliate marketing will actually be viable? Surely there's a point where there's too many affiliates to make decent cash? With more and more people getting used to the internet and looking in to how to make money online, isn't there going to be some kind of impact on us? I'm really excited about finally making some cash with IM, but I'm concerned that if I focus on IM ALONE it could be risky in the long term - what if I become a f***** brilliant clickbanker, only to find that in ten years time I've spent all my time acquiring a skill that isn't worth enough any more?

It just seems almost to good to be true. I've always dreamed of having a job like this since I was a kid.

I'm hoping I'm going to get some replies along the lines of "You're a paranoid fk". That'd be the reassurance I need right now before I focus my efforts on IM.

Don't take my word for it since I am still a big newb when it comes to IM, but I think your fears are justified.
Once the market becomes oversaturated, customers who become more savvy may go and buy stuff directly from the distributor, or at least through affiliate links from well-established people whom they feel they can trust (i.e. long-standing blogs, authority sites).

it will work until you die

Don`t worry about the competition, also there are so many who give up if they don`t make money in their first week. Plus there are so many other affiliate programs and ways to make money online.

Cheers

Affiliate marketing will always work. There will always be people with products where the smaller fish will promote the product to earn a commission.

Learn how to market and you'll be able to sell anything to anyone using those skills.

I don't believe that affiliate marketing is going anywhere anytime soon. However, you should not put all your eggs in one basket. Don't focus just on affiliate marketing. Try to master more areas of IM so in case one of your income stream fails, you will have 5+ more to back you up and give you security.

Oh BTW, if you become a f***** brilliant clickbanker as you said, that means that you will be able to make a few million $ on those 10 years =] no need to work after that!

Beside clickbank interesting to know what other IM you are preferring

Step 1) Learn Affiliate marketing until you can make a living from it.
Step 2) Launch your own products using the skills and contacts you have gained from affiliate marketing.
Step 3) Retire and invest some of your monies into other businesses.

As long as their are buyers and sellers.. consumers and money makers
There will always be AFFILIATE MARKETING.. The day you can't find 1
store on planet earth will be the day you can say it over..
until then AFFILIATE MARKETING lives on and I plan to get my piece

If you can promote the item as a treasure, and it sounds like something that people absolutely need then they will buy it. Just like W3bN1njax said, if their are money makers people will always be looking to spend their money on things.