Questionnaire for Research Paper, Your Answers will be Published

I've mentioned that I've been a long-time lurker in my introduction but I'm relatively new to the community. I've read the rules and I think this post is allowed but if it isn't could a mod please let me know and why? I want to do my best to follow the TOS of this tight community.

That said, I'm writing a research paper about, "The Effects Affiliate Marketing has on Consumers and Influencers". I know there's a alot of industry veterans here that have a vast amount of experience with internet marketing. I need some primary resources so I've wrote a questionnaire that I hope you'll consider answering.


I will be publishing your answers as in-text citations and in bibliography so you can either remain anonymous, I can use your screen name or you can PM me with your real name. I will only use your name in the paper as a primary resource. It won't be used for any other purpose. This isn't a scholarly journal either, just a final research paper for a university course.

1.) Assuming you're a veteran of the online marketing industry, how have you seen it change over the years? How is it different today than it was 5, 10, 15 years ago?

2.) At the beginning of your online career, what obstacles did you face making money and getting started?

3.) Have you ever worked any online influencers? What was your experience? What niche influencer have you seen reach the most financial success?

4.) What niche have you found to be the most successful for you personally? Why do you think this is? (You can list a general industry so it doesn't get flooded. I don't want anyone to lose money here)


Thanks again, I hope this doesn't come off as pretentious. I also realize this may not have a lot of validity but it's just a simple questionnaire to serve as a primary source.

1.) Assuming you're a veteran of the online marketing industry, how have you seen it change over the years? How is it different today than it was 5, 10, 15 years ago?

The complexity and the learning curve has increased manifolds. It's a bit of a contradictory situation.

15 years ago, when I was building my Geocities page - there was very limited information available online or elsewhere on how to proceed, what to do and what not to do. Yet, free hosting companies were reigning. People were building sites, ranking them and making money. Adsense had just begun and was taking in very limited customers (circa 2003) and it was easier to make money.

As the stage progressed, more and more information started appearing on the Internet. Most of it was available freely, but people quickly caught on to the "Guru" model and realized other people could be fooled into giving them their money, under the pretext of being thought on how to make money on the Internet.

Even then, there were loopholes quietly exploited by people, then leaked, then saturated. Mesothelioma was quite a big deal for a while. It was one of the highest costing keywords, conversely resulting in more income per click. MFA or Made For Adsense sites began springing up everywhere on the topic.

Then there was a blip in the proverbial radar momentarily of CPM companies, that didn't require a "click" but rather just an ad to show, counting it as an impression, these companies paid for every 1000 impressions and people were building sites that received a ton of traffic such as Mp3 downloads and game cracks/serials etc.

In the last few years, however, a lot of people, including myself have moved away from the traditional paid-per-click model of adsense, as the income doesn't justify the efforts anymore.

Amazon Affiliates was launched over two decades ago, but recently has become the talk of town, simply because of the growth in the markets. The earning prowess of the people. As more and more people turn to the Internet for everything now, affiliate programs have made a strong comeback.

Even utility setups such as finding a plumber or an electrician have moved onine. This has resulted in more and more people building websites following the CPA (Cost per Action), CPS (Cost per Sale) or CPL (Cost per Lead) model.

Today the market is extremely cutthroat - with people having a ton of information at their disposal. Yet, the barrier to entry is high as the market is continuously evolving.

To give you a simple instance, ranking for a keyword on Google a decade ago was the simplest thing in the book - today the search engine result pages change continuously with algorithms trying to serve the best possible information.

2.) At the beginning of your online career, what obstacles did you face making money and getting started?

The lack of information and the barrage of gurus. Like a lot of others, I wasn't aware of the existence of forums of resources to read. I was simply enamoured by the "self-proclaimed Gurus" and their million dollar lifestyle. I saved up a lot of my pocket money by skipping school lunches and walking to and from school, to purchase these courses. Only to be handed a shitty ebook with no real content.

There was no authentic source. Everything was an upsell. And that was a problem.

3.) Have you ever worked any online influencers? What was your experience? What niche influencer have you seen reach the most financial success?

At present I run a successful consulting business in the online space and so yes, I have worked with influencers.

However, unlike others - I have only used them for branding purposes. If a website wishes to form an authority in its space - influencer marketing can go a long way.

I have had a huge success in the Body Building niche. I consult a few professional bodybuilders and their relevant brands and have had huge success on piggybacking on the social media influence of the players in those fields.

4.) What niche have you found to be the most successful for you personally? Why do you think this is? (You can list a general industry so it doesn't get flooded. I don't want anyone to lose money here)

I play around in a lot of niches and like any other self respecting tradesman, I am not going to spill my secrets - not even in a vague manner.

Thank you so much, Blogpro. These are some really insightful answers especially your personal history of internet marketing. It seemed more like the wild west back then. I'll definitely be quoting you in the paper to illustrate some findings, I'll credit you as well.