Have you ever wondered what the difference between being an affiliate with a company versus being a consultant (or whatever name they give you when you purchase those big, expensive enrollment kits) is exactly? Before we get started, I want to make you aware that if you choose to click links in this post, I will get a monetary kickback for purchases made. You are NEVER under any obligation to purchase anything from the links posted within my blog. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's begin! :)
Right off the bat, I can tell you that when you become an affiliate with a company, you either have NO start-up fee, OR a very, very small start-up fee. Take, for instance, Legging Army. When I joined, I had a choice to pay $10 to join as just an affiliate and get my link with no leggings whatsoever. However, if I'm going to share these with my friends, I had better know what I'm sharing, and know if they're worth their hard-earned money! They also had a $19.99 kit that offered 1 pair of leggings plus an affiliate link, or a $29.99 kit that offered 2 pairs of leggings, plus an affiliate link. I went with the $29.99 option. I wanted to know for sure that I would recommend these leggings to my friends who like the pricier leggings. The prices and kits have changed a little now, but are still low.
When you become a consultant with a company, enrollment kit prices usually start anywhere from $49-$99 and up. I can't tell you if every company is worth that initial start up fee, but the ones I have joined that required a $99 enrollment fee to get a kit and a website, I believe they were. I've not be disappointed with any of the products. I mean, at the very least, you're getting over $200 in products for only $99!!! That's quite the savings, if you ask me. Not to mention the discounts on the products you want to order. It just depends on the product and your preferences whether or not you think they're worth what you're paying to put your name with their brand. In my experience, nine times out of ten, as long as you share the products with people, you can make your money back from the kit in no time! It just depends on how committed you are. There's only one company I'm with as a consultant (and have only been with for a month) that I haven't made my investment back yet, and that's because I haven't really pushed it, too much. That's okay, because I know I will once I'm putting the products out there!
Affiliates don't generally keep inventory or have sales minimums that they have to meet each month or quarter. No minimum number of orders, no minimum dollar amount of sales. If you share your link with someone who makes a purchase, you get a kickback. Even if it's been MONTHS since you last had anyone purchase from you. It's my understanding that your affiliate link never expires. So, that's a pretty great difference between being a consultant and an affiliate.
Affiliates and consultants are alike in many ways, but the difference is that, as an affiliate, you're just spreading the word and bringing more awareness to a company and their products, and you get a small kickback as a thank you. As a consultant, you are generally expected to use the products and actually put effort into selling them to your friends, family members, acquaintances, whoever. Affiliates don't tend to make quite as large of an income from "down lines" as consultants do, but there is a little bit of added income from those who join under you.
Both options are GREAT ways to bring in extra money. Especially if you're like me and you want to contribute financially, but the job market isn't in your favor since you've been out of work for so long and there's a ton of competition. I also think it's just smart to have multiple ways of earning extra money for savings, investments, and even paying down debt (which is why I joined as an affiliate and as a consultant for products that I enjoy and use). You can even be an affiliate for Amazon!!! (Yes, I joined.) We'll talk about that more later, though.
For now, these are the slight differences that you may not be aware of between affiliates and consultants. Know of more differences? Share them with me. 😃
Until next time, readers! 💙
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