You've heard this lots. Affiliate marketing just doesn't work, nor does network marketing. It's all a scheme, it's a scam, it's a pyramid sale, it's a pipe dream… You likely heard all of these and more. Are they right? If it was so easy to make money with affiliate marketing wouldn’t everybody be doing? So if it's not a scheme as not a scam why are more people being successful if it's legal and there really is an opportunity to make an income stream? These are all really good questions, and there are many rumors and myths around affiliate marketing. Now is a good time to dig a little deeper into whether affiliate marketing actually works.

The truth is there are people that are highly successful in both affiliate marketing and network marketing, making a living online, while others struggle, make very little, and eventually give up. Affiliate marketing is a bit like losing weight - it's simple but it's not easy. To be successful with affiliate marketing it requires an incredible amount of work - that's the truth. That's also the key!

The problem is that with affiliate marketing it takes both skill and perseverance along with a great deal of work, and that's not what most people want to hear. You’ve seen the hype about promises to earn tens of thousands of dollars a month, or $1 million in just six-months; all you have to do is sign up your friends and the money will roll in while you're sleeping.

People sign up because they want this lifestyle. What they don't realize is the early stages it takes a great deal of work to accomplish this type of income stream. Some will dabble, but not be successful. Some bail because they realize they are way over their head. And a lot leave confused and upset and jaded that everything designed to make money on the Internet is simply a racket. That's because they were lied to.

Companies that make these claims are not companies that you want to get involved with. The truth is you can make a solid income stream online, but to do this you need to get busy learn some skills and work hard for some time, persistently building your market and your long-term income stream. Affiliate marketing does work but it takes work for you to be successful. The reward is a healthy income that allows you to enjoy life the way you want to.