I’ve been in this industry for a while now. I wanted to write a post to those who have come in on a high in the industry within the last year or two, and you are now seeing the low.

This is a relatively new industry and is probably one of the most volatile markets to work in. Lately there has been a lot going on with rebills, facebook’s restricted advertising guidelines and google’s total disregard for affiliates.

With all the doom and gloom talk, marketers and networks fear this is the end of the industry, as we know it. I want to offer some hope. I’ve seen some ups and downs. And guess what, the industry is still here. And it keeps going.

This might be the end of the industry, as we know it. But take heart this has happened before. The industry is different from when I started in it eight years ago. It will change tomorrow as well. Guess what, in the next few weeks, months, and years affiliate marketing will change again.

You need to go with it, not be scared of it. In an area of so much innovation, you need to ride those high and lows and keep going. Market off of the nuances and capture the niches change will create.

People in general fear change. But remember why you got into this industry. Because it does change. Because it is always new. Something is always starting.

Let’s look at some history in this industry.

* 2003 Can Spam Compliant Act rolls out. Now – email is still getting in boxed and is strengthened by working direct with the isp’s.

* FTC requires monthly price to be placed predominantly on ringtone pages, conversions drop at first.

* The word Free must be disclaimed with font no less than half the size of the word with a link to the full disclaimer.

* New lawsuits hit the headlines.

* True lowers their payout and disallows bidding on one of the highest converting keywords ever.

Etc. etc. etc.

For fun, let’s look at an example outside of the industry.
1913, Henry Ford invented the assembly line. End of jobs as Americans knew it. Did that stop the auto industry? No. People still worked. Cars got better and today mostly computers and robots do the work. Which ironically creates more jobs.

Things evolve. Industries evolve. Ours just does it on a daily basis.

The sky is not falling. It’s just how this industry has always been. Some of you are just seeing this cycle for the first time. It’s ok. It always is. Be excited, the industry is on a down swing so it will be ramping back up soon. Get ready to ride the wave.

Look at it this way. If the online marketing industry is too volatile for you, McDonalds always needs someone to flip burgers. That is, until they bring in a spatula wielding robot.