An 
SPECIAL REPORT:
2021 is underway and many of us have been reflecting upon what we accomplished in 2020 and deciding where to go in 2021. Some of us have had a great year. Way too many have had a bad year.
True story. I was reflecting upon 2020 late into the morning recently. I was not thinking about what I had accomplished over the year, but rather what secrets 2020 had uncovered about what’s coming in 2021 and beyond.
I found myself reading through a seemingly endless amount of charts, trends, articles, reports, and data from 2020, and trying to make sense of it all.
It was getting late. I was winding down around 3 am – but something in the back of my mind wasn’t satisfied yet. Something was buggin’ me. I knew I was missing something significant. I could just feel it – like electricity in the air.
Randomly, as my last thought of the early morning, I decided to lay one specific chart right over another – and then I saw it clear as day. The Golden Bubble.
Hello, it’s Alchemy Coder here – one of the co-founders of AmaLinks Pro®. I don’t publish content very often because I’m usually deep into some code, or some AI-based analytics, or making AmaLinks Pro® better than it was the day before.
Today, however, I’d like to share something with the AmaLinks Pro® audience – something big! I discovered this phenomenon while contemplating, deep into the early morning hours – when most people are sleeping.
I spent a great deal of time creating this report to share my findings with the world. I hope this report will help inspire everybody to take action right away. This is not a sales pitch for AmaLinks Pro®. It’s a public service announcement to all of our readers and anybody we can spread the message to.
If you are still reading this report … I’m sure you will want to read all the way to the bottom and find out if you are in the group best positioned to stake their claim before this new affiliate marketing bubble pops. But first, there are some simple yet important concepts we must understand to make sense of all of this.
Each of these puzzle pieces is essential to understand this window of opportunity. Each one plays its part in predicting the future of this new affiliate marketing golden bubble. Together, we will be looking at these four puzzle pieces and how they come together. I’m going to present to you my findings – which lead to an unprecedented opportunity for affiliate marketers in 2021 and beyond.
Together, these four topics paint a picture of unbelievable affiliate marketing opportunity at an unprecedented scale. The window of opportunity is there for those who can see it and are willing to take advantage.
But – this all means nothing if you don’t take action! That part is 100% up to you.
So here we are. It’s time to reveal what I’ve found. Be forewarned – this is not a short read. So, grab yourself a cup of coffee or a beer or any drink of your choosing. Maybe get a snack and make yourself comfortable. Settle in and enjoy the ride. Prepare to be amazed…
Overall read time is about 60 minutes
Download the Printable PDF now
Puzzle Piece #1One day everything seemed normal. Then suddenly, the world was changed overnight by the Covid-19 crisis. I’m not going to tell the history of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, but it’s important to know that eCommerce has grown at a staggering rate as a result. It happened in a very short amount of time – practically overnight.
I’m sure you don’t need to be convinced that worldwide eCommerce is at an all-time high and growing faster than ever – but let’s look at some numbers for some inspiration anyway. Remember this…
As reported by Marketplace Pulse, quarterly eCommerce growth was quite steady from the beginning of 2010 all the way through the first quarter of 2020, seeing similar gains each quarter. Covid caused eCommerce to spike further and faster than ever in one quarter in 2020 Q3.
Note: This report will use U.S statistics and charts, but you can easily visit Google Trends and get the worldwide data or for a specific country only.
This chart shows that the last reported quarter in 2020, which was Q3 – eCommerce spending was up 37.1%. That is an increase of 117% year-over-year from 17.1% (2019 Q3).
Chart provided by Marketplace Pulse – click here to view their interactive version of this chart.
The scope of this pandemic-fueled eCommerce growth in 2020 is immense. Especially in the third quarter and undoubtedly in the fourth quarter – once the numbers come out.
As reported be eMarketer, eCommerce in 2020 was expected to reach 14.5% of all US retail sales. That is an all-time high and the largest increase in a single year.
On October 29, 2020 Amazon reported that its third quarter revenue in 2020 grew a whopping 37% from the third quarter in 2019. The total revenue for 2020 Q3 was $96.1 billion.
The top 10 eCommerce players account for about 63.2% of all online sales in 2020 – eMarketer reports.
Walmart displaces eBay this year as the No. 2 eCommerce player in the US, but Amazon holds strong as the #1 eCommerce Leader – eMarketer
Best Buy eCommerce sales are up over 105% in 2020 – eMarketer
Target’s eCommerce sales have jumped 154% in Q3 2020, breaking them into the top 10 big players. – Digital Commerce 360
They all have affiliate programs!
Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, eBay, and more all have affiliate programs. These companies pour millions of dollars into their affiliate programs because they work.
Amazon alone makes 37% of all eCommerce revenue in the US. That is a huge opportunity for all Amazon affiliates.
According to Oberlo, 81 percent of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase online. That is great for us affiliate marketers! The best position to be in right now is to own a website with high-quality, informative blog posts that help guide consumers in making smart buying decisions.
I think you get the idea here. eCommerce is HUGE and has grown bigger and faster than ever before during 2020. This provides us with unparalleled opportunity as internet marketing affiliates.
Puzzle Piece #2The next important piece of our story is that the affiliate marketing industry has been around for a long time and it is now highly developed.
Affiliate Marketing dates back to 1989 when William J. Tobin successfully patented the idea for his company PC Flowers & Gifts. What follows is a long detailed history you can read here, but over the next few years, the idea was developed into something much bigger.
Then in July 1996, Amazon launched its Associates program. At the time, Amazon Associates could place banner or text links on their site for individual books, or link directly to the Amazon home page. That was about it for Amazon affiliate marketing.
Fast forward now to 2021 and the affiliate marketing industry has grown into a fully-featured and complex multi-billion dollar industry, limited only by technological advances and our imaginations.
According to the website Statista, spending in the U.S. alone on affiliate marketing is expected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022.
Fortunes have been made from affiliate marketing. Average people have been able to quit the 9-to-5 grind. Bloggers from all spectrums (like moms, travelers, foodies, personal financiers, and many others) were able to leverage affiliate marketing to improve their lives, take care of their families, or just worry about money a little bit less.
The industry is rich with knowledge, experience, mentors, tools, techniques, software, tactics, and everything else you need to take advantage of these unprecedented times.
Aside from all of that, the monetary barriers to entry for affiliate marketing are extremely low. You can get started with a cheap computer, an internet connection, an inexpensive website, and some hard (but smart) work. Start generating some income and then reinvest and grow from there. It’s very easy to do at your own pace and in your spare time.
What a great hobby! Anybody can learn how to make money online through affiliate marketing. It’s fun, current, exciting, rewarding, and can open a lot of doors.
How many industries can you get started in with as little as a free hosted website or social media profile, an internet connection, and some smart (but hard) work that is focused on the right things? Of course, your results will vary based on what you know and how much time and/or money you are able to invest. The point is – there truly is unlimited income potential with affiliate marketing.
For those who have the knowledge and experience right now – the tools are there for you to take advantage of today. There is top-level training, software, proven techniques, and almost endless resources at your fingertips.
Improve your knowledge and skills, test new campaigns, cut your underperforming assets and invest in your high-performing ones.
Near the bottom of this page – you’ll find an Affiliate Marketing Resources section. We want to provide you with a multitude of tools to help you with your affiliate marketing journey. Have some fun and discover something new!
The same forces driving the ultra-fast growth of eCommerce have also caused many people to lose their jobs. Unemployment is high, and people tend to look for alternative ways to make money when this occurs. Many are looking online and are discovering affiliate marketing.
This surge in affiliate marketing interest is an important part of this report because it will ultimately close or “pop” the golden bubble. This sharp rise in the number of people just getting into affiliate marketing will eventually result in more successful affiliates. The market will become saturated with more and more affiliates and eCommerce growth will eventually level off.
Proof: I would like to share with you a few keyword search trends that show evidence of this tidal wave of new people interested in affiliate marketing. You will see that this wave suddenly rises to new heights – starting in early December. This was less than 4 weeks before the writing of this report.
“Affiliate Marketing” is a very general search term, and most likely searched by people just learning about it for the first time. If you already know what affiliate marketing is, you search for more specific phrases, don’t you? I know I do.
As you can see, the search term “affiliate marketing” skyrocketed in 2020 across the US market and the world.
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
Here is the worldwide chart showing the same pattern across 2020.
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
So, if it really is new people discovering affiliate marketing for the first time, what’s another search term they are searching? Let’s take a look at “What is affiliate marketing”.
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
(2004 through December 31, 2020)
Sure enough, this term is also at an all-time high, and I think we can safely assume for the same reasons. Of course not all search terms related to affiliate marketing are skyrocketing, but a lot of them sure are, and a lot of terms only those new to affiliate marketing would search for.
Puzzle Piece #4The forces that are driving this sudden spike in affiliate marketing interest are an important factor to help us predict the future of these trends. Is this growth going to last? Or will it drop right back to normal levels within a few months?
Very often, the reason for a large spike in a trend will pass and the world moves on. The trend falls as quickly as it rose, or sometimes it just decreases slowly over time.
So what has fueled this unprecedented fast growth in online shopping and eCommerce?It has been largely fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in more people than ever shopping online and researching products online. Businesses have been sinking more than ever into their affiliate programs.
This very same reason that has caused eCommerce to explode – has caused massive job loss in the United States. In turn, this new tidal wave of affiliate marketing interest has arisen.
I’m just guessing here… but when millions of people lose their jobs – they probably start looking for alternative ways to make money. Many are stuck at home – so they look online and they discover affiliate marketing.
Experts agree that Covid will be with us for a long time. The world has been swiftly and severely changed and some of the effects will be permanent. There has been a huge shift to increasing online/remote infrastructure and that shift isn’t going away. Billions of dollars are being poured into this by the world’s largest companies, and small ones alike. The shift from brick-n-mortar to digital retail infrastructure will not just go away suddenly.
No, I think this eCommerce growth is not a trend that will end quickly – it is a permanent global shift.
This report covers a handful of trends, statistics, and topics that are relevant to this specific report. Of course, there is a lot more to the picture than we can cover here. eCommerce and Affiliate marketing are highly complex entities that are affected by almost infinite internal and external forces.
I recommend digging in and doing your own research after reading this report. Try taking a look at the worldwide data. I’ve done this myself already, and it mirrors what I have seen in the US data charts. But don’t just take my word for it. Take a look and see for yourself.
How about doing some research in just the country you operate in. Contemplate it. Figure it out. See if it reveals the same thing to you…
You may be surprised at what you discover!
Here is the part you have been waiting for.
I believe that an unprecedented window of affiliate opportunity:
is already here…
will last a while…
has an expiration date…
– Alchemy Coder
We’ve seen that the underlying worldwide issues, problems, and concerns that are fueling the fast e-commerce growth right now are causing a permanent change in global buying habits. It is also causing surges in job loss across the world, in turn fueling the sharp rise in interest and awareness related to affiliate marketing.
Combine this with the maturity that has become of the affiliate marketing industry – and you have the perfect combination to fuel an affiliate marketing explosion, and a large window of golden opportunity for many affiliates.
(Take a minute to take it all in, considering what we have learned up above.)
( Click here to download this image to share on your own blog in exchange for linking back to this report! )
If you already have skills, proven success, and time, money, or both AND already have active successful websites or campaigns – you are in the best position to claim the most from this golden bubble. The sharp rise in eCommerce spending has begun already. You know what you are doing and you have websites or campaigns already working for you.
It’s time to work smart, leverage new technologies, and scale.
If you already have the skills and have had success in the past – and you have time, money, or both but DO NOT already have active successful websites or campaigns – you are in the second-best position to claim your share of the golden bubble. There’s never been a better time! You’ll collect the next biggest haul because you already know what you are doing.
Work fast, smart, and stay ahead of the rush.
This is you if you have been learning and taking action, but you have not yet mastered your website conversions or campaigns. You have not built out large online media networks due to time and/or monetary limitations. You know a lot and have made some money online, but you are still at an amateur level. The good part is that you are well on your way to success and still have time before the new wave of experienced affiliates saturates the market – get moving!
Master the basics, crank out content, and become an expert.
If you have recently discovered affiliate marketing, have not made regular recurring online income, or if a single $10 commission still excites you – you fall into this group. There is no shame or embarrassment if you are in this group – we all start here at some point. The great news is that this golden bubble has just started – all is not lost!
The bubble won’t end until a whole bunch of you become successful competent affiliates. This is what will eventually close the gap caused by the huge fast rise in eCommerce and the current number of experienced and successful affiliates.
You have the most work to do – so it’s essential that you work smart and hard.
And then one day…
eCommerce growth rates will level off as they surely will. More and more “new” affiliates will become experts, find success, and claim their fortunes – effectively closing the gap of extraordinary opportunity.
… and then the Golden Bubble will be over.
It doesn’t matter which group you are in if you do not take action.
Wherever you are in your affiliate marketing journey – NOW IS THE TIME to take action. Here are some recommendations I have for each of the four groups on how to progress towards staking your claim today. You better believe others are already working harder and smarter than you to stake their claim, with more time, money, and resources at their disposal. – That’s what we’re all up against – unless you are in the top-performing affiliates club.
Those that fall behind miss out.
Group #1Because this new interest in affiliate marketing is also just starting, and the industry is quite developed, there is a golden opportunity here for those who know what they are doing already.
Those of you who have been busting your asses. Learning. Creating content. Optimizing campaigns. Following SEO trends. Building your infrastructure.
Now is your time!
You experienced affiliates know what it’s like to be a brand new affiliate. You know that this new wave of affiliates will need time to learn, apply, build content, make mistakes, adjust and grow into successful affiliates – just as you did. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Take advantage of this time period – when eCommerce is experiencing all-time high rates of growth, and the new wave of affiliate marketers is just getting started. This is your golden window of extraordinary opportunity.
You already know what you need to do, but here are a few recommendations that just might spark a new idea for you.
Group #2This is you if you are an experienced affiliate marketer but not currently active in the business. Maybe you got bored or lost motivation. Maybe you thought the best days were over. Whatever your reason – you have not been an active affiliate marketer lately.
Those of you in this group can most easily join the “active experienced affiliate marketers,” on your way to staking your claim in this bubble just by getting started again.
You also know that it will take these new affiliates some time to learn, apply, build content, make mistakes, adjust and grow into successful affiliates.
You can also take advantage of this time period when eCommerce is experiencing all-time high rates of growth and the new wave of affiliate marketers is just getting started. You’re just behind the active affiliates – you can easily catch up!
Group #3Next up is those who have been involved in affiliate marketing for a while, have a good idea of what they are doing, and have found a small amount of success. The best performers in this group will join in on the bubble right in the middle, just behind the “experienced affiliates.” You will be the first ones to start closing the gap as the extra fast eCommerce growth rates begin to level off (and they surely will).
You still need to improve your skills and acquire some tools before you can join the top-level ‘professional’ affiliates. Those of you that get moving quickly can join the ranks of the pros and start raking in much of the money.
Get moving – because the tidal wave of new affiliates is coming to saturate the industry – and you will have a head start. Don’t waste it!
Group #4If you are brand new and just discovering the exciting & fast-paced world of affiliate marketing, you have a lot of work ahead of you – but all is not lost. Although eCommerce grew so fast, the total number of experienced affiliates did not grow that fast.
This gap is where the extra opportunity lies. The gap won’t close until the number of experienced and successful affiliates grows to match the worldwide growth in eCommerce.
That means that those new affiliates who learn the fastest, work the hardest, and work the smartest, will be able to join in on this unique gold rush. For new affiliates, this will happen on the latter side – after they gain experience. But it will still occur before the number of successful affiliates closes the bubble and the industry becomes saturated again.
Here are a whole bunch of resources for you. Some are favorites of ours. Some are recommended by trusted colleagues. Some are just well-known courses or products or services that lots of affiliates use.
(These are not affiliate links)
This is for beginners or new affiliates to help you get an affiliate marketing website up as quickly and easily as possible.
Amazon’s affiliate program is properly known as the Amazon Associate Program, but commonly called the Amazon Affiliate program. This is a great way for beginners and new affiliates to test out the waters of affiliate marketing.
SEO Software/Services
WordPress Plugins
Content Creation Education/Lessons/Tutorials
Resources for building an email list. One of the most valuable assets you can develop for yourself as an affiliate.
Email Marketing Services
Email Marketing Training
Stock Images – Image quality matters A LOT in affiliate marketing. Don’t underestimate the power of using just the right image…
Content Creation Education
There are a lot of website hosting services out there. You will find good and bad reviews about every hosting service ever. These are all solid choices for an average website.
If you need to handle heavy traffic loads, consider a good dedicated server.
There are almost as many affiliate programs as there are companies – but here are some popular ones to get you started.
And here are some lists of more affiliate programs to explore.
Interested in the coding side of the web? Here is some resources that can help in relation to affiliate marketing.
Marketing Analytics Software
Artificial Intelligence has made it into marketing and unleashes a whole new frontier. Embrace and integrate Ai based marketing tools and techniques to keep up with the future. This area is just getting started.
Do you teach affiliate marketing or produce affiliate marketing courses? Do you run a blog or YouTube channel related to affiliate marketing? Do you provide software or a service to affiliate marketers?
If you serve the affiliate marketing industry in any way – there is a tidal wave of new affiliates coming that has JUST STARTED. All of them will be in need of HIGH-QUALITY information, software, tools & guidance. They will need this stuff so they can learn quickly and correctly which will enable them to join in on the current affiliate marketing gold rush – before the bubble pops.
And remember – this sudden tidal wave of new affiliates will bring with it a whole new generation of affiliate marketing bloggers, teachers, and innovators – more than ever before. This also means that it’s going to get even more competitive than it is today!
Now think about this… It’s very likely that the number of new affiliate marketers will drop off significantly when unemployment levels go back to normal. Massive unemployment is very much what is driving this new wave of affiliate marketing interest. So, it makes sense that when employment levels return to normal, the trend will also return back to normal.
If the return to low unemployment levels does not happen for a couple of years, which is also a possibility due to many factors that we cannot control – that will give this new generation of affiliate marketing bloggers, teachers, and tool creators time to get established and grow their audiences/customer bases.
If and when unemployment levels go back to normal, and I sure hope/expect they will, we’ll be left with an overabundance of high-quality teachers, bloggers, and tool creators and we will all be sharing a much smaller audience than what we had during the height of the bubble. This secondary golden bubble will be over and this industry will become saturated once again.
I’ve put together a page of US and worldwide affiliate marketing trends that may be of interest to anybody serving the affiliate marketing industry.
It doesn’t matter if you are brand new to affiliate marketing or if you’re a seasoned pro. Now is a time of unprecedented opportunity for all affiliates. Choose one of the resources I linked to above and learn something new… buy a new tool… start a new website… create some powerful new content… become the absolute best in your niche… or at the very least, register a new domain or plan a new campaign and get started today.
I created this report to open your eyes to the possibilities and help YOU realize the potential of the affiliate marketing industry. I want you to take action and accomplish your affiliate marketing dreams. I have added a ton of highly valuable resources (above) for affiliates of all levels. Please take advantage and do something today!
“And now I say goodbye. I want to wish you good luck, and godspeed to you. I hope you achieve quick success and I wish you the best in your journey to staking your claim in the
Affiliate Marketing Golden Bubble of Extraordinary Opportunity!“
– Alchemy Coder 2021
P.S. If you found this post useful and valuable, please consider sharing!
( Click here to download this image to share on your own blog in exchange for linking back to this report! )
