Imagine you are a newbie affiliate entering the industry today. Which vertical would you choose? What would be your strategy for success?
As a new affiliate I would identify up and coming niches that don’t have much competition. It’s almost pointless to compete in verticals with high competition because those markets are already saturated. Very specific niches with a bit of research and data will go a long way. Perhaps a new approach/angle to an age old problem may result in unexpected results/gain.

Affiliates have been using content to drive conversions for years but now even the most traditional of newspaper publishers have adopted native advertising. Is this increase in competition good or bad for our industry?
When you are competing with brands, it’s almost always tough to make a dent. Most of the time we cannot match their budgets, their team size and so on. But, what these big publishers do not have is focus, they appeal to a larger audience. If one can be focused and data driven and put out quality content in any vertical they will be considered more of an authority in that space.

Who’s reviews will you take more seriously for Tech gadgets? A personality ( Marques Brownlee )with a huge targeted following on You Tube  or some random reporter for CNET?

Does the difficulty in predicting which creative will be accepted to run by Facebook and other social platforms make them still useful or too much bother? Why?
Facebook accepts content that has lesser than 20% text. More text makes the ads look less appealing and brings the whole design element of the website down. People could always use tools like http://www.social-contests.com/check-image/ to test their Images before they publish. If these rules are followed, FB can actually be a great strategy to get people Interested in your product.

About
A serial entrepreneur, Ricky Ahuja has been known and well respected in the affiliate industry now going on 15 years, for his strong acumen as an online marketer and social media expert. His former agency Affiliate Crossing is constantly ranked in the Top 10 on the “Top 10 Networks” and was most recently ranked as a Top 10 CPA Affiliate Network on Blue Book survey by Revenue Performance. A passionate writer, blogger and traveler – always looking for the next adventure.

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