"point is, crumbling ain’t happening, maturation and expected natural complexity and sophistication are."

Maturation…I think Sam Harrelson said it best- it is evolving. My biggest concern is the ecosystem. Marketers (most of them) DO pollute. Once the pollution gets too high we will see stewards (Google, etc) attempt to clean the pond. They will start by clearing out the bluegill to use a fishing analogy. e.g. removing the financial incentive in the system. That is what I think *may* happen.

Excellent points Pat, as usual.

-wayne

or…

imagine the gators eating the birds that appear helpful at first glance, looking so much like their counterparts, but are determined (through proper and thorough observation) to just be eating scraps and never doing any teeth cleaning…

or…

imagine some of those birds opening up their own dentistry office…

or…

imagine some of those birds maturing into pterodactyls and beginning to eat the gators…

point is, crumbling ain't happening, maturation and expected natural complexity and sophistication are.

to me, from that perspective, Jeff has a partially valid point in saying "old affiliate model’s walls are crumbling", but he left off that decay isn't the only thing he's witnessed in the evolution.

transmogrification describes it better than crumbling, the latter making Jeff sound like a gloom and doomer. i'll leave it to him to clarify which he is, as classifications of the observers of those transmorgrifying isn't of much interest to me – label thyself, that's what the blog centric psyche is all about and i'm not here to wreck that fun for anyone… too busy plying my way out of my cocoon.

rock on with your bad self.

Technology = New Construct.

I am preparing to accept a board position on a group for virtual worlds. In less then 100 days we have over 2000 members, many professionals (most are) and dozens of new platforms. They realize it is a brave new world and working together on some levels is the only way to move it into legitimacy. (It is already legitimate when companies like CISCO and MSFT, IBM, etc are embracing the offerings).

That is why I think a trade organization for affiliate marketers or performance marketers is really needed.

Oh, one of the signs will be affiliates becoming politically active and influencing the decision makers in the DC 9and other cpaital) limos.

Which essentially means if you think that you can just sit at a machine and continue toi live off of crumbs that come to you in a vacuum, then you are headed for extinction.

Everything I have seen online in the last 22 years (when I made my first online sale) has been moving toward more integration and less isolation. So if you are looking to live an isolated business life, well, it probably is the tar pits for you.

Affiliate marketing is ancient. Old as the hills. We have just been using relatively new constructs in which to execute this age-old yet *beneficially parasitic* relationship.

Web 2.0 and dare I say web 3.0 we will see a resurgence in the affiliate. Where micro matters and the niche is as a fine as a razor blade.

-wayne

-wayne

Jeff, did you read the story at the link I posted? That woman is picking up tumbleweed for free, out in Kansas where she lives, and selling it on the Internet making about $40k / year. Blows my mind! This biz of hers would not have been possible before the Internet – I can think of so many like it (and unlike it), it's really a great time to be here at Revenews. If you are here, your interests tell me, you're drowning in opportunity (sometimes literally).

You might explore places like etsy.com

For example, I have zero desire to run a multi-millionaire business. Been there- done that. For me it is about niche, freedom, passion and self-fullfillment. Plus I enjoy working with people of like minds.

Of course I am not really good at making things, and having shipped books (how I cut my e-commerce teeth) at ebay years ago- it is damn hard work.

However, I am quite good at hitting the right ideas at the right time and finding the right people to work with. I love the Pat Gradys of the world. I can open up doors that others cannot. Just a lucky talent.

Pat my skype is wporter. Let's talk sometime. At the very least I guess I could throw an Affiliate Fishing Tournament…

-wayne

Glad you are upping the game.

Jeff,

The pond is teeming with small mouth bass and walleye….

Jonathan,

There are practical applications for Time once you get over the hurdle of it being a linear construct that is man-made to put some sort of things in order. Personally I put my bets on entropy.

Wayne

Ahhh, Jeff, "retailer" is such an all encompassing, inadequate word for the stratification you yourself have witnessed along your walk. But if it's a yes or no question, then yes. But like all things Internet, it isn't quite that simple.

"You make it sound easy."

I said I can "leisurely" make choices, not leisurely implement, execute and maintain. Leisure implies fun and some degree of simplicity (or at least the antithesis of complex-ness). So indeed, I deeply enjoy picking and shaping each of my next new projects. The high degree of freedom and autonomy that I have in choosing, and the myriad choices I can pluck from, does yield a mild and lasting euphoria for me. And I strive for simplicity in them as well. Because I believe that the simpler a business idea (not its implementation, but its concept), the more likely it is to succeed, to serve the consumer, and to be well liked by the serps (fits keywords well).

"Easy", in business, has both effort and reward built into it's meaning – so it's not just the "doing" something easily that is characterized, but what comes of it, as well. It's easy to build a website, but from a biz perspective, if it's got no traffic or similarly no monetization / financial rewards, then who cares? If you think I'm saying it's easy to be a typical retailer or to compete with one as a solo dude or dudette, I'm not. Their scale typically forces complexity and what I call dorkitudanality (too many chefs kind of thing) that not only removes much of the fun, but kills many of the rewards and the easy-ness too.

But, and this is what we should really be discussing, what the Internet has brought to individuals today is magnificent beyond yesteryear's imagination – the people I've met and the stories I've heard about how they are making more than just earning a living, makes me smile for the future. I could list 1,000's of examples for you Jeff, but here's just one that makes me proud to be in early on this revolution:
http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/55334/rolling-i…