Benefits and Obstacles of an Affiliate Business


Today, we want to spotlight the Parallels Affiliate Program, which allows any person to sign up and earn money by promoting Parallels Desktop and Parallels® Toolbox. Once approved as an authorized affiliate, you’re eligible to get a 15% commission from each new-license sale generated through your links. Additionally, you can get performance incentives—such as commission increase and discount coupons—and you get direct support from our affiliate manager to grow your business rapidly.

Parallels Desktop® for Mac is the #1 award-winning virtualization software in the world, enabling users to run Windows, Linux and other operating systems on a Mac® without rebooting. 

We’d love to spotlight one of our most loyal affiliates. In 2008, Lyudmila started her affiliate business, SoftoCoupon, which helps users compare software and purchase it at a great price. Lyudmila will be the first to admit that the site was more like a hobby at first—she and her friends made informational websites about recovery and backup software. She initially thought they’d earn money through Google Ads. However, those didn’t even cover the price of a domain and hosting. Because of this, she decided to give affiliate marketing a shot.

Before becoming a full-time affiliate, Lyudmila had a 9-to-5 job with fixed hours, duties and a steady salary. Starting her own business was a big shift. A lot of responsibility was put on her, and she had to assume many job roles she wouldn’t normally do. But at the same time—despite all the challenges—her life became more interesting. She could travel more, work from anywhere in the world and spend more time with her family. It was risky at first, she says, but once the business catches up, there’s no limit to growth.

Lyudmila says the basic principles of affiliate marketing haven’t changed much since 2008. You choose your niche, contact affiliate managers and start promoting goods or services via your website, email or social media. 

However, the popularity of affiliate business has increased dramatically. Today, the biggest challenge Lyudmila faces is competition. You need to provide your audience with a unique offering—and equally, as important, you need to make the content engaging and easy to read. You need to be innovative and always a step ahead of your competitors.

In addition to strong content, Lyudmila says that SEO is essential. She didn’t pay much attention to it at first—but then one of her promotions was added to hundreds of free blogs and her website was blacklisted. It dropped in search results and never recovered. To try and resolve this, she purchased backlinks in bulk—a mistake, since it resulted in penalties from search engines. 

Despite all the challenges, Lyudmila never gave up—and that’s the #1 advice she gives all new affiliate marketers. Becoming a successful affiliate marketing requires time and patience. It’s impossible to learn without making mistakes. If you don’t see results immediately, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing something wrong. It’s a slow process, but if you put in the hard work, it’s likely to pay off.

Lyudmila also has a few practical recommendations:

Lyudmila has been our loyal affiliate for many years—and she’s also been using Parallels Desktop all this time. She says it’s a pleasure to review each new version and see the product grow. (Read her SoftoCoupon reviews of Parallels Desktop.)

Join the Parallels Affiliate Program and start earning commission on every sale.