5 years in affiliate marketing: personal crises, conclusions, and market transformation

5 years in traffic: from farmer to buyer

She knows what real burnout is and how to pull herself together again to stay in the field. During this time, she has gone from manually farming accounts to becoming an experienced Facebook buyer. She is spontaneous — and it is this trait that helps her adapt to market demands and grow professionally.

Her story is about the realities that await everyone in this field.

90% of media buyers burn out in the first few years. I could have been one of them — and, to be honest, all the odds were against me. But instead of ranting about “work hard 24/7,” I want to share my experience — honestly, with self-irony, and you can draw your own conclusions: do you even want to play this game? 

Female buyers: a rare breed?

Do you know many female buyers? In five years, I’ve only met three. But gender plays no role here. In affiliate marketing, there are only two statuses: you work, or you don’t. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl — traffic doesn’t care.

From farmer to FB buyer

I came to affiliate marketing almost 5 years ago. First as a farmer. Then as an assistant. Then as a buyer.

The picture looked beautiful then: crazy drive, people with cool cars, parties, big money, high-profile cases. But the flip side was this: 3-4 hours of sleep (I’m not exaggerating), terrible nutrition, no sports or personal life, and the expectation of that same result, “God grant me money as soon as possible.”

When I was a farmer, I made a deal with myself: to take on as much work as my body could handle in order to accelerate my career growth. With enthusiasm, it worked. When I became an assistant, the amount of work didn’t decrease, but it changed. I had even less free time and couldn’t leave the house without my laptop: “What if something urgent comes up, I can’t let anyone down!” And when I became a buyer, I experienced real emotional swings that no guy could ever give me 😂.

First successes and a hard fall

The first month in buying was a blast. Everything was flying. I even thought, “Well, I’m special, it will always be like this for me.” Yeah, right, profit was afraid of me 😂. From the second month, the same story began: one day in a carriage, two on foot. There were periods of stable profit, and there were times when a week brought in more than the entire previous month.

Many people believe that “an assistant doesn’t necessarily have to chop meat, they have to gain experience, delve into everything the buyer does, and ask even the most boring questions.” But when I hired my first assistant, my perfectionist mode kicked in: he has to earn money! And if he doesn’t, then I’m a bad buyer. Now I understand that it was this very thought that broke me. My focus shifted from work to these worries, but if I had just continued working, the results would have come automatically. And then my first hell began.

Four months of depression: tilt, isolation from friends. I made up reasons not to meet with them because “I’m not worthy of being a normal person if I’m not earning as much as I had imagined at that moment.” Exacerbation of eating disorders, stress-related illnesses, problems in my personal life. I thought I was the only one: crying at night, no one understanding me. It seemed that I was too weak for this field.

I started digging into myself and then realized: the real blow to my psyche would not be that I didn’t make it, but that I gave up without breaking my record. And then I gathered my strength, as they say, and continued working.

How I learned to get out of it

It wasn’t easy. I always have high expectations of myself, and if I don’t make a profit, I feel like I’m a worthless person. But I learned (and am still learning) to stick to simple things:

• I kept working, even when things weren’t going well.
• I learned and am still learning how to relax properly (although my brain was still thinking about work during my walks).
• I accepted that ups and downs are part of the job.

Then I hired an assistant again. And again, everything fell apart 😅. But we quickly got everything back on track. And yes, relationships will always burn out — that’s normal. The main thing is not to lose faith in yourself.

During these five years, I had two critical periods. When I really wanted to bang my head against the wall and scream, “Why isn’t it working? What am I doing wrong?”

Personal conclusions

1. Burnout will happen anyway. But you can shorten its duration by giving yourself quality rest (and not just pretending to rest).
2. Focus on work. If you think about secondary things (for example, that an assistant “has to earn money”), the result will be lost.
3. Morning exercise. Even if you feel terrible in the morning, after the gym, your brain will be back in place.
4. No connections? Work. Is there profit? Work even harder. New ones need to be prepared “yesterday.”
5. Discipline and screen time. It’s trite, but you can’t do without it.
6. Magnesium B6. It may sound funny, but it really helps you not burn out without a postback 😂

How the market has changed in 5 years

Previously, those who knew how to get started and weren’t banned made money. You just had to choose a normal offer with an adequate rate, and the money would come in. Today, “just getting started” doesn’t do anything.

The market used to be straightforward: basically, you set up an Android account, create some creative content, launch a campaign, and wait for the profits to roll in. Nowadays, anyone can launch a campaign — and that’s not the problem. The problem lies elsewhere: the market has become much more complicated. There are too many variables and different funnels, and among all this, you need to assemble the exact configuration that will generate profit, while simultaneously fighting for the best payout.

• Creatives. Competition has reached a new level. Previously, you could generate emotion + bank and earn money on that. Today, that won’t work: you need to use different formats, hone your quality, and be more creative than your competitors.
• Funnels. Before, everything was flat: Android app, creative, flood, profit. Today, there are dozens of options: hybrid (iOS + Android), multi-geo, iOS only, PWA only, direct link, messengers, etc.
• Advertisers. They have become smarter and tougher. Previously, they simply bought traffic and did not analyze it much. Today, they know metrics, indicators, count cohorts, and cut traffic based on quality.
• Assistants. Previously, they were “hands”: they understood creativity, learned how to pour themselves in, and went “free sailing.” Today, an assistant must really have buyer skills and make decisions without the buyer’s involvement. That is why people stay in this position longer now.
• Buyer. Previously, everything boiled down to the combination of “creativity + launch.” Now, the buyer has a huge pool of tasks: they are becoming more complex, broader in terms of skills, and must process information faster, think through strategies, and stay ahead of the market. Without an assistant, it is difficult for a buyer to consistently deliver volume and profit.

Conclusion

Today, affiliate marketing is no longer a “dark art,” but a full-fledged business and profession. It is a battle between marketers, not “guys from Sokar.” The market is constantly becoming more complex as the number of competitors increases. Competition is also progressing and not standing still. Only those who learn faster, adapt faster, and truly become better than others survive. Hugs to all!❤️