Achieving long term and sustainable revenue from Affiliate Marketing can be a daunting task. There is no exact formula for success, and often times staying ahead of the game is the only thing that keeps you in it. Many affiliates hope on banking off the next big “hot offer”. While this can certainly work and achieve initial success at some point the offer is either going to become too saturated, or will face potential changes due to regulations or advertiser adjustments to make it back out. This is certainly not the most sustainable business model, and leaves too much out of control of your hands. To combat the inherent risks involved with affiliate marketing, developing different niches will allow you the options to push “hot” verticals based off the marketing seasons. Establishing multiple verticals allows you to maximize your traffic sources, while reaching a higher volume of your targeted audience. Below are some verticals to seriously consider adding into your rotation. Using the seasons as a research tool allows you to work smarter, not harder. The goal is to add these verticals into your rotation in addition to your tried and true campaigns.

1. Spring Holidays

Spring is nearly upon us, and the floodgates will soon be opening for affiliates on multiple fronts. Easter and Mother’s day both provide ample opportunity for any gift related offers. Flowers, chocolates/candy, and gift card based offers will be overflowing with fresh leads for advertisers, so make sure to do your diligent research now. Know your demographic base, and cater the products by testing multiple offers across the board. When trends start to show, it’s time to maximize your efforts towards those results.

2. Summer Holidays

The summer season is somewhat different than taking advantage of holidays in the Spring. The main distinction between the two is the inherent gift purchasing associated with the Spring holidays. Independence Day and Labor Day bring about more feelings of patriotism, than urges to make purchases online. Be creative and tap into the wallets of your consumers with easy submits and quiz offers. There will be a big increase in users on the web, so make sure to capitalize.

3. Weight Loss

This has been a burgeoning industry in the affiliate space for quite some time, but there are certainly spikes in interest. Right after the New Year, and a few months before summer are just the right time to be pushing everything from a white label diet offer, to the latest as seen on tv ab cruncher. You can bet to see a large increase in click through rates and conversions.

4. Green Energy Solution

This vertical is not so seasonal, but rather a growing industry that will continue to evolve. As technologies begin to advance and become more mainstream, there will be large inventory from both the advertiser and your traffic sources. The annual growth rate for solar energies alone hovers around 30%. Solar panels and wind turbines merely scratch the surface of renewable energy products to promote. Body and hair care, baby products, and household appliances are all moving towards a more “green” product and want to be marketed as such.

5. Sports Season

Organized team sports comprise a billion dollar industry with diehard fans eager to show their support through jerseys, hats, and other merchandise. There are professional and collegiate sports leagues including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, NCAA, FIFA, and MMA to name a few. That is a market audience waiting to be tapped into. Many programs are based on a rev share basis, but individual cpa offers often pop up trying to take advantage of the latest trends and sports seasons.

6. Travel

Online travel agencies really run the majority of the space, but it is growing so rapidly there is plenty of market space for you to carve your way in. Travel marketing is also directly linked to the state of the economy, but while people are less inclined to go on vacations the deals available to keep these agencies alive still allow for a large scale affiliate success. The biggest impact on affiliates comes from the ever changing restrictions on keyword bidding, as many of these sites are beginning to drive traffic in house, and want no part of competing with affiliate traffic on bidding.

7. Tax season

Tax season could be the be all end all of seasonal trends to follow. Many affiliates are able to make enough revenue during the bulk of tax season, that they can set up a few tax settlement and extension based offers to run the remainder of the year. I have seen affiliates run tax offers on PPV, media buys, Email, SEO, and Search traffic all with rather substantial success. If Uncle Sam is going to tax you anyway, you might as well profit off the process.

8. Allergies

Get your Claritin ready. This is really an undervalued vertical because allergy relief goes far beyond an itchy nose from pollen. Food allergies, asthma, drug allergies, cigarettes, plants, and chemicals are just a few of the main causes of allergies. There is a sub niche for each of these, and building out specific sites will allow for great success with minor competition. The ceiling is a little low on the revenue that can be generated, but it has the potential to be a building block to diversify your business.

9. Refinance/mortgage

Due to the recent mortgage crisis within the last few years, the government has had to step in to regulate the industry from marketing to how mortgages are given. Despite these setbacks, the mortgage industry isn’t going away until we can start mass producing pineapple based homes under the sea. The key in mortgage is finding an offer that sends the leads directly to the mortgage firm or client who will be trying to close them. The more middle men and affiliate programs involved in the process, will only keep your ROI low, and be difficult to optimize. Even setting up a host and post system with your local Mortgage broker can be far more lucrative than working with the giant portals of the industry.

10. Test preparation/tutoring

While this vertical is seasonal in the sense that there are peaks and lows, it is really more year round than many of the others mentioned on this list. Parents have little issue spending money on their children if it will help them get into a better school. Affiliate blogs and sites that promote tips, tricks, practice tests will see major spikes in traffic as the SAT and ACT deadlines approach. This is also a great vertical to deviate from the normal EDU offers, which are getting more and more regulated every month.