Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
Over the last decade, the concept of affiliate marketing has grown exponentially as more and more people began to make money from blogging, content marketing, and social media. But what exactly is affiliate marketing? How does it work? And what do you need to know in order to get started with your own affiliate marketing business? Keep reading for some answers!
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a model or partnership program in which an advertiser allows individuals to become “affiliates” and rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer referring them to a business or marketing efforts.. Affiliates are rewarded based on a commission base system, with regards to buying a product, an affiliate link will direct customers to make purchases on your affiliate partners’ website instead of yours. It has become increasingly popular over recent years with both advertisers and publishers. Today, affiliate marketing can be easily performed through many different avenues including one-off projects, long-term relationships, dedicated affiliate programs as well as ad networks and management agencies that act as affiliates to many different merchant websites and advertisers. From The Affiliate Marketer’s Handbook, Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Affiliate Marketing: Building an affiliate marketing strategy is similar to building any other business strategy; you must begin with market research and determine how best to reach your target audience. What is it about your product or service that will capture their attention?
Usually, merchants only pay out a commission if someone bought from your website after clicking on your affiliate link and then making that purchase within 30 days. If you’re interested in learning more about how to start Affiliate Marketing, take a look at our beginner’s guide to getting started with Affiliate Marketing today!
Why affiliate marketing?
Starting an affiliate marketing program can be a very good way to generate more income from your website. Once you have a couple of products to promote, getting paid for promoting their offers and collecting commissions on successful sales is easy. The hard part, however, is getting started with affiliate marketing. There’s a lot that goes into setting up an affiliate campaign; it’s not something you can do overnight (if ever). So what is affiliate marketing? How does it work? And how do you get started? Let’s find out.
How much money can you make?
Earning money with affiliate marketing is no easy feat, but earning a substantial income from it takes time and effort. Niches that make money in affiliate marketing can be competitive, but when you start seeing those paychecks come in, it’s tough to walk away. Once you’ve established yourself within your niche, become an expert at utilizing your chosen product’s attributes and benefits to craft content that resonates with potential customers’ needs and desires. How to make money with affiliate marketing may seem like a difficult question, but once you do find what works best for you and hone your skillset, making money online will be easy as pie.
Do you need experience?
Many people starting out in affiliate marketing wrongly assume that they need to have a lot of experience with affiliate marketing before getting started. However, actually all you need is a little bit of knowledge and some basic internet marketing skills and you can begin building your business very quickly. To get started start by picking up an affiliate marketing course or enrolling in an at home study program. A great resource that offers courses specifically designed for affiliate marketers is Wealthy Affiliate which allows you to gain a full understanding of how to make money with affiliate marketing as well as how to get started right away. Other than Wealthy Affiliate I also recommend CB101 which is my own personal favorite because they offer real time 1 on 1 training.
Is it easy to find affiliates?
Finding affiliates is not as hard as it seems. Since your website provides high-quality content, there are plenty of people that are looking to promote their business by affiliating themselves with someone who is already established. Just make sure you don’t spam people with a million emails about how to start affiliate marketing and/or sign up for every affiliate network on Earth; your reputation is everything! At best, be selective about who you choose as an affiliate, and never sell yourself short by picking just anyone! Remember: slow and steady wins the race! Choose affiliates carefully and leave them be so they can do their job–that way, you get more traffic from their sites, which leads to more potential customers via SEO etc.
Is this business model sustainable?
Affiliate marketing is a very good business model and can offer many opportunities to make money. But there are several challenges that any affiliate marketer has to deal with in order to have long-term success. Let’s take a look at a few… Can I live with affiliate marketing? Is it something that you can easily see yourself doing over the next 5, 10, or 20 years? Once you get started making money online with affiliate marketing, can you handle all of your own customer service issues, such as answering e-mails from your customers? Do you feel that being an affiliate marketer will interfere with other aspects of your life (family, social life)? If so, will it be worth it? Can I make money with affiliate marketing? Not everyone does.
Let’s start! Where do I start?
It’s easier than you think. You don’t need a degree in marketing to get started. All you need is an idea, and some research, as in many other careers, you may need to learn how to use marketing tools online and your writing skills. You can have an affiliate marketing site up and running in a few hours by setting up an account on one of many FREE platforms, such as WordPress or Teachable, etc. Which we’ll discuss and explain in a later blog.
