What is Affiliate Marketing?
In this article I’ll show you how to get started with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a way to make money online by promoting other companies’ products or services. As an affiliate marketer, you refer people to products or services and if they purchase through your unique affiliate link or code, you make a commission.
The basics are simple: sign up for an affiliate program with a retailer or merchant. They provide you with affiliate links to use on your website, blog, social media platforms, email lists, etc. When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you earn a percentage of the sale.
The great thing about affiliate marketing is that you can promote products without actually owning inventory or being involved in product shipping and logistics. The merchants take care of that, while you focus on connecting customers to the products.
How to Get Started With Affiliate Marketing
To get started with affiliate marketing, the best approach you can take is to treat it like a business right from the beginning. Learn as much as you can and do the research. Successful affiliate marketers don’t take shortcuts or skip steps.
Here are the steps I recommend to get started with affiliate marketing.
- Choose Your Niche
- Setup an Online Presence
- Create Awesome Content
- Join a Affiliate Program(s)
- Drive Traffic to Your Site
- Build an Email List
Step 1: Choose a Niche
Choosing a niche is a crucial first step in starting your affiliate marketing business. Select a topic or industry you’re passionate about or knowledgeable in. This could be anything from fitness and nutrition to technology or fashion.
Step 2: Setup Your Online Presence
Before you start joining affiliate programs, I recommend to setup an online presence first. This may involve setting up a blog or website and create valuable content related to your niche. If you like creating videos, set up a YouTube Channel.
Why do this first?
Some companies won’t allow just anyone to promote their products or service. They have strict guidelines and will review your application to either approve or decline your application. In most cases you need to have an online presence and a decent amount of content to get approved.
Step 3: Create Awesome Content
You’ve probably heard of the phrase “Content is King” before. That’s because it’s true!
In the content world, providing value simply means giving prospects what they need or want for free, with no tricks and no hidden agendas. By doing this, you will create trust with your readers and you will become their trusted source for information in your niche.
You will also have a better chance on getting approved (as mentioned above). Years a go I had a company decline my affiliate application for a new blog I started because it had very little content. They declined my application and told me to re-apply after the website was finished.
Step 4: Join a Affiliate Program(s)
Once you have set up your online presence and created your content, it’s time to find and join an affiliate program. You can find companies that offer affiliate programs by signing up with an Affiliate Network or by visiting the company’s website and looking for a link to join their affiliate program. (usually found at the bottom of their website).
Examples of popular affiliate networks that I’ve worked with include:
It’s important that you select a company that sells a product or service that fits in with your niche. For example, if your blog is about fitness and nutrition you don’t want to partner with a company that sells baby clothes.
Step 5: Drive Traffic to Your Site
Now that you’ve created fantastic content and provided loads of value for potential visitors, you need to get them to your site. There are a few strategies to consider when trying to drive traffic to your links.
SEO – Search Engine Optimization:
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” In its simplest form, SEO is simply the process of making your website/blog more visible when people are searching for products, services, or information related to your niche in the search engines. The higher you rank in search results, the more likely people are to click on your page.
SEO can be both complex and not complex, depending on your perspective and goals.
Here’s why SEO can be complex:
- Ever-changing algorithms: Search engines like Google constantly update their algorithms, which means what works today might not work tomorrow. You need to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices to maintain good SEO.
- Competition: The competition for top ranking keywords can be fierce, especially in certain industries. You’ll need to put in consistent effort and strategize to outrank competitors.
- Multiple factors at play: SEO isn’t just about keywords anymore. It involves technical aspects of your website, the quality and relevance of your content, and even how other websites link to yours.
However, SEO doesn’t have to be overwhelming:
- Start with the basics: You can achieve good results by focusing on fundamental aspects like creating high-quality content, optimizing page titles and meta descriptions, and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly.
- Focus on user experience: Ultimately, good SEO is about creating a website that users find valuable and informative. By prioritizing user experience, you’ll naturally improve your search ranking.
- There are many resources available: There are numerous online resources, tutorials, and even SEO tools that can help you understand and implement SEO best practices.
Social Media:
You can drive traffic to your website or blog from social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, and others.
- Establish a strong social media presence on platforms where your target audience is active.
- Regularly share engaging content, interact with followers, and participate in relevant conversations.
- Run social media ads to target specific demographics and interests, allowing you to reach a wider audience (see “Paid Traffic” below).
Paid Traffic:
You can increase traffic to your site by using PPC ads. PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click and these types of ads are usually run on search engines or social media sites. You run the ad and every time someone clicks on it, you pay a fee although you can usually put a cap on what you spend on any given day to keep your costs down.
There’s a downside to using paid traffic: you have to pay for it. Depending on your commission, it may not make financial sense to pay for traffic, especially when there are many free ways to drive traffic.
Build an Email List
No matter whom you talk to, you should build an email list. Building an email list and sending out regular newsletters or promotional emails keeps your audience engaged and informed about new content, products, or services.
If you have a solid email list, you can communicate with your readers anytime, keep them updated on new content you’re putting out, and keep them coming back to your site. You can also put your affiliate links right in your emails.
And if you don’t have an email list, you can build one easily by offering your readers something of value for free in exchange for their email address. You can simply include a signup form or pop-up on your blog posts or other content asking for their email address.
Some examples of things you can offer in exchange are free reports, webinars, pintable’s, a newsletter, etc. The possibilities are endless.