What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting another company’s product OR service for a commission.
This is one of the many ways I have been making money online for the past 11 years.
I enjoy affiliate marketing because not only is it incredibly simple, but it allows you to promote products and services that I am passionate about while earning some income as well. This is not a “Pyramid Scheme” technique, where you have to recruit other people to sell under you. Affiliate marketing allows you to use YOUR CONTENT to direct your audience towards a product that you love. (While also getting a small kickback for yourself)
Tips On Becoming Successful At Affiliate Marketing
The key to having success in affiliate marketing is your CONTENT. The websites or video that you are using to point people to the product must be valuable and content-rich. You cannot just throw together something quickly and then slap a link on it in hopes of making money.
You have to become an authority and build credibility. The best way to do this is to write about something you KNOW, and you are PASSIONATE about.
Instead of trying to hard sell someone on a product, try to recommend products and services that fit with what you are writing about in your content.
Example: If you have a YouTube channel and are doing DIY projects or recipes on how to cook a particular meal, you could include affiliate links back to the tools/food ingredients that you talked about in your video.
It is also a good idea to own the products you promote. This allows you to speak intelligently about what you are trying to sell through your affiliate links. This also makes you look much more credible to your audience.
Affiliate Programs That I Use
I am an affiliate of multiple networks such as Amazon, Commission Junction, LinkShare, ShareSale, Clickbank, and more. It doesn’t matter what system you use; it’s more about the products. The easiest thing to do is to find products that you LOVE and use daily. Then research and see if that company has an affiliate program that you could use to begin referring your audience too.
If you are creating a website about bicycles, you would search the various affiliate networks that are associated with bicycles. Sign up for the affiliate program and grab the affiliate code from your account. Once you have your affiliate code/link, paste it into your site or video and you can begin earning money from the referrals in your content.
Watch this video showing you how to use Amazon Affiliate links to earn money
Content Over Program
I have people email me weekly, and ask what program they should join and which ones make the most money. This is not the question you should be asking because the program does not matter and will not make you any money.
What matters is if the program you are using to promote is relevant to your specific content. If you are looking for the most profitable program, and a quick money grab, you are starting out wrong.
I can tell you that I make over $2200 each month through my different affiliate links. I did not start off making this much, BUT over time as I produced valuable content and found related products that were useful to my audience that number continues to grow. Make sure that your content is filled with useful content THEN you can sprinkle the affiliate links throughout to begin making some passive income.
What have you found to be the best way to utilize affiliate marketing?
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