What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Looking for a way to make some money online while you work from home?

Well, one of the best ways is through affiliate marketing.

You don’t need a product to sell…

and you don’t need to go buying a bunch of stuff either to do it. You’re promoting someone else’s products on your website.

Someone visits your site, clicks on your affiliate link to check out the product even more, and decides to buy it.

Guess what? You’ve earned yourself some money!

Plus, you can make money no matter what time of day or night it is. People all over the world are on the internet, so someone can click on your link and buy the products you are promoting at any time.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re sleeping or not as long as your affiliate link is there for them to click.

Sounds pretty good, right? Make money even when you sleep?

That’s everyone’s dream job there, lol!

But, I’ve got to warn you it isn’t that easy. It takes a lot of time and effort put into it first. It’s not for everyone especially if you’re not willing to spend time learning how to do it right in the first place.

I think it’s worth going for, but then again, I don’t mind doing a bit of work at it and using some elbow grease.

Before even thinking about affiliate marketing you do need a website and visitors going to your website. Without any visitors going to your site, there is not much point in trying to promote or sell anything, right?

Don’t have one yet? No problem. You can check this video out over at Wealthy Affiliate, which is where I learned how to do ALL of this, and see for yourself that you can build one with WordPress quick and easy.

Don’t worry it’s free to check out!

How to Start Being an Affiliate Marketer

First,

Choosing a Niche

What is a niche?

Okay, for those that don’t know what the heck a niche is, it is essentially an audience of people with the same interests, or more importantly problems, that they want an answer to.

Have you ever had a problem that just wouldn’t go away?

One that you’d sell your soul to solve?

Well, maybe I’m exaggerating, but you’d probably be willing to pay a fair amount to find the solution.

Guess what?  You’re probably not the only one with the same problems. Plus, there are countless problems out there needing solutions. Believe me, I’ve seen them…they’re all over the place on the internet.

Or, another thing to figure out what type of problems people are having is to listen to those around you.  What are they talking about? What kinds of problems keep them up at night?

All you need to do is find out who your audience is and what’s their problem?

It’s not quite as simple as it sounds, but it’s not rocket science either! You have to do your homework and look into whatever niche you choose, whether it’s based on weight loss (which is a very competitive one by the way), XBox 360 games, or guinea pig health.

It is really all up to you and what you find interesting yourself. There are others out there that find the same things interesting too, so pretty much anything can be a niche.

I would definitely not recommend choosing a niche you know you are not very interested in just for the sake of money. Remember, you’ll have to write about it and give the people in your niche some answers!

And, no…. you don’t need to be an “expert” at it either. If you can answer questions and solve other people’s problems for them, then that’s all you need to do.

You don’t need a fancy degree or some ridiculous title. These things don’t guarantee you a job anyways…just look around you. There’s a lot of people out there with degrees that NEVER got the job they thought they’d have once they graduated.

 

Pick a niche you love!

Picking a niche that you know will not interest you in the long run is a big mistake. You’ll end up getting bored with it and you won’t want to keep working on it.

You’ll end up being miserable and quit. It takes a lot of thankless, and yes, unpaid hours to achieve a reliable full time income online, so if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing and are writing and learning more about something you don’t love at all yourself…

Well, you’re going to be headed for the road of burnout much sooner than those that are passionate about their niche.

Even those of us who are passionate about their niche burnout at times if we aren’t careful. I’ve experienced it myself although I love the niches I’m in…

But, since that passion keeps us going, rather than quitting, we find our way back. The passion brings us right back to where we left off…at least that’s my experience in the matter.

Soooo, again I must say….

Pick something you find that you love doing and are the most PASSIONATE about!

Write down a list of your interests/hobbies.

Pick one to start with and do some research. Give yourself the time to succeed with it. It does take time and effort to get it started and to keep it going.

Some niches are easier than others, but don’t call it quits if you don’t see money being thrown at you in a week or even a few months or sometimes longer.

If it is something you are truly passionate about, it won’t be that hard to keep working on it and improving. You’ll get there if you don’t throw in the towel!

If you really think it is time to move on to something new, you can always change to something else if it doesn’t work for you. Just because the first one might not be as successful as you thought, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure at it.

Second,

Finding an Affiliate Program

Okay, so you’ve got your niche. Right? Now, find out what products or services are related to this niche. Products and services that are helpful or useful to those niche people. What exactly are they looking for? What problems do you see in your niche? Find something that answers that problem, whether it be a product or a service and you’ve got it!

An Easy Way to Find Affiliate Programs Related to Your Niche

A really simple way that I’ve learned to use to find a whole bunch of affiliate programs is this:  Type in your niche, then add + affiliate program into Google search. You’ll be surprised how many will show up.

For example: wireless headphones for computer + affiliate program

and quite a few show up, Amazon, Sony, Walmart, Best Buy just to name a few. Replace the wireless headphone for computer with whatever your niche is and there you go!

BTW, Amazon is a very great place to start since they have pretty much everything people are looking for and have a lot of helpful tools you can use to add their product links and banners to your site.

But, one little drawback is that some states (if you live in the United States) are excluded from the Affiliate program. If that is the case with you, there are plenty of other programs out there. Choose one of them instead. Don’t just throw your hands in the air and say “I quit! I live in that state, it’s the end of the world!” It’s not over yet, believe me.

Amazon is not the only one…you can be an affiliate to as many as you like. It’s never a good idea anyways to keep all your eggs in one basket.  Plus, there are many affiliate programs that will pay you a much better commission than them too.

Signing Up

When signing up to any affiliate program make sure you actually read what you are signing up for and agree with whatever terms they have for their affiliates. It doesn’t hurt to check out how much commission they pay affiliates too, before signing up.

I’d recommend comparing the commission rates between the different affiliate programs out there…some pay way more than what you’d expect. That way you can choose which program is best for you to use since you don’t want to bombard your website visitors with ads and banners either.

Keep in mind, you don’t want your website full of useless clutter, which is what your visitors will think if all they see are ads.

Remember what your website visitors are looking for and it isn’t a bunch of ads! It’s answers to their problem!

If you find a product/service that you find useful then tell your visitors why it is useful and exactly what you like about it. Tell them about all the features you find great.

But, don’t be afraid to include what you don’t like about it either.

Your visitors want an honest answer, which is what they will see if you also tell the points you don’t like about a product or service.

Hey, if I can do it, you can too! All you really need is a website, effort on your part, and patience.

So, what are you waiting for?

Need help getting started? Then go ahead and

>>click here to read my Getting Started page.<<

I’d love to hear any thoughts you might have and if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help you out. That’s what I’m here for. I want to help others succeed in this too. So leave them in the comment box below! 🙂

Best wishes,

-Sherry