How to Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing
Most people's understanding
of "affiliate marketing" starts and ends with the Amazon Associates
program, one of the biggest affiliate networks in the world.
For the entrepreneur, the
challenge with Amazon Associates is building enough traffic to generate substantial
revenue from this channel alone. For the newbie, the traffic hurdle is almost
unsurmountable. But don't despair! You can create a successful affiliate
marketing business if you do so strategically.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when
a publisher or company gives you a cut of each sale they make when you promote
them on their site. There are lots of different affiliate opportunities, from
courses to web hosting to books, tapes, and DVDs.
Let the Affiliate Marketer Beware
Affiliate marketing is
often touted as a "get rich quick scheme" by shady sites offering
pyramid schemes that promise quick cash for little effort. Make no
mistake—successful affiliate marketers like Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income
put in a lot of effort toward building an audience and creating quality content
that will bring in sustainable passive income. Expect to do a lot of legwork
upfront—but if you play your cards right, you can build a solid source of
revenue over time.
The Key to Successful Affiliate Marketing
So you've committed to
building an affiliate business.
Your success as an
affiliate marketer is tied to how you answer these questions:
- Can
you find products or services to offer that offer you a great commission
rate?
- Can
you find a niche market that is likely to buy what you are offering?
- Are
you able to build content and traffic around these products?
If the answer to each of
these questions is a resounding yes, rather than jumping to conclusions
immediately, take time to research whether or not others are out there making a
sustainable affiliate income from products and content in this niche. In a
sense, competition is a good thing here—it'll help you validate your idea and
prove that it's worth building a business around.
How to Find a Favorable Commission Rate
Amazon's commission rate is
pennies from each dollar of merchandise that you sell. What many people don't
know is that there are affiliate opportunities out there that pay commission
rates that are much more favorable, from $20-$100 (and even more). Browse
affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Share-a-Sale, Rakuten, and Ejunkie
for opportunities and their general commission rate.
Target a Niche
If you're just starting
out, a niche market is the obvious way to go. Look for a market that has a
clearly defined need and willing audience. Then, find affiliate opportunities
that dovetail with that niche market.
Create an Effective Website
Once you have a great
product you believe in and a target market, you'll need to stock a site with
quality content that will help drive traffic and affiliate sales. Once you have
your website set up, you'll want to optimize it for conversions and sales.
Build an Audience Through Trust
The most successful
affiliate marketers build compelling content first, and affiliate revenue
later. Chris Brogan has said: "when there’s an opportunity to bring
something of value to your community and make some money for your efforts, then
you’re looking at what I think of as a great opportunity."
To build a successful
affiliate program, it helps to care about the products you are selling and to
offer legitimate value beyond just a quick sale. While you can build an
affiliate business around any type of product, it helps if you actually use the
product and endorse it personally.
Make Sure You Understand Disclosure
The FTC enforces a set of
rules that cover the increasingly professionalizing world of bloggers and
online influencers. Now you must disclose when you have a financial interest in
a product or service you feature on your blog. This goes for sponsored posts,
but more importantly, affiliate links.
Many affiliate marketers,
including Copy blogger Media and Chris Brogan, attempt to use this to their
advantage. How? They use the disclosure as an opportunity to talk about how
much they personally love the product they are selling.
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Thanks for reading: How to Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing, Sorry, my English is bad:)