Affiliate marketing is a great way of making an income, especially if you don’t want to go through the hassle of selling your own product or service but would rather promote someone else’s. For example, if you come across something that you believe would sell well, but just needs that extra boost to make it happen, you could be a good position to advertise that product through whatever means you deem necessary, and for every sale, make a commission on that. Below are some tips on how to get started with affiliate marketing, and earn yourself a nice, steady income stream.
Find a product or service you want to promote
This is easier said than done. There are an unbelievable amount of products and services out there needing to be marketed, and it is up to you to find one that you not only wish to market, but believe will do well. There are also a whole host of websites where you can find people looking to have their products advertised, from as broad as online courses, electronics, to business-focused hardware such as a conference room scheduling display. Have a look through these sites and get a feel of what is available and do some research on what you believe will be successful with the right attention.
Research the top affiliate programs
Emphasis on the “top”, as these are the more certified programs out there. They may pay less than other, newer programs, but you will certainly have less hassle with these guys who have been around for years, and have a very refined structure and process. Some of the top programs are Clickbank and Amazon Associate, to name a few.
Build your own website
Unless you already have your own website or blog, you’re going to need one for the purpose of advertising these products. Think of this as an opportunity to express yourself and create something around what you care about. It may be about your interest in technology or your experiences while travelling – both of which you could almost certainly find a product or service which you could affiliate market. Think of an electronics review site which uses an affiliate link to leads to a retailer that sells the product. Everytime someone clicks on your link and purchases the product, you get paid!
It is imperative that the content you put up on your website is excellent and makes use of SEO and keywords to ensure you show up high on the search rankings. Don’t expect that you can throw up any mish-mash with an affiliate link and the orders will come rolling in. Everything must be planned and executed well, or your time and effort will certainly go to waste.
Build your audience
In line with SEO and keywords, you will need to build an audience for your website. This is done through marketing on various channels such as social media ads, paid ads and building email lists, to name a few. The purpose of this is to funnel people to your website; the more people visiting your site, the higher the chance there is of someone clicking on your affiliate links.
Follow these tips for a strong start to building an income through affiliate marketing. Remember, it is very important you do your own research and don’t just jump in. Everything should be calculated and done with a reason, or you may find yourself quickly at a dead end.