Affiliate marketing gives you the opportunity to earn commissions by selling products or services offered by other companies. It’s a way to help you increase your income while enjoying the comfort of your own home. With the growth of affiliate in our time, it is easy to sign up for an affiliate for a business. This article will help you understand What is Affiliate Marketing? and the steps to get income with affiliate marketing. Let’s go.
Step 1: Become a publisher
1. Sell what you know
To start, you should stick to selling a product or service that you know well, i.e. the process of “choosing your niche”. You should choose a niche related to your current interests or profession.
For example, if you’re an interior design expert, it makes more sense to sell bedding sets than to sell auto parts. You will sell much better if you stick to selling what you know.
2. Start a website relevant to your niche.
Before becoming an affiliate, many companies will want to know the URL of the website you will be using to sell their products. They do this because they want to ensure that the content on your site will not harm the reputation of the company.
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These days, it’s easy to start a website with WordPress.com.
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Make sure your website content doesn’t have a strong sales smell.
3. Look for affiliate marketing programs.
Find an affiliate program that offers products or services in your niche.
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Amazon sells everything, so chances are your niche also includes products sold on Amazon. It’s a good place to start if you’re looking to get into affiliate marketing.
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Junction is another great option as it allows you to become affiliated with countless companies you already know (eg Overstock, Office Depot, Boscov’s and many more).
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Clickbank is another option that many affiliate marketers prefer, as the commissions from these web-based companies are often very high.
4. Join an affiliate marketing program.
Joining a regular affiliate program is free.
In fact, if you were asked for a credit card number just to become an affiliate, you could be scammed. Most reputable companies offer affiliate programs that allow people to become affiliates for free.
However, you will be asked for your bank account or PayPal information. Remember, this is not so the company can take your money, but so they can pay you the commission you earn on a successful sale.
You will be asked for your website URL in some cases. Simply provide the URL of the website you created above.
Step 2: Promote the products on your website
1. Add an affiliate link to the content you write
One way to earn commissions without having to sell products is to add affiliate links to your content. That way, when people click on the link, they’ll be taken to the company’s website, and if they buy, you’ll get a commission.
For example, if you’re writing about skincare tips, put the phrase “sunscreen” as a link to Amazon’s website (or any other company that sells sunscreen with affiliate marketing) . Your readers can browse Amazon products and maybe buy an item they like, and you’ll be charged a commission.
2. Add visual ads to your sidebar.
Your website, like most websites, probably has a sidebar. This is a good place to add visual advertisements for products relevant to your niche.
Again, you’ll find that companies with affiliate programs make it easy to get the images and links needed to bring visitors back to their site. It’s also very easy to do, just copy and paste a piece of code into the sidebar of your site.
3. Continue to create relevant content for your niche.
Everyone wants to attract readers to their website. If so, you need to keep creating valuable content for your visitors. It’s called “content marketing” created by marketers.
Quality content will keep visitors coming back to your site often. This means that a higher percentage of them click on your affiliate links and buy something.
You can also add marketing links to your article content. The more content you create, the more affiliate links you get.
4. Use analytics to measure performance
You can analyze what you sell, how you sell it and who you sold it to. Luckily, most affiliate marketing sites provide helpful analytics so you can see what’s working well for you.
If you find that a type of product is selling well on your site, create content that gives you more opportunities to market that product.
Use Google Analytics to understand your visitor demographics. Tailor your content to people in this demographic.
Pay attention to your posts that attract the most visitors. If you find that some posts get more hits than others, add more marketing links to that post.
Step 3: Manage your business
1. Prepare for taxes.
If you earn money online through affiliate marketing, you could end up paying taxes on that income.
2. Grow your business.
You need to continually grow your business because in the long run, if you don’t, your business will likely shrink and your profits will decline.
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Research new products that you think you can market online. Browse the various affiliate sites. Look for reputable companies that have affiliate programs, and if they offer something you think you can market well, partner with them.
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Advertise your business continuously. Use social media, email, and other channels to promote your business to keep people coming back and looking for great deals on the products and services you market.
3. Hire more labor
Once your business is successful, it’s time to focus on how to grow your business while delegating routine tasks to others. It will cost you a fortune in labor, the investments are worth it if they allow you to find new ways to boost your affiliate marketing business and grow it further.
4. Automate what you can.
Many digital marketing tools are available. Again, you may need to invest in some tools, but if it gives you more free time to grow your business, the return on investment will be positive.
Focus on creating a long-term strategy for your business while your tools and employees handle day-to-day tasks. This way, you can manage long-term direction to ensure your business continues to grow.
Source: AdFlex – Southeast Asia’s leading affiliate marketing platform.