What is affiliate marketing?
When you ask, how can I make money through affiliate marketing, you first need to know how it works. Affiliate marketing is basically getting paid a commission for referring people to online products or services. You have an affiliate link that identifies you as the referrer, which you embed into an online article, or blog. If someone clicks on that link and then makes a purchase, you get a commission. It doesn’t cost the buyer any more to purchase through your link, but the company pays you a percentage for referring the customer to them. The aim is to get as many people as possible to purchase through your affilate links.
We’ve all seen the pop up ads that appear on our screens. This is an aggressive way to get a referral commission. Most people hate them and try to get rid of them as soon as possible. Affiliate marketing is best done with a more gentle approach.
You want to people to buy through your affiliate links, but you also want them to like what you do. This way more people will visit your blog. The numbers of returning and new visitors will hopefully grow over time. This makes the income more sustainable than one-time visitors who can’t wait to get away. It can be a very lucrative business indeed. So how is it done?
Where do you start?
Firstly you need to decide on your niche market. This is where you will find most sales opportunites. Pick a subject that interests you, as you will spend a large amount of time writing about it. Make the process enjoyable, or what’s the point? A subject you already know about is easiest, as you’ll not need to spend so much time learning about it.
Narrow the subject down until you have a viable niche. There’s no point picking a subject like ‘food’ as you’ll be very unlikely to end up on page 1 of Google for that. You’ll be in competition with the likes of Sainsburys and others that are at the top of the food industry. But if you narrow it down to ‘one pot meals for caravanning’, you might be in with a better chance. You need to find out properly though. Don’t just go with what you think is probably a good niche market, or you may waste much valuable time. Research thoroughly to get your ideal niche.
Google’s Keyword Analysis Tool is a good place to start. You want to find words or terms that are highly searched for, but with low competition, to rank well in Google.
Getting a following
Write good content that is relevant to the niche market you have chosen. SEO (Search Engine Optimized) content will help you rank higher. It’s worth learning strong SEO writing skills, as these will make all the difference. Writing good content will generate trust. Simply using advertising, or spamming forums and people’s email accounts won’t. Where would you be more likely to follow a link and make a purchase?
Establish yourself as an expert, or better still, THE expert. If you offer tons of useful information and tips on your site, you will build up a good following. People are looking for answers to problems, so provide these freely and you’re onto a winner.
Choosing products or services to refer people to
Embed referral links to products that are relevant to your blog. You wouldn’t want to have a link to chocolate if you’re writing a slimming blog. A juicer or exercise bike would be a far better choice.
The likes of eBay, Google and Amazon have their own affiliate programmes. Look at the bottom of most large companies’ websites and you’ll often find a link for their affiliate programme. You sign up with them and they send you your unique affiliate referral link.
ClickBank and Commission Junction list companies that are actively seeking affiliate marketers. Search for products and services that are relevant to your blog.
Widening your marketing
You’ll even find ebooks on ClickBank and Commission Junction that you can use as ‘giveaways’ on your website. This is useful if you don’t have your own products to offer in exchange for people’s emails. That way you can build up an email list and send out a weekly newsletter, with affilate links in it. Just don’t go too mad on the marketing or people will quickly unsubscribe. Offer value and they’ll stick around.
Growing your business
If you have more than one niche you wish to write about, set up a blogging website for each. Don’t have one website that tries to cover everything. This will just confuse the visitor and is unlikely to rank very well. So a blog to do with gardening would be on one website, while getting fit blogs would be on another.
Getting the skills
When I started I stumbled upon a website called Wealthy Affiliate. I immediately saw that I could get all the information and knowledge I needed to really get going in affiliate marketing. It was the first place I’d found that offered a trial membership without taking any payment details. A totally no risk way of seeing what they had to offer, as after 7 days it would expire if I did nothing. I signed up after just 2 days as it was such a great place to find all the information I’d been looking for. It has an online community where you can ask questions and tons of courses. I’m still learning all the time on it. I’ve never looked back.
If you sign up using my referral link, I’ll get a commission if you decide to join. There’s no obligation and it won’t cost you a penny more. I’m sure you’ll agree that Wealthy Affiliate has all the information and resources you need to make money through affiliate marketing. If you do join up, then it will help me to continue writing this blog!
So the next time someone asks, how can I make money through affiliate marketing, you’ll know the answer.
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