So what is Affiliate Marketing?
Recommending a product or service on a blog, social media, or website. Every time a customer makes a purchase via the special link connected to your referral, the affiliate receives a commission.
What is an example of Affiliate Marketing?
Say you really like Nike shoes, you tell everyone about it on Facebook and they all want to know where to buy them? You could just say; go to nike.com and find a store OR you could become an affiliate for Nike, then share a special link where you will get a % commission if anyone purchases.
Usually a sale will trigger your commission, but other programmes may pay you for leads, those who sign up for a free trial, website clicks, or app downloads.
We naturally recommend products and services to people we know every day, from restaurants to products, Affiliate Marketing is the same thing, but you get paid!
How much does it cost to be an affiliate marketer?
You can get started for free. Almost all affiliate programs are free to join, the criteria of being accepted varies from brand to brand. Some need proof of your followers/audience/website traffic. Others just accept everybody.
The only costs are setting up your online presence with paid or free tools for:
- a basic website
- email marketing tool
- how-to courses
- graphic editor
How to get started
The first step is deciding what to promote.
To market really well you will need to know a bit about what you’re selling, I suggest choosing a industry or topic you like and are knowledgeable in.
- If you love makeup, look into promoting beauty products.
- If you have a teaching background, promote education courses or software.
- If you have a successful long marriage you could promote relationship courses.
- If you’re a stay at home mum you could look into baby products.
- If you’re an outdoors person, you could promote camping & hiking products
The closer to the niche (industry) your interest is, the easier you will find it to create content to promote it.
Where to find affiliate programs?
This part can be a little overwhelming, there are SO many places to find products to promote.
Google
IF you have a clear idea on what you’re looking for you simply type it in Google followed by Affiliate Marketing Program. Eg: Nike Shoes Affiliate Program. Then follow the instructions on their site to join.
Affiliate Marketing Marketplaces
There are websites that list many products and services you can promote all in one place, these are the big ones.
- ClickBank
- ShareASale
- Awin
- Amazon Associates
- Flex Offers
- Commission Factory
- CJ Affiliate
- Rakuten Marketing
- eBay Partner Network
So which is best?
Start by thinking about what products and services you already use in your life, what can’t you live without and would like to promote? Start there and google an affiliate program for it. That will take you to the right market place.
How to promote your link
You have your link now what? You’re going to be tempted to just paste that baby all over the internet and hope for the best. But there’s a bit more to it.
You see people very rarely buy in the moment, research says it can take 6-15 times of seeing a product before they actually buy.
So how do you achieve that? By capturing an email address, that way you can email them your product over days and weeks in a strategic way.
This process is called a Sales Funnel. You’ve probably seen sales funnels on the internet, its a little form asking for your email before you can proceed to the next page.
There is special software out there that is designed to handle this whole process for you, I recommend Systeme.io because it’s free until you reach 2000 subscribers and has a email autoresponder/workflow built in. Plus once you reach your 2000 subscribers (and you’re making money) it’s still really affordable compared with its competitors.
How to get traffic to your Sales Funnel
Once you have a Sales Funnel setup you have some options for promoting it. Free & Paid.
Free:
- Social Media – Setting up a dedicated account for promoting your product, you can reach a high volume of people pretty quickly on Facebook, TikTok & Instagram.
- YouTube – If you’re not shy you can jump infront of the camera an talk about your industry to attract buyers.
- Pinterest – Post graphics or photos with links through to your sales funnel.
- Blogging – Setting up a blog can be a bit more time consuming and take time to build an audience but it’s an asset you will own and have full control over.
Paid:
- Paid Ads – You can pay for your ad to be displayed on Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
- Solo Ads – You can pay to have your link emailed to someone else’s mailing list in the same industry niche as you.
I recommend testing and finetuning your sales funnel on a free audience first before paying for traffic. Make sure you get a few people entering their email address first so you know it converts.
Where to find Affiliate Help
There can be a steep learning curve when learning about Affiliate Marketing, I felt quiet overwhelmed when I started. So here are a few places to find more information.
- YouTube – I follow a few really good YouTube channels that talk about all the different ways of promoting Affiliate links, how-to videos and techniques.
- Social Media – Following a few affiliate marketers can be a quick access to ideas an opportunities.
- Courses – There are many courses available on how people have succeeded in this industry. Which one to choose is really based on your experience level and how much you connect to the “coach”. Some people present their message clearer than others.
A few bonus Marketing Tips
Choose a product or service with a recurring commission – It’s the quickest way to build your monthly income. Earn off the customers you have already referred when they’re paying for a monthly service (food boxes, software, health supplements). These payments could be landing in your bank account years later.
Know your target market – work on finding out what their struggles are and how you can help solve them with your affiliate product/service. This will help you create content that is aimed at the right audience.
Sell emotions, not logic – people connect more with a story rather than just a list of features.
Sell results & solutions – Analyse the needs of the customer and offer your product or service as a solution.
Stand out and be entertaining – Let your personality shine through in your marketing approach, this will build trust with your audience and they are more likely to buy from you.
What I recommend
Consider a mentor
Doing it alone is a hard slog, myself I consumed 100’s of hours of YouTube videos, read blogs and downloaded a million freebies. In the end I was more confused than ever with information overload. So I was stuck. Then I found 2 courses that really helped get my head straight and a clear direction on how to just start!
The 2 programs below I have personally taken and got different value from both.
15 Day Business Challenge
A very high quality production that takes you through focusing and developing a plan and setting up your very first sales funnel. Access to real people for support. Lots of lightbulb moments for me during these 15 days. Optional add-ons depending on your skill level, you can pay to have the whole thing done for you.
Cost: $7
Affiliate Marketing Boss Challenge
A favourite YouTuber of mine Chad Bartlett started a $1 course to teach others how he’s making 7 figures in affiliate commissions before age 25. This 5 day course focuses more on the marketing strategy, getting traffic and converting it to a sale. Access to real people for support. New ways of promoting in this program.
Cost: $1
Affiliate Marketing is not a get rich quick program (I wish it was) nor do I believe in overnight success. I believe in hard work, integrity and developing your skills if you want to earn more financially. Earning big money in Affiliate Marketing is very achievable with the right guidance, hard work and consistency in taking action.