One of the fastest ways to make money online is to start affiliate marketing. So how do you start an affiliate business? It’s not as simple as signing up to a program and sharing some links. That being said, if you understand the process it is actually quite simple.
Affiliate marketing is a highly sought after job due to the flexibility and freedom it offers the affiliate. Many people start, fewer make money due to either not having the knowledge or entering the industry for the wrong reasons.
The great thing about affiliate marketing, online with the opportunity to make money online whenever you want is the dynamic ways you can sell. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Your own website or your own blog – whatever your strength zone is, you can use it to sell.
By following these few simple steps you can have an affiliate marketing business up and running in no time, then you can work on earning commissions. Done right, this is one of the fastest and least risky ways to make money online, but be aware it still requires work.
Before We Start, Some Considerations
Affiliate marketing, regardless of what you are selling, how you are selling it and who you are selling it to all depends on one main thing. Traffic. If no one is seeing your messages and content, you cannot sell to them. This is the probably the hardest thing about affiliate marketing, and something a lot of new marketers struggle with.
The other important consideration in affiliate marketing is your content. You want to engage your audience and drive them to your affiliate links, so well written posts will increase the chances of this happening. If you are not good at copy in the beginning you can pay people to write it for you. There are countless online services for copy writing, that are competitively priced.
So with all that in consideration, what are the essential steps to starting your affiliate marketing business? Lets dive in!
Choosing the Right Affiliate Marketing Program
When it comes to choosing the right affiliate program there are a few things you need to consider.
Scam check. Is the program legitimate?
Firstly is whether the program is a legitimate one. This should be a fairly easy question to answer. You can read reviews on here, if we don’t have it you can ask! Also a quick google search will quickly reveal if it is a scam or not. Most legitimate programs have favorable reviews. You may find the odd negative one, but for the whole they are positive.
Are the products aligned to your interest.
You then need to consider if the affiliate program is the right fit for you. If they are a health and well being company, and you are not interested in that industry, nor do you want to be you are going to struggle to sell the product. Align yourself with a program that sells products with a similar interest to yours, and that you are excited about. This will come across in your writing.
High commissions
This one speaks for itself. If you are going to put all your efforts into selling a product, you want to ensure you are earning a good commission. Stay away from Multi Level Markerting (MLMs), whilst some are legit and offer good commissions the structures are generally confusing and hard to decipher your actually earning potential. Anything above 30% is a great starting point.
Great support networks
So you sign up to be an affiliate marketer, and get your links and then what? You need to ensure that after your lead is passed off to the affiliate company that it will be looked after, and managed correctly. There is nothing worse than working hard to generate leads and having them mismanaged.
Its best to align yourself with a company that has their own support network and sales team. Ultimately you want to hand off your lead to a capable closure giving you the best chance of earning commission!
Strong focus on product, not just affiliates
This point is about longevity. There are a lot of programs out there that earn you high commissions from signing up other affiliates. These are not sustainable, as there is no real product sales component.
When choosing an affiliate marketing program be sure their product can stand alone. The company should be invested in their products, whether they are physical or digital courses, and place a strong focus on their sale. If you find your commission rely heavily on signing up others, the program will not last and you will be back at square one.
What Affiliate Marketing Program Do I Recommend?
So you know all the points your program should tick, but you still are unsure who to pick? I have found a great program that ticks all the boxes and will solve this part of your journey for you.
The reason this program is my number one recommendation for making money online is two fold. Firstly their products are great, training courses that will also HELP YOU develop skills to master affiliate marketing.
Secondly they do all the hard lifting for you. Once you generate a lead, a team of business advisers take care of your leads and guide them through their business journey. All whilst earning you a 40% commission. With an exceptional product the program is considered one of the best, if not the best way to make money online and will continue to be around for many years to come.
If you are ready to become an affiliate marketer and make money online this program is for you! You can sign up for a the Marketers Club to get started on learn how to really market your business below.
Consider Buying the Product Before Promoting It
Quick a lot of affiliate programs make this mandatory any way which as a new affiliate marketer may seem like a con. But the reasons for doing this are actually quite strategic.
By asking you to buy the product, you get to experience what your customers will, and know what you are selling. This can help you tailor your message and write more engaging content.
This is why I suggest aligning yourself with a partner who’s product can help you. If you are becoming an affiliate marketing naturally a training course that teaches online marketing, traffic generation and tips for making money online is a good fit.
Also by purchasing the product yourself you can have confidence in what you are selling. Knowing it is of the highest product, and as advertised makes it far easier to confidently sell. When you believe in what you are selling, this resonates in you sales messages.
Social Media Marketing – An Affiliate Marketers Must!
As suggested before, affiliate marketing is all about lead generation. If you have a blog, you can get a lot of traffic through search engines. But this requires a sold SEO plan, click here for the top 5 SEO mistakes, and takes some time to work.
The best way for quick free traffic is social media channels. Depending on your product, you may wish to create video content. Video marketing is highly engaging, and great to demonstrate the product via commentary and live demonstrations.
With so many avenues you need to consider firstly what is your strength zone. If you know nothing about video editing, then maybe don’t start with a YouTube channel.
Whatever you choose you must be consistent with your posts and messaging content. It is important to post at the right time, and the right amount of times. You can actually do more harm that good if you post too much, or too little.
As a starting point you can refer to the info-graphic for ideal times to post your content, and read my recent post
Social Media Posts – How Much Is Too Much? for the ideal amount of posts per channel to maximize engagement and traffic.
Affiliate Marketing Startup Checklist
So after considering all the above how do you put it all into action? Below is a checklist you can use as a guide to speed up your journey to making money online!
- Pick your affiliate program – click here for the 15 Day Challenge and the best affiliate program around
- Secure a domain & hosting if you are setting up a website. A quick google search will reveal your hosting options. A lot of hosting providers will install wordpress for you, so be sure to ask support to set this up.
- Chose your social media channels. Getting these up and running ASAP is important. Even if you do not have affiliate links you can start to attract followers to your social channels to promote to them later. Build your network as soon as possible.
- Develop your communication and content plan. Have a plan in place for when you will post, how much you will post and what it will be about. Build a bank of content and posts to ensure you are consistent even on the days you are unable to commit to anything.
- Start selling and be patient! How long will it take for you to earn your first commission? Click the link to read my post about how long it took me, and my process – spoiler it was 39 days. So be patient and commit to the process. Do not lose motivation just as you are about to start selling!
Lets Get Started!
To be successful in affiliate marketing, you must be committed and plan your online business. Know you will not make $1000s on day one, but will slowly grow your revenue.
If you are chasing a get rich quick scheme you will ultimately get scammed, or waste money trying to do things to quickly. If you are ready to do the work, dedicate time daily, then you are ready to make money online!
My number 1 recommendation is to plan your process. Join the marketers club to learn the best way to market your business. You can then take the 15 day challenge to force you to map out how you will make your money online. It will not only set you up for success, but teach you valuable lessons so you don’t WASTE YOUR MONEY.
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Thanks for the comment - It is always good getting positive feedback. I have some really exciting content coming up on content strategy, Youtube marketing & making money through blogging, so stay tuned! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions