Affiliate marketing seems simple in its explanation – one chooses products to promote and makes a commission on any sales made from their profile. Many believe affiliate marketing will be an easy way to earn extra cash, but more goes into getting sales than simply posting photos and recommendations on their own websites, blogs, social media accounts and more. Affiliate marketing seems promising to some because not much of a budget is needed to start, and you don’t have to come up with the product yourself. You also do not have to worry about stocking or shipping inventory or delivering or meeting with strangers to make the exchange.

The reality is, in order to make some serious cash from affiliate marketing programs you’ll need to spend a good deal of time and effort. You can find happiness in what you do when it comes to affiliate marketing because there are many pros to it – working from home and on your own time, using the opportunity to promote products you believe in, adding supplemental income to your family and extending your social media reach for other endeavors.

There are a few cons as well, including the time it takes to build a following and bring in an income, bad affiliate connections, high competition, untrustworthy companies and it’s hard to get return customers.

You’ll want to start by understanding the niche markets and what will work best for your lifestyle. Some of the most popular niches are health and fitness, dating and relationships, pets, self-improvement and beauty treatments, to name a few. Take a look at what the different programs have to offer, the amount of effort you will need to put in and if it’s something you positively promote – because when it comes down to it, the best way to sell a product is to know how it works and truly believe it can help others.

7 Quick Tips for Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing

There are a few tactics one can use when starting out in affiliate marketing to get your feet wet and learn what works best for you.

  1. Understand what niches are out there and how they work. It’s good to have a few different niches you sell in or even do a few that inter-mingle well together.
  2. Explore affiliate networks like Clickbank.com, Amazon or CJ Affiliate for products in the niches you choose. Whether you choose to work with the top-rated affiliate marketing products or something a little lesser-known, it’s beneficial to know the competition or what products you could work toward.
  3. Do some research into other affiliate marketers and how they promote their business. Many have made very successful businesses out of affiliate marketing and even offer seminars to get started in their niche with their products.
  4. Consider buying the product before promoting it. In many instances, it’s required for you to buy them, but not all. It may be good when you’re first getting started to purchase the product to really understand what you’re selling. Some of the most effective marketing is born from firsthand experience with the product and the results that follow.
  5. Use social media for both free and paid marketing. The beauty of affiliate marketing is it’s a great way to use your own social media reach when you begin. You’ll often find successful affiliate marketers have an enormous social media or blog/website following and it is not a coincidence.

But consider doing some paid social media advertising as well. Often when people are scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, they’re looking for inspiration and that can be delivered in the product you are selling. Social media advertising is also fairly cost effective.

  1. Start an email list and even consider using a website to funnel your visitors into the sales funnel. The email list can be used to get new customers with a free gift and return customers with email blasts and updates.
  2. Consider using links that look more professional – some affiliate links can be long and look untrustworthy, so it could definitely be beneficial to use something like Pretty Links WordPress Plugin or even bit.ly.

The Takeaway

Affiliate marketing can be a successful business if you are willing to put some time, effort and marketing dollars into it. Make sure to do your research first instead of jumping into the first thing you see so you know how the company works, when you get paid and what is expected of you. It’s important to understand all of this before you jump into something that could end up costing you if it doesn’t work with your lifestyle or interests.

Take the time to test out the products if you can – nothing sells more than honest peer reviews and results. And definitely understand that some of the niches that require you to purchase the product and use it (Beachbody, for example) can be expensive upfront and until you create a following.

And finally, ensure you have built a sound marketing strategy. Have a plan for finding your target audience, creating content around them – whether that is photos, videos, blog posts, YouTube reviews or advertising. Definitely consider promoting your social media content to get more impressions, followers and sales or to use some money for digital advertising as well. Take the time to look at your marketing metrics to redefine your target audience and pursue leads elsewhere. Email marketing is a great way to get more clients. You can cultivate a good relationship through email marketing with blog posts, new reviews and products they may like based on other things they’ve purchased. Email marketing really is a great opportunity to nurture those relationships and carry customers back through the sales funnel.

Reading this article was more time consuming than I bet you thought it would be, and that goes for affiliate marketing as well. In order to make a significant amount of money through affiliate marketing, you do need to spend some time doing your research to find the best suited product for you.

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