Affiliate marketing is a very simple way to sell goods and services without the need to create anything and earn money.
Being an affiliate is one of the fastest-growing professions, and to be one just join an affiliate program.
This article is without a doubt an absolutely complete guide for you to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
You will learn all about affiliate and affiliate marketing; this is for sure a definitive and complete guide for affiliates.
Here you have everything to be a successful affiliate marketer.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an updated interpretation of a very old idea: getting a commission for a sale you make.
Here is How Affiliate Marketing Works:
You offer people a product or service from a trusted company or producer, and you get a commission for every sale you make.
Affiliate marketing is totally related to digital marketing because it is through digital marketing that sales happen to the affiliate.
When you join an affiliate program, you get a unique link, which you can post on blogs, YouTube channels, social networks, email marketing, and various other channels, through which people buy products or services, and for that sale, you (the affiliate) get a commission.
You (affiliate) get a commission for every sale you make through your affiliate link.
There are many other ways to make money from your blog or website like showing Ads from Google Adsense, sponsored posts or banners, etc.
Example of an Affiliate Marketing Sale
When you place an ad on your blog, the advertiser pays you for each visitor who clicks on the ad, even if they don’t buy the product.
In this case, the advertiser is renting the space on your blog because your website has many visits daily.
It is as if the advertiser is renting a billboard on a road where many people pass.
The problem with renting ad space is that you only earn a few cents for each click.
This means that you need to have a blog with very high traffic to be able to receive considerable value. The same applies to YouTube.
On the other hand, as an affiliate, although you only receive a commission when someone makes a purchase, the commissions are much higher.
In addition to banners, you can also insert links into the text of your posts, followed by a product offer.
For now, it is important that you know what affiliate marketing means and your potential as an affiliate marketer.
Affiliate marketing has great potential, from generating extra income to creating a complete online business.
And it is for sure one of the best ways to work at home.
Why use Affiliate Marketing?
I will give you 3 reasons why I advise you to use affiliate marketing:
- You can make money from your blog faster than you would if you created your own product from scratch;
- As an affiliate, you will realize what type of product your audience is interested in, so you can offer them the ideal product, reducing risk and increasing the chances of success;
- If you choose the right products to join, your audience will increasingly have confidence in you and will undoubtedly buy your own product in the future.
These are 3 top reasons why you should use affiliate marketing in your business, enjoy the benefits, and grow as an entrepreneur.
But these are not the only advantages of affiliate marketing. There are many other advantages of affiliate marketing, which I will list below now:
- It is easy to perform: You only need to disclose the link to your visitors, as affiliate marketing is completely intuitive at the time of purchase. The client will not need you to do it;
- You do not need to support: You won’t worry about support, as payment setup, customer service, sales tracking, etc. are all done by the producer;
- You don’t have to be an expert: You just need to be familiar enough with your niche subjects to know which products are best to recommend to your visitors;
- It has low risk and low effort: Affiliate marketing does not require a big investment of time and money to get started.
The Reality of Affiliate Marketing
Since everything in life has its advantages and disadvantages, affiliate marketing is no exception.
However, if you are aware of the pitfalls of affiliate marketing, you can look into it with wide-open eyes so as not to fall into any trap.
So let’s check what points you need to be very careful about.
Quick and easy to set up doesn’t mean instant or free
We know that selling products as affiliates is faster and easier than creating, selling, and delivering the products themselves.
But that does not mean that it is an instant thing without any effort.
You will need to carefully choose which product you are going to affiliate with and you will need to invest time and a little money in order to know which product you are going to target.
In addition, you will also need to test until you figure out what works and what doesn’t.
So do not believe that your success will come overnight as a miracle.
Success is the result of hard work and dedication, as well as some investment in money.
Making money in your sleep doesn’t mean “start your business and then forget it”
If your intention is to set up an easy-to-learn business, don’t be an affiliate as there is no revenue from an affiliate that is totally passive.
Even if you’re not a producer, and even automating some of your blog tasks, you need to keep working on growing your business and engaging with your audience.
To keep your audience engaged you need to consistently create quality content to build trust with them.
If you don’t build trust and engagement with your audience, it will probably be very difficult to succeed in affiliate marketing.
And if you don’t build your email list consistently, you’ll soon lose the credibility you’ve gained.
Affiliate marketing is not just an alternative to your blog; it is a profitable addition to you having a successful business.
Even the smartest affiliates can make the wrong choices
As much as a product may seem to be too good to be true, it may not be right for your audience.
Even if the producer is well known in the market, consider whether it is a quality product, if it really delivers what it promises and if it is in line with its niche.
You may even find tips that promise you will make money fast if you affiliate with that dubious product, but, you will jeopardize the confidence of your audience.
How to Work as an Affiliate
Let’s start understanding how to work as an affiliate.
This is important for you to understand that to work as an affiliate there are several forms and programs.
Advantages of Working as an Affiliate Marketer
- It is not necessary to create a product;
- Free membership process and easy access;
- Possibility of fast results;
Note: It is possible to have very fast results, but do not focus on that. You will understand throughout the post on how to get results fast.
Types of Affiliates
There are basically two ways to work as an affiliate. There are other ways, but we can summarize in these two modalities which are: The Affiliate Authority and the Affiliate Referee (or Investor Affiliate).
Affiliate Authority
The affiliate authority is the one that appears in the market.
It builds an audience and makes product recommendations for that audience.
It basically develops a structure with a blog, social media participation, YouTube video creation, and email list.
Summing up: The affiliate authority is related to the audience and uses it to make sales.
For example, in my case, I have a certain authority in the digital marketing segment, I have an audience on my blog, Email List, Social Networks.
Then it is possible for me to find a product from a partner that talks about this subject and promotes this product to my audience.
So many people tend to buy because they trust me as the authority on the subject.
Affiliate Referee (or Investor Affiliate)
The referee affiliate is one who does not appear directly on the market. It is known as an affiliate without appearing.
What it does very simply is to buy ads and sell.
He selects products and makes investments directly in ads focused on sending to the producer’s sales page, making sales and earning commissions.
Many people buy referral affiliate products and are not even aware of it. They do not know that they hear an affiliate in the middle of selling the product.
One of the main advantages of being an affiliate investor is that you can advertise products from any niche without having any authority, which is not possible for the affiliate authority.
The Main Focus of the Affiliate is Traffic Generation
Study and focus on various ways to generate traffic to the sales pages of the products you are advertising.
Today the main sources of traffic that affiliates use to buy traffic are:
- Facebook Ads;
- Instagram Ads;
- YouTube Ads;
- Google Adwords;
- Bing Ads;
- Native Ads;
- Media Purchase;
How to work as a Referee Affiliate (Investor Affiliate)
To work as an affiliated referee you basically need to choose the product on one of the digital product platforms.
And to choose from these products, I recommend that you do not choose the ones with the highest competition or the lowest.
Choose from those with intermediate sales, do not choose the best sellers or the least sold.
The best sellers should not be chosen by those who are starting, and this because they are products that have much competition.
So it is best to choose the “middle ground” between the bestseller and the average seller.
I also recommend that you choose the product by affinity, as it becomes easier and more enjoyable to work with them.
And the other three points you need to be aware of are the product value, commission, and product sales process.
To recap
- Go to one of the digital platforms;
- Choose intermediate products from the best sellers;
- Choose by affinity;
- Product value, ideal between 1000 and 3000 (max 5000)
- Amount paid of commission;
- Analyze the sales process, sales page, and sales video;
How to Work As an Affiliate Authority
To work as an affiliate authority, the first thing you have to do is choose a niche market to act on, a subject that you enjoy and are interested in.
Then you start sharing content about it. Focusing on answering small questions that the public interested in the subject wants to know.
May you be findable, and present in the lives of your audience.
And for that, join social networks, work the email list, have a blog with good content.
And it’s very important to have consistency in the process, meaning you’re not going to record a video today and go months without recording.
The affiliate authority is a bit more complicated as the results take longer to happen.
Unlike the referee affiliate that can have same-day results.
The Profile of Successful Affiliate Marketing Entrepreneurs
If you want to succeed as an affiliate, you first need to keep some things in mind.
For example:
If you are starting your blog and have not yet built your email list and a good audience, do not risk yourself by investing a lot of money at the beginning.
Before you think about investing more:
- Produce content consistently on your blog.
- To build trust and offer a product, you must first create value for your audience;
- Have at least 500 subscribers to your email list.
- You’ll have a base with good earning potential if you can attract and keep those 500 subscribers.
How to Sell Affiliate Products Right
Affiliate marketing is not viewed favorably by some people, but it certainly is one of the best ways to make money on the internet.
This is because it has been misused by some unethical “professionals” who annoy visitors with unwanted ads, misleading offers and spamming.
This kind of “pro” has brought a nasty reputation to affiliate marketing.
But when affiliate marketing works right, it is a powerful “machine” for generating value for both the affiliate and the audience.
You must understand that the relationship and trust you have built with your audience is the most important in this business.
You need to invest time and effort to maintain the trust of your audience.
So before you think about using the wrong strategies in your business, to cut down on spending.
Remember that something much more valuable and unrecoverable is at stake, which is the TRUST you have built with your readers.
The Golden Rule for Affiliate Success
This must be the golden rule for you to succeed as an affiliate: Affiliate with products you would use.
If you have chosen a product to affiliate with, buy, and test its quality before recommending it to your audience.
Remember that your reputation is at stake, so don’t take any chances by recommending something you don’t know or wouldn’t use.
When you need a doctor, an electrician or a mechanic, for example, what is the first thing you do?
I’m sure you ask for a recommendation from a trusted person, right?
But what if this trusted person recommended you an unqualified professional who did the wrong job and charged you dearly for it. What would you do?
Most likely, you will no longer trust that person and their opinion will no longer be worth the time you need it.
Having an affiliate is even worse, so don’t let your reputation be destroyed for not checking out the product in detail.
And, let’s face it, doing everything the right way is a lot easier, right?
When you are honest and sincere in recommending a product or service you have tried and approved, your marketing will work, no doubt.
When this happens, people realize your authenticity and spontaneity when talking about the product, so they will feel more confident buying from you.
YouTube Affiliate Marketing
Learn how to use YouTube to promote your business as an affiliate.
Reach your audience by using YouTube videos as a tool to generate leads for your business, increasing the chances of conversion.
Generating Leads through YouTube
To generate Leads through YouTube, you need to offer something that will convert your viewers.
Create something of interest to your audience to convert visitors. Create a unique and quality material.
YouTube is very popular and people use this tool to search for terms second only to Google and Facebook. So enjoy and use YouTube to your advantage.
Having a YouTube channel to promote your business as an affiliate is so important that when you post a video on a page to promote a product, the chances of converting viewers into sales increases significantly.
This is because people tend to rely more on the quality of that product because of a video demo.
Offer your stuff on YouTube
Once you create the material to offer to your visitors, you need to promote it.
When you are recording your videos for YouTube, make sure that the material you are offering needs to be quality even if it doesn’t generate revenue at first.
So shoot planned videos, follow a script, edit before uploading, being careful not to leave too long, as people tend not to watch long videos.
- Define what you want with your video: Your video must first send a message to the viewer. In addition, for viewers of your YouTube channel to want to join your list, want to download their bonuses, and especially want to buy your product, you need to show that your free stuff is very high quality.
That way, those who consume your free content and like it, their sales chances increase;
- Create a video for your Landing Page and just enter the email field;
- Create different types of posts to achieve wide reach on Google and YouTube, organically, one for the blog and one for Facebook;
- Record a video about your product and promote it on the blog and on Facebook;
- Record a video inviting people to visit your blog;
Affiliate Marketing Sales Funnel
Do you know what a sales funnel is and how to set one up for your business?
Learn now how to set one up and use this strategy in your affiliate business.
Sales funnel
The sales funnel is the path the customer takes until the moment of purchase.
It is the follow-up of the customer, from the moment he knows the product you promote until the sale closes.
The Sales Funnel Steps
There are 3 steps of a sales funnel:
- Top;
- Middle;
- Bottom;
# 1 Top
This is the stage when the visitor was not looking for your product, but once he has the first contact with your content, he finds that he has a gap in his life and will seek to know more about it.
This is why the top of the funnel is known as the stage of discovery, awareness, and learning.
It is at the top stage of the sales funnel that the visitor will discover his own pain and this is where you need to show yourself as the expert, possessing the solution he needs.
So this is where you will offer materials that will help your visitor better understand that problem they have so that they naturally come to you to learn more about that issue.
It is at the top of the sales funnel that you will be able to get the information you need about that incoming visitor now.
Therefore, offer good materials, rich in useful content for him, to try to convert this visitor by following him into your sales funnel.
# 2 Middle
The second stage of the funnel is where the visitor will recognize the problem and think more about the solution you are offering.
At this stage, the visitor has read a lot about the subject and is already convinced of what your need is and it is from there that he will begin to seek a solution to the problem he has.
Now is your turn to offer tips that will help you solve this.
In the middle of the funnel, people are already interacting with your content and you already get information about them, such as an email they left to receive your bonus.
At this stage, the visitor is not yet fully convinced that the product or service you offer is the best option to solve their problem, but is already thinking better of it.
So what you need to do is offer more useful content to get more information about it.
But show him that your intention is to help, not just make a sale. That way he comes to trust you.
# 3 Bottom
This is the buying decision step. This is where the visitor has already received all the necessary information and is ready to receive a more direct offer from you.
It is time for you to establish contact with your visitor.
At the bottom of the sales funnel, the visitor is already aware that they won’t be able to solve their problem on their own and that they need to hire a service to help them.
This is where the visitor already recognizes you as a referral, as someone they can trust and do business with.
And, after comparing your product with other competitors, it will decide which one you trust the most and then close the purchase from being just a visitor to being a customer.
So strive to prove it is the best option for him.
Walkthrough: Building a Business in Affiliate Marketing
Since to be successful as an affiliate you have to take it seriously, the best way to do this is by setting up an online business.
Setting up an online affiliate business requires some investment, especially time, but this investment is infinitely smaller than a traditional business.
The following is a step by step practical application to set up your online business.
Step # 01 – Defining the Niche Market
The niche market is a part of a whole market that deals with a specific subject. The niche can be a macro niche, where a subject is explored more broadly or micro-niche, exploring an even more specific subject. Example:
- Market: Consisting of niches (Weight Loss, Finance, Investment, Public Procurement);
- Macro Niche: Weight Loss;
- Micro Niche: Weight loss with exercises at home.
In this post, you can find more information on how to choose your niche market.
Step # 02 – Creating a Strategy
There are several strategies that can be applied to the success of an affiliate business. Initially, you need to define yours and perform tests.
Step # 03 – Building a Website or Blog
Building a good website or a blog for your online business is critical to your success as an affiliate.
Your website or the blog can be of various sizes comprising thousands of pages or just simply few pages with good content. At this stage, you will also define your brand positioning.
You can create a brand related to the niche you are going to act in, or a personal brand.
In the next steps, you will see how to set up a basic website for an online business.
Step # 04 – Creating a Blog (or Website)
I consider blogging to be the main crux of an online business.
It goes far beyond article publishing, it acts as the hub of your online business.
Ideally, you should build your blog by hosting and using WordPress.
WordPress has a very efficient system where you can use plug-ins to manage your business, measured by the number of clicks on a link, blog visits, and many other functions.
Step # 05 – Positioning on Social Networks
There is no denying the importance of social networking for affiliates.
See this comparison: What does a store need? Customers, right?
In some ways affiliates also need customers and those customers will be on social networks.
Millions of people have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks.
Thus, you need to create a positioning strategy for your affiliate business.
Facebook:
Make 2-3 posts daily, share blog posts, and YouTube videos.
And also videos posted directly to Facebook (this type of post is interesting that you upload the video directly to Facebook without placing links in the post, after the video has finished uploading to Facebook, put the link in the comments). Do the same with the images.
Instagram:
On Instagram, put a link in the bio which lands the users on your website where they leave their email to subscribe to your newsletter. Post motivational images, and videos.
Step # 06 – YouTube Video Channel
The videos have a giant power to make sales as an affiliate.
People love videos, YouTube just keeps growing, thousands of people are making a lot of money through videos.
And for affiliates, money doesn’t come with monetizing videos (the one I said earlier, where YouTube, through Google Adsense , places ads for users).
Affiliates make money on YouTube by selling products through the affiliate system.
There are several strategies for YouTube, in this article, I will explain two for you to put into practice:
YouTube Channel:
You create a youtube channel and produce your own videos by placing your affiliate links in the video, especially in the first line of the video description.
To produce videos there are several techniques, including you do not need to appear in the videos. In the videos, you should make sure that your videos are SEO optimised to get the attention of the users. There are many popular youtube channels with a huge number of subscribers where the creators just create content for their subscribers without being them present in the video at all.
You can also refer to our previous post “Video Marketing – How to Do it Right?” This post will help you understand how you can do your video marketing correctly.
Spread on third party channels:
Many channels on YouTube do not participate in affiliate programs (most of them).
This way you can contact the owners of these channels and buy advertising space, wherein one of the videos, he will make a small call to action for a product you are promoting as an affiliate.
Suppose a channel of tips for weight loss, you can propose this type of partnership.
Step # 07 – Email Marketing System
The list of e-mail marketing is considered as the main asset of an affiliate business.
This is because the email list is owned by the affiliate itself, and is made up of a highly qualified audience, as it is already part of the person’s interest in a particular subject.
Your role is to create an email capture page, so everyone who enters your email on this page will make up your email list.
The fact that the person needs to enter his email already shows his interest in this subject.
There are several plugins that allow you to create this type of page along with your WordPress blog.
You will need an email marketing system to manage these emails, these systems allow you to send bulk emails to subscribers to your list.
Another key aspect of this strategy to work is the creation of a digital bait.
Digital bait is a high-value reward you give to the person who subscribes to your email list.
These are not simple digital lures, but e-books with high-value content are something that you can offer.
Bottom Line – Affiliate Marketing Email System
- Create capture pages, you can use the OptimizePress Plugin (paid) or Elementor (free)
- Use an email marketing system such as Mailchimp (which is free for up to 2000 subscribers).
- Create a good call to action to gain the attention of the users and increase responses.
- Promote your landing page.
Step # 08 – Traffic Generation
Traffic generation is the fundamental part of online affiliate business, if you come with me longer, you know I always say that: no traffic, no online business.
We can divide traffic generation into two blocks:
Organic Traffic
These are all strategies you do to get traffic without having to pay for ads.
Social Networking and YouTube videos come in this mode and especially SEO techniques, which means you position your article and/or video to appear on Google searches.
Paid Traffic
These are strategies where you need to pay to advertise your affiliate website, that is, make ads for your landing pages, capture email contacts. You can promote your blog or directly promote the product sales pages as an affiliate.
You can even use your email marketing list to send emails with a good call to action and with every sale happening through your emails you as an affiliate gets a commission.
Conclusion
I really hope this article has helped you understand the potential of affiliate marketing.
Joining an affiliate program is very beneficial and can actually help make you a lot of money online.
