A staggering $2.1 billion in affiliate marketing fees were paid to blog and website
owners in 2008. This finding in a recent study by Jupiter Research confirms what
many savvy Internet marketers have known for a while: Affiliate marketing has
become one of the top business opportunities online because the startup costs
are so low and the income you generate can be mind-blowing.
Affiliate marketing involves having your own site and sending your traffic
to someone else's site to buy their products or services. For every sale initiated
by a link from your site, you earn a percentage--an affiliate sales commission.
Affiliate marketing can be done on a part-time basis, and many are so successful
that they've made it their full-time job. Equally exciting, you can get in the
game in just a few hours. But how successful you are is based on the amount
of time and effort you devote. Here are six tips to get you started:
1. Create a website or blog
To start as an affiliate marketer, you must have a site on which to place links
to the products or services you recommend. There are many inexpensive website
services such as Hostgator
and GoDaddy. It's also
easy to set up a free blog through services such as Google's Blogger blog network.
I also use Namecheap
for domains and Hostnine
(get a reseller account) for hosting.
2. Decide your product/service niche
Affiliate marketers help companies and entrepreneurs sell everything from jewelry
and cell phones to website services and how-to e-books. Choose an area you're
familiar with or one you're enthusiastic about learning. You'll be more likely
to do the work and less likely to get bored before the money starts rolling
in.
3. Find products and services to promote
Many affiliate networks exist to connect merchants with affiliate site publishers
who can help sell their goods. Companies such as:
- Clickbank,
E-junkie and PayDotCom
lead the pack in connecting the creators of e-books and software with affiliates
to help sell their digital download products.
- Commission Junction is popular
for those who want to sell more traditional wares ranging from travel services
to janitorial franchises.
- Google AdSense,
which doesn't require your involvement to result in a sale. Your income is realized
on a pay-per-click basis, just for leading your traffic to click to a merchant's
site. PPC affiliate programs pay a lot less than programs where your referral
must result in a sale. Keep in mind that a site peppered with ads and no authority
or trust can look and feel like spam, and you won't get good results.
4. Affiliate site content
There are two main approaches or business models to choose from when setting
up an affiliate marketing site:
- Resource Sites These sites are focused on offering lots of how-to articles
and posts, and then provide affiliate links or banner ads to click for more
details. Frequently adding fresh related content is vital because it gives people
a reason to return to your site--and click some of your money-making links.
- Review Sites You've tried the products in your niche, now you write them up
and rate them to help your site visitors decide what to buy. For each product
you review, you provide a link or banner ad that clicks through for sales on
your merchant partner's site. Less frequent content updates are necessary--just
tweak your site about once a week to let the search engines know your site's
still alive, and always try to build links.
5. Affiliate sites must attract lots of targeted traffic to succeed
Most people visiting your website or blog won't click your affiliate links.
That's why it's crucial to employ a mix of marketing tactics to increase traffic--highly
targeted traffic--to your site.
There are four main ways to get more site exposure and attract more potential
customers:
Paid Advertising This is most effective when your ad copy headline,
call-to-action message and graphics come together just right to compel people
to click through and buy.
Free Advertising Sites like Craigslist
and US Free Ads are
but two of many popular places that accept links and banner ads for free. These
tend to be affiliate marketing sites themselves, earning the owner money whenever
you click their ads.
Article Marketing This popular marketing method offers several benefits.
You're building credibility as a reliable source in your niche, gaining a higher
search engine ranking by increasing the number of links leading to your site,
and pulling traffic to your site. Work in an organic manner and don't spam using
software engines. Ezinearticles
is a great place to begin.
E-mail Marketing Every visitor to your site is valuable, so capturing
their names and e-mail addresses to stay in touch is important. Many people
might not buy your affiliate products until the third or fourth time they hear
from you. So it's crucial to place an opt-in subscription box on your site for
people to start receiving a weekly or monthly newsletter from you. My personal
favorite is aweber, but
many quality ones exist.
6. Learn the ropes in forums
These are online communities of likeminded people who exchange insights and
ideas. Join at least one of these free affiliate marketing forums to benefit
from advice shared by other newbies, intermediates and gurus alike:
- Digital Point
Huge, with about 25,000 active members. An excellent place to learn affiliate
marketing tips, plus other techniques that impact your success such as link
building and SEO.
- aBestWeb One of the
largest affiliate marketing forums, with nearly 100 sub-forums. Covers the broadest
range of affiliate marketing-specific subjects, with heavy participation by
numerous go-getter merchants and serious affiliates.
- Warrior Forum A
killer networking forum for beginners and advanced alike. Set up a profile,
start participating, ask questions and promote as well.
To do well, read all you can about the opinions, tool and strategies of both
experts and peers. But before you even start, choose a niche about which you're
passionate. The more you truly enjoy what you're immersed in, the more likely
you are to transform your affiliate marketing and money-making venture into
a huge success.
Jon Rognerud is Entrepreneur.com's SEO columnist, an SEO consultant and
the author of The Ultimate Guide to Search Engine Optimization, available from
Entrepreneur Press. He has more than 20 years experience building marketing
and web projects, including creating content and application solutions at Yahoo!/Overture.
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