The word is out that affiliate marketing is a nice little (or for some a quite substantial) earner online.
Maybe you run a blog already and feel it is the logical next step for you, or you are planning to set up a little sideline online and need more information before you start out.
No matter what your walk of life is, affiliate marketing pays out.
What Exactly is Affiliate Marketing ?
To sell a product, shops need to advertise they are selling. There are different ways a business can do that.
As we all know, adverts run on TV, cinema, and radio, we also see them in print media. Online, adverts can be placed on websites, or there might even be pop-ups.
But there are also much more subtle ways to advertise. Affiliate marketing, for instance, rewards bloggers who mention a shop or product.
The blogger provides a link that takes the potential customer to the said product, and if they then make a purchase, the blogger will receive a percentage of the sales generated.
In essence, it is not much different from any other commission-based sales job.
Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?
That is a valid question but sadly not one that can be answered easily. For many people out there, the answer is “yes, absolutely.”
These people will tell you how they are making a full-time income out of affiliate marketing even though they only work a couple of hours a week.
They will also say that they are their own boss and how they can work from anywhere in the world.
Should you immediately quit your job once you have made the decision to go into affiliate marketing?
Obviously not! Not everybody in affiliate marketing earns a lot of money, and the road to financial independence through affiliate marketing is long and hard.
You are not going to see a big income from affiliate marketing straight away. Most likely you won’t see it next week either. Fact is, you should factor in months of hard work.
Once you put content out regularly and see the number of readers go up, your chances of income go up. Remember, though, that you only earn when your readers purchase something through the link on your website.
That means, your writing needs to be engaging and convince the reader they should click now rather than sleep on it and go to the seller directly.
However, practice makes perfect, and the affiliate marketing game can be won by anyone out there provided they understand how to play and put the necessary work in.
How to Get Started
Affiliate marketing sounds straightforward but starting out can still feel daunting. How do you even get connections with companies, you might wonder?
First of all, you need a niche. Just wanting to promote stuff isn’t going to cut it. Would you trust a website that endorses anything? Ask yourself what you are passionate about.
Are you into traveling, fashion, or maybe something very specific like goldfish? Choose something you are interested in, and it becomes much easier writing about it in an engaging way.
Next, you will need a website and domain. Although it is possible to get those for free, this is usually not ideal for affiliate marketing purposes.
Your earning potential is extremely limited then which means once your site had gained traction, you would have to upgrade or relocate which might cost you more.
Once you are all set up, it’s time to connect to shops which work with affiliates. Many online giants will put a link on their website inviting new affiliates to join.
amazon famously works with Amazon Associates for example.
Then, there are affiliate marketing platforms on the internet that you can sign up to that even teach you how to hit the ground running.
Some of the big names out there are Click Bank, Affilorama or Commission Junction but the free affiliate marketing website out there that deserves a special mention is Wealthy Affiliate.
How Wealthy Affiliate Operates
When you are new to something and only want to dip your toe in, you don’t want to face expenses in case it’s not for you.
The same is true for affiliate marketing: if you have never done it, do you really want to stick money into creating and hosting a website in the hope that this money might return to you?
With wealthy affiliate you don’t have to: their Starter Pack is completely free, but it allows you to set up two websites and start earning. In other words, there is no financial risk to yourself.
What’s more, even on the Starter Pack you get “Live Help” for the first seven days. Support is available around the clock to help you set up and a training course, and there is a training course tailored to beginners.
Furthermore, there is also an “Affiliate Bootcamp” where you are shown how to set up a money-making online basis.
In terms of training Wealthy Affiliate is certainly attractive but it also takes pride in its community of members.
The Starter Pack gives you “1-on-1 Coaching” for the first seven days, and you can also use that time to get your questions answered by other members of the Wealthy Affiliate community.
As many professionals will tell you, it’s all about who you know, so in that sense being able to network within a global community can only be beneficial.
Once you have signed up, you can build your website on Wealthy Affiliate. They have made this process easy and promise that anyone, regardless of expertise, can put a website together within minutes.
There are thousands of templates you can choose from which still guarantees that not every member’s website looks identical.
Another big advantage is the support that comes once the website is built. Think about it, many people can set up websites, but how many of these websites actually stand out?
Wealthy Affiliate offer tools for analysis, management, and security. If your site struggles in one way or another, Wealthy Affiliate will point it out to you and help you overcome these problems.
Then, later on, you still have the option to upgrade to a Premium membership which at $49 a month is certainly more pricey, but Wealthy Affiliate also offers you a lot more for your money.
Why not head over and check the packages out?
Why not Give It a Go?
The one thing about affiliate marketing that cannot be emphasized often enough is that it is not going to make you rich overnight.
However, it is a good way to take something you feel passionate about and turn it into a little sideline.
A service like the one Wealthy Affiliate offers couldn’t make it easier to get started with zero risk – you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so why not try affiliate marketing out?
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