Let’s talk about affiliate marketing for beginners. I can almost guarantee that you’ve heard the term affiliate marketing, but you may be wondering what it is exactly. One thing is for sure is it’s not a multi-level marketing scheme that makes you work for pennies, while torturing you through endless hours of trying to sell to friends and family.Affiliate marketing is a business model that allows you to escape your traditional job once you get the business up on solid footing. It is a new way to make money and potentially support the ones you care about.To find out all about affiliate marketing, just continue on with the article and find out if it is a good business model for you to explore. Affiliate Marketing is not for everyone but it’s the perfect opportunity for those who like to work for themselves.
Let’s start with the fundamentals of affiliate marketing.
What is affiliate marketing
While the phrase uses the term marketing, affiliate marketing should never be mistaken with network marketing or the hype that comes with it. It does however have to do with the sales of varying products and services without the risks associated with the MLM business model.
There are no products to purchase or create yourself. Instead you are acting as a middle-man. You present the products in their best light and make a commission every time someone buys through you.
Those sales are recorded through the affiliate marketing link that is unique to you and no one else can take your commission. It does help if you already use the products you represent or know something about them so you can bring the best content to your website visitors.
The best part about affiliate marketing is that there is that requires no uncomfortable direct face to face sales. You can remain anonymous while representing the different products. That way you can still make money as a introvert like myself!
Affiliate marketing is a growing industry that gives you plenty of revenue potential just by creating good content for your audience through affiliate websites or YouTube channels. The key is to choose the right affiliate offers, and you do that by finding the best marketplace platforms.
Choosing the right affiliate marketing platform
Now that you have an understanding of what affiliate marketing entails, it’s important to learn how to choose the right platform to work through. If you pick the wrong platform, your business may be over before it gets started.
Well maybe it’s not that extreme..but you’ll waste a lot of time.
Some platforms provide training and are great for beginners, while others work with beginners and make sure you are on the road to success with the right education and training materials.
Here are some keys to choosing the right platform for you:
- Training and Education– this should be practical, informative and prepare you for the challenges that come with this industry.
- An easy to use dashboard– some people call it an interface but no matter the label, it should be easy to understand and use.
- Products & niches– there needs to be a wide range of both of these so you have plenty of options. Finding the right niche and products is vital to your affiliate business success.
- Payout– should be straight forward and clearly explained. Each platform pays differently so pick the one that fits your lifestyle and needs.
- System reliability– the affiliate platform should have the best up-time possible. You can’t make money if no one can see your website.
- Support– you need the best possible support in all areas of affiliate marketing. From website building to niche selection to questions needing answers, pick the platform that covers these areas and more.
Top affiliate Platforms to consider
There are tons of affiliate marketing platforms on the internet. Finding the best one takes some time and research. But unless you want to be reading all day, we’re just going to go over a few notable ones that should get you on the right track.
- Amazon affiliate marketplace– it has name recognition and people trust it. You should be able to get a lot of sales using this platform but the drawbacks are the rules are tough & very strictly enforced and Amazon pays the lowest commission of all the platforms out there.
- Clickbank– very easy to sign up with and the commissions range from low to very high. The only issue with Clickbank is that there are a lot of unreliable sellers that take advantage of unsuspecting people. If you sign up with them, you have to be able to vet products wisely.
- Commission Junction-now goes by CJ Affiliate. This company represents a lot of well known companies and has a multitude of niches and products for you to choose from. It also provides some training.
- Legendary Marketer– has a great training, education and support system. It also has dozens of products and offers to work with. There is a free and a paid affiliate option. I recommend you use the paid to earn the most money for your affiliate sales.
- Shareasale– is a lot like CJ affiliate and it has a lot of legitimate and well known companies that use it to manage their affiliate programs.
The pros and cons of affiliate marketing
To understand affiliate marketing, you need to learn the positive and negatives about the industry. These two lists should help you form a proper perspective on the industry while helping you make the best decision possible.
Pros
- Low investment cost
- Growing industry
- Work your own hours
- No experience needed
- A good second business
- Good commission splits
- No recruiting to make money
- Work from home
Cons
- You are not in control of the programs
- Can be lots of competition
- No guarantee you will make money
- Takes dedication & patience, this is not for everyone
- Finding the right products and niches can be difficult
- Repeat customer aren’t typical
Affiliate marketing Platforms
Most affiliate platforms help you get started in the business and give you information you need to select the right marketing platforms for you to use. Here are some of those options that you can try.
Niche Website
This is the most popular method of doing affiliate marketing as it is the most flexible. You can write reviews, create a blog or write personal stories to help convince your visitors to click on your link and buy through you.
- The key to affiliate marketing with a website is to understand that content is king. The better your content, the more people will see you as an authority and trust your opinion. There are other SEO strategies you need to use but good content is vital.
YouTube
Some people like this method because they can’t write. They know how to talk and YouTube is a great place to provide your great content in a visual manner that compels your visitors to buy.
- Using YouTube is free and it is about the second largest medium you can use to make sales and draw in potential customers. This link gives more details
Quora
This is a question and answer website that helps you draw attention to your online business. But there are strict rules governing how you use this format and you have to be careful or you may lose your account.
- You can’t use affiliate links when you answer questions but you can have a blog and you do need a Quora account. This link explains it all
Facebook & other social media
These options help you drive free traffic to your website. The key here is not to use popular social media outlets as they have the traffic. Checkout this TikTok training
- You need to stay on top of the social media game and find the next best thing before it becomes the next best thing. Using social media right helps build your traffic and get you more sales.
Affiliate marketing tools
To do affiliate marketing right, you can’t only depend on hard work, dedication and patience alone. You need the right tools if you are going to be effective and have a shot at success.
There are a lot of good tools you can subscribe to, some even have free trial options that’ll help you implement the right strategy for your affiliate business. It will take some research but it can be done.
Web Hosting
You want the best one that has the most up-time at the most affordable rate. Some good web hosting companies are
