Did you know that 14 million workers in the US have more than one job? For many people, that means taking on an onerous task they have little personal interest in. But what if you could earn extra income doing something that you actually love?
Affiliate marketing, the process of recommending products online and receiving a commission, can be the answer to that. Read on as we give our guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing or network marketing.
Select Your Niche
One of the most crucial affiliate marketing tips is to a niche you are passionate about. You can find many articles online about the most profitable niches to get started in, and while they offer good advice, this niche will become your life. You need to list at least 100 things you would like to talk about or review regarding the topic before even considering its profitability.
With so many bloggers and affiliate marketers online, it helps to be specific. For example, don't just blog about cars, blog about specific cars. You may choose a website based on a certain model or type of aftermarket product. You may also want to consider MLM or FBA in addition to affiliate sales.
Choose An Affiliate Marketer Platform
You can really do affiliate marketing anywhere you choose, even by word of mouth if you choose. However, the most used methods are blog building or starting YouTube channels. Don't expect to start them and have affiliate sales or MLM profits from day one.
If you choose a blog, then affiliate marketers need to build an audience. Start by choosing a host and setting up the website. Pick a domain that reflects the niche you have chosen.
Start to put together a list of articles you may wish to write. If you are struggling to find content, then it is a surefire sign this niche is not for you. Go back to square one and pick something you are interested in.
If you are going to start a YouTube channel, it may help invest in some decent equipment. Start to build a knowledge of editing software and invest in lighting, audio equipment, and a good camera. Once you have this, think about some of the affiliate products you may wish to review and put them on a shopping list.
Create The Content
Once you have the platform and niche, you need to start creating content. In the early stages, the aim should not be to sell your affiliate product. The aim is to build an audience and, crucially, build their trust.
For blogs and YouTube videos, you need to do keyword research. This is the basis of search engine optimization (SEO). It involves the terms that are typed into Google, which will make your website appear on people's searches.
If you don't have the right keywords, no one will be searching for your content. Get a strong keyword list and craft articles around them. Create handy how-to guides and make articles or videos that assist or solve the problems of your visitors.
If you decide to outsource your content and get others to create it for you, make sure they are experts. Several online companies will do this for you, often at reasonable prices with very qualified writers.
Your aim is to have over 100 keyword-rich articles on your website. If you are on YouTube, aim for a similar amount of keyword-rich videos.
Increasing Traffic
Once you have around 100 articles or videos, you should start to garner some organic traffic. This is free traffic that comes from search engines. However, there are several other things, mainly technical, that you can do to increase the traffic flow to your blog.
Another way to increase affiliate marketing opportunities is to build an email list. Ask people to sign up when they visit your website, so you have a direct line when you begin promotions. You can offer them incentives such as free ebooks to entice them.
One final option is to get paid traffic. You should really only do this later down the line when you have already started with your affiliate products. You can then compare paid traffic against the return on investment and see if it is worth your time and money.
Get Social
Using social media is a great way to increase affiliate marketing opportunities. You can start to build your social followings before creating content by talking and posting interesting news articles from other sites. You may even choose to put some money into increasing your social following itself.
Social media gives you a trusted audience to call upon once you have your products in place. You can share your videos and content with them. In turn, this will drive quality traffic to your blog.
Find Affiliate Programs
Once you have content, traffic, and a social presence, you can think about finding affiliate programs. This should be done with careful consideration.
Some products have high payouts but may have a limited number of people to sell to. Some may sell in high volumes but have very little in the way of commissions.
Many companies have their own affiliate schemes in place. Just because it is a reputable company does not mean that the affiliate scheme will be more lucrative. This Mary Kay MLM review can give you more insight on affiliate sales realities.
Add It to Your Content
All you now need to do is sell. Start by creating content based on the affiliate products, such as reviews and guides on using them.
Make sure you place links in clear, easy-to-follow places. They should be contextual and not out of place within the text. Finally, make sure you use call-to-action commands and easy to see buttons so people know where to go next.
How To Get Started With Affiliate Marketing
Congratulations, as you now know how to get started with affiliate marketing or network marketing programs. Do not expect immediate results, as at first affiliate sales will be slow. However, with regular, quality content updates, this will soon develop into powerful passive revenue you can depend on.
If you enjoyed our article on how to get started with affiliate marketing, visit the rest of our Frugal Finance blog. We can help with everything from technology to finance to help get you the income you deserve with multi-level marketing or direct selling! We specialize in articles on network marketing, passive income, website monetization, MLM earnings, and affiliate sales so keep browsing!
