The internet has become a popular vehicle for many people to make money online. It's opened doors for thousands of people to start making money while working from their home.
It's easy to get started right away. It takes very little money to start while other ways of making money or starting a business will require some capital to get going. One of the more popular ways to start making money online is through online affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing Concept
The concept of affiliate marketing is simple. A manufacturer, product supplier or distributor will build an army of advertisers to help them promote their products or lines.
In turn, the advertisers will receive a percentage of each sale that is derived from the traffic they send to the product owner's website.
The percentages can vary wildly. They can be as low as one percent all the way up to 60 percent, in some cases. Typically, physical products with higher price tags will offer lower percentages. Alternatively, informational products, like eBooks, will offer higher percentages but the initial costs are much lower.
One of the early adopters of this form of advertising was Amazon and they are still using affiliates today. They pay out hundreds of thousands of dollar every month to their affiliates for the work they do.
They are not losing money because they do not have as big an advertising budget because they are able to leverage their affiliates more. Amazon is one of the most famous brands in the world and they have been growing since their inception.
How to Get Started
Typically, a person will sign up for an affiliate program that offers products that tie in with a website or email list they have already. Or, they will sign up with the idea of building traffic in a given niche.
Many affiliate programs do look for existing traffic before considering applications so that needs to be kept in mind before applying. They will want to make sure that the affiliates they approve will actually be able to send them targeted traffic that will be meaningful.
Some will have pretty rigid standards, and will not even accept a person who cannot show existing traffic.
Once accepted into an affiliate program, the company will usually offer some form of tracking code or link to install on the advertiser's website. Whenever anyone clicks on the link they will be diverted to the product website.
However, the destination website will tag the visitor as coming from the affiliate's website. If the visitor ends up making a purchase while there, the company will know to credit the advertiser with a commission.
Finding a Niche
The first step to make money affiliate marketing is to figure out the type of products you wish to promote. Try to find a niche that you are interested in. For instance, if you love technology and keep up with the latest gadgets, these are the types of products you want to promote. The most successful affiliate marketers are the ones that promote products they love and also understand and are keen to learn more about.
Once you know the types of products you would like to promote on your website or blog then research the top companies that offer affiliate programs for your niche.
Creating a Website
Create a website, blog, and social media pages to promote yourself online. In order to be successful with affiliate marketing you have to be consistent in your efforts.
Make sure you understand what SEO (search engine optimization) is and how to use it on your website or blog. SEO can help get your site to the top of search engines. But in order for SEO to work, you have to use keywords related to the products you sell to get to the top of search engines. We will be discussing SEO more as it's a constantly evolving strategy but one that can help you succeed as an affiliate marketer.
When you create your website, create a gateway page to your offer so that you can collect your customers' email addresses. You want people to stay connected to you.
Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and your blog are ways to engage with your audience. Use hashtags on Twitter and post links to the best information on your website. Update your Facebook status daily and add links to your blog and website to keep people interested.
Consistency is the Key
Finally, create new blog posts or videos regularly and give value to your reader. Earning your readers' trust and providing value is how to become successful in your market.
Keep Building
After you have established yourself as an authority in your niche, people will naturally come to your website. Do what you can to help your readers and success will follow.