When it comes to understanding affiliate marketing, whether you’re a beginner or veteran, you either get it or you don’t.
I don’t mean that you necessarily understand all the methods and techniques; that takes a long time to master. I’m talking about understanding the power of being an affiliate as a true business model.
I got into web marketing for my small business. I needed clients, so I turned to the web. In the process, I discovered affiliate marketing. Until then, I naively believed the only way websites made money was by selling banner ads or Adsense.
The affiliate marketing concept hit my in the gut; I was blindsided by a concept so simple: yet I immediately understood the potential.
In fact, there really is no limit to how big of a business you can build as an affiliate, even if you’re just a beginner.
Like I said, I ran a small offline business which entailed a lot of customer service. As an affiliate, on the other hand, you gain access to tens of thousands of products to sell and you don’t have to worry about customer service, shipping, returns, support, etc. The fact is you can focus 100 percent of your time and energy on selling.
The best 2 aspects of affiliate marketing is it’s scalable and presents a passive income opportunity.
Affiliate marketing for beginners.
There are only 2 requirements to succeed and make money as an affiliate – whether you’re a beginner or veteran. Those two requirements are:
1. Traffic; and 2. Pre-selling copywriting.
That’s it. If you can get traffic to your affiliate offer and can pre-sell it, you can make money.
Affiliate marketing for beginners is the same as it is for veterans. Don’t complicate it. Don’t think it requires all kinds of fancy set up. All you need, at the foundational level is traffic and pre-selling copy.
Now that the abstract is take care of, I’ll discuss a few concrete methods so that affiliate marketing for beginners. There are many methods and techniques for being an affiliate marketer. This is good. But it also helps to latch onto one method and run with it.
Affiliate marketing for beginners – 3 methods:
1. List building
Yes, you’ve probably heard this before. List building is a technique that has generated millions of dollars in profits.
Again, for list building to succeed, you need traffic to your page where you attract subscribers and copy that converts visitors to subscribers.
How do you attract subscribers? Offer something valuable to your targeted readers. In any niche there’s some question or series of questions you can answer. Create a report or guide giving the information sought and give it away in exchange for an email address.
You can give away videos, free stuff, run contests, give away access to software… the sky is the limit. Be creative and put yourself in the shoes of your target market and ask: what would I want to know?
This model can take a little while to generate an income unless you buy some traffic to your opt in page. However, once you build a list of subscribers and you treat them well, you have a ready audience for your affiliate promotions.
2. Build a loyal audience and recommend products
If you can build a loyal audience with a blog or an e-newsletter, then you can recommend products that some of your audience will buy. This model includes building a blog. YOu can then recommend products in your blog posts and/or in an e-newsletter your run.
This method takes time to establish because it takes time to build up a loyal audience of readers.
3. Create a review website
This is probably one of faster methods to earn money in affiliate marketing. The concept is exceedingly simple and when done right, effective.
A review site is an excellent affiliate marketing model for beginners. It’s as simple as writing about a product you use and like. Write about every aspect of it… your likes, dislikes, how it helped you, why you bought it, and of course, where to buy it. You then provide an affiliate link to where it’s sold online.
There’s no reason to stop at one product (although the single product review website is a viable and effective review website mode). You can also create affiliate review websites that promote an entire product line. This format is more informational than a personal recommendation. This too, can be effective.
Is real income possible, even for beginner affiliate marketers?
Yes. I’m no veteran by any stretch. However, I earn a decent monthly income from affiliate marketing using the 3 techniques above (the review site accounts for the bulk of my affiliate marketing income).
Next, grab a free copy of the Local Business Marketing Guide or if video marketing is more your thing, learn about video marketing SEO.