Affiliate marketing can be the best approach for those with limited budget, because the cost of starting in affiliate marketing can be very low to none.
Explaining Affiliate Marketing
Basically, affiliate marketing would be promoting services or products that another company is offering, and for that you get a commission for sales that happen as a direct result to your referral. The referrals can be easily followed through affiliate links and cookies.
In its most basic sense, affiliate marketing is a passive income, as you can live your life, have another job while the money is dripping in your pocket. But ii can be this easy, right? Because it is not! To get the money from all of those affiliate links, you will need for them to reach people and actually get clicked.
Not having enough traffic and readers on your website will kill you affiliate marketing in its infant. And that part is far from being passive. Making content that is not being promoted and cross-promoted is not going to result in any affiliate marketing money and the effort will be for nothing.
Expect that it will take a long time, it will take effort and hope that the affiliate marketing will be enough to keep your website going. Who knows? Maybe you become so good that your bank account actually grows to some pretty nice figures. Be realistic, but aim high!
Basic Affiliate Marketing Vocabulary
The merchant: AKA the retailer, the brand. This is the person who is selling the thing that you’re promoting. E.g. if I’m promoting an Amazon wafflemaker, Amazon would be the merchant.
In other circumstances, you may be the merchant if you’re offering a product of some sort to sell and are hoping to get other people on board as affiliates… but that’s a conversation we’ll have another time.
The publisher: You, AKA “the affiliate”. You’re the one doing the marketing by promoting merchant goods to your readers (the customers) in hopes that they’ll make a purchase from your link.
Deep linking: Deep links are links that point you towards a specific product or page (rather than the general brand website)… so let’s say I wanted to recommend a swanky hotel. A deep link would lead the reader to a specific hotel’s page, rather than the general Booking.com site.
URL masking: Often, you’ll find that affiliate links are a real, million character eyesore. It’s likely that your links will look like GLBrain.com/dlfjlfjlfjdskljdfgimmeallyourmoneyalajdlkaf2131032klfjfdjldsjf. And let’s be honest, few people are going to want to click on that. URL masking is therefore when you create a prettier, cleaner “vanity URL” that makes your links more clickable. Some people use bit.ly (me included)
Read great article about affiliate marketing on HappyToWander.com
Keys to Successful Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a numbers game. It requires patience and some marketing savvy.
Here are some tips to help you stay focused and on track:
• Decide on a niche to build a following. What are you truly passionate about? You want your passion to show through each of the reviews.
• Connect with brands on social media. When you give a glowing review of a product, tag the brand in social media. They are likely to share the review on their own channels, giving your site traffic a boost. Don’t be shy in letting brands know that you are interested in reviewing their products; they might even send you some samples at no charge!
• Learn how to use search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, etc. Write your blog posts and reviews in such a way that will make it easy for people to find your site. This means brushing up on your SEO knowledge. According to Regus, traditional marketing methods like exchanging business cards at networking events or paying for print and virtual advertisements should also be considered, even for virtual businesses. Do what makes sense for your niche.
• Be credible in your reviews. People follow the recommendations of people whom they trust. Include your own pictures of the product, anecdotes about why you bought it and how it has helped you, critical evaluations of its flaws, and research that helps backup any claims about its efficacy. Avoid writing a review that is generic and not compelling.
• Make connections with your readers. Another way to build trust with your readers is to connect with them on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean you should flood their inbox with emails. Instead, reply to their comments on your site or on social media. Allow them to get to know you. They’ll be more likely to return and to trust you when you recommend a product.
• Diversify your site content. By all means, write as many product reviews as you can. Pit similar products together to see which one “wins.” But unless you have an incredible supply of products to review and a very popular niche, it’s wise to diversify your site content. Include educational articles and slip in an affiliate link when appropriate, for example. Write personal blogs about your experiences. Keep it fresh and engaging.
Special thanks to business2community.com
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