1. Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics – Overview
Welcome to your first lesson in the Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics Crash Course.
Over the next few days, you will receive several lessons that will help you learn the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.
First we need to know about the benefits of affiliate marketing and how you can use it to make a little extra income or even a full time living. Affiliate marketing allows you to earn a commission by promoting the products and services of others. It is usually a very simple process that anyone can do once they understand the basics.
It works on a referral basis, where you (the affiliate) send consumers to the seller’s product pages through your own unique affiliate ID and link. If that consumer makes a purchase, you will get a percentage of the sale. Of course, there is a bit more to it than that going on behind the scenes like cookies and tracking, but for the most part that is how it works.
Tip: Most affiliate programs will provide you with tutorials on how to create and set up your affiliate links. This training should include how to place them on your website, blog or in an email. If you need more help with this, please feel free to contact me.
One of the biggest advantages of affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to put in the time and effort of creating a product to sell. You can start promoting as an affiliate as soon as you sign up and are approved by the seller. You will also need a plan for promotion, which we will be talking more about later in your lessons.
There are many ways and places to find products to promote and the commission you earn will be determined by the product seller, so it’s important that you understand their terms before you invest your time, effort and money marketing for them.
Many sellers offer their own affiliate programs directly from their websites while others work through big networks like:
JVzoo
http://www.jvzoo.com
ClickBank
ShareSale
https://www.shareasale.com
Commission Junction
http://www.cj.com
You can also promote products from mega companies like Amazon:
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com
These affiliate networks are very popular and offer many diverse products, which allows you to choose what type of products you want to focus on. They also offer a different payment structures so make sure fully understand how you will be paid.
For instance on JVzoo you can earn anywhere from 10-100% of the sale. The average is 50% per sale. Sometimes the seller (vendor) will pay you instantly and other times you have to wait because they can set their own terms. Your payments are directly deposited into your PayPal account.
Side note: If you don’t have a PayPal account you should definitely get one because many affiliate programs have the option for pay out through them which will give you faster access to your profits. It’s free, easy and very handy.
Here is the info and sign up link:
https://www.paypal.com/us/signup/account
On bigger networks like ClickBank and Amazon, you are paid according to their thresholds and schedules. This means that you have to make a certain amount before you get your check or deposit.
Be aware:
On big networks like Amazon, your commission is usually starts out much lower and increase with volume of sales, which means you have to sell a lot more before you start seeing big commission checks.
With individual websites the product owner determines the commission structure and payment schedule so again make sure you understand their terms, that they are reputable and don’t be afraid to ask them questions before you begin promoting for them.
Whether you choose to promote products from an affiliate network or an individual website is completely up to you. The networks do offer a certain amount of protection as far as payment is concerned. However, many privately owned websites offer generous benefits to affiliates. A mix of different networks and websites is a good idea because it brings in different revenue streams for your business.
2. Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics – Tactics to get Started
Did you know that you have the potential to earn thousands of dollars each month when you apply yourself and learn the ins and outs of affiliate marketing?
It may seem like a pipe dream to you right now, but I know real live people who are doing just that and they started just like you by learning the basics and growing their business.
Now, it doesn’t happen overnight like so much of the hype you hear online. To build a profitable affiliate business you will have to invest your time, efforts and even some money depending on your promotion strategies. You will have successes and failures along the way and they will teach you what works and what doesn’t.
The most important thing I want you to remember is not to get discouraged if you don’t start seeing profits right away. When I first started marketing affiliate products, someone told me to think of it like planting seeds in a garden. You have to tend it consistently in order to help it grow. So, every link you share and promotion you run is one step closer to success. Just remember your determination and hard work will pay off.
When you are first getting started, you should focus on a specific niche or topic and promote affiliate programs that are related to that market. For instance, you could focus on pet related products, self-help books or moneymaking topics. It’s not a good idea to sign up for a wide range of programs on different topics because you won’t be able to focus your efforts on targeted promotions. So start with a single market, and promote products that appeal to it. Once it starts making money you can branch out to other niches if you want too.
Always do your research and select the best affiliate programs for your niche. You want to choose programs that are rewarding, reliable and have a good reputation for paying on time.
Look for sellers who offer high quality, well-priced products as well as promo tools and swipe files that you can use to promote their products. This will make is easier for you to sell their products or programs.
Another good tip is to look for affiliate programs that offer recurring commissions to their products with nice monthly payouts. As I mentioned in your last lesson, 50% is good. These types of products can lead to nice amounts of passive income that can continue even after your initial promotion because you’ll earn a commission from the initial sale and regular payments for as long as that customer remains active. Membership sites are an excellent place to start if you want to earn recurring commissions.
– Create a promotional strategy for your business.
For example, many affiliate marketers build a website or blog focused on their chosen niche, and use it to publish high quality content, reviews and recommendations that are related to the products they are planning to promote.
If you decide to go this route all of the content you publish should be focused on the affiliate programs or products you recommend and getting your visitors to click on your affiliate links. This is called content marketing and it is an excellent way to establish a solid foundation for your business.
If you want to get some good ideas of how this works just do a search online for any product along with the word review and you will return lists of sites that are run by affiliates. Here is an example, do a search for P90x. As I’m writing there are currently more than ten pages of results in Google alone and most of them are affiliate run sites.
If you have a niche in mind for your business, start doing some research on this method and think about how you can incorporate a website into your promotional strategy.
3. Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics – Choosing Affiliate Program and Targeting
Setting up a website or blog is a great asset for your business and if you decide that it is a good option for your business, you will have to learn a few things like how to set it up and how drive traffic to it. Which isn’t something we are going to have time to cover in this short course however you should definitely do some research on the topic.
Another thing you will want to do is build a list of contacts (email) so that you can grow your business. There is no better way to generate income on demand. With that said, this isn’t a must for promoting affiliate programs but it will make your job easier. Once you have a list of subscribers, who are interested in the types of products you plan to promote you will be able to send them information, updates and offers.
As we discussed in your last lesson it is very important to do your research when it comes to choosing an affiliate program to promote. The same can be said for researching your target audience. You need to know as much about them as you can. What are their interests, where they hang out, do they have money to spend and what types of products they spend it on?
For instance, if you are promoting cosmetics, you need to know how they research, what websites do they visit? Do they hang out on FaceBook or Twitter? Do they do most of their shopping in stores or online? Knowing these things will help you create a solid plan for promotion and the better your conversions from visitor to customer will be.
Yet, another good reason to get to know your target audience is because once you figure out where they are it will make it much easier for you to get their attention. For example if you find out which social media sites they use the most you can set up an account and use it as a vehicle for your promotions. If you aren’t quite sure how to collect this type of information there are plenty of websites that offer consumer data.
One of the most important things to remember about affiliate marketing is to play to the strengths of your audience. You should think about what they want and why they buy that way you can create campaigns that are relevant to their interests and they will be more likely to click on your ads and links.
4. Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics – Product Promotion
Successful affiliate marketers know this is a great way to attract visitors who are interested in what you are selling. It is also a great way to establish yourself as someone that can be trusted and statics show that people are far more likely to make a purchase from someone they know like and trust.
However, it is important to be careful in using this approach. If you start promoting every product that, hit the market or worse yet products that aren’t any good your credibility will suffer. You should always be honest when writing your recommendations as well. People often mistrust content that sounds exaggerated or untruthful.
Do not be afraid to mention things that you don’t like about the product or service your writing about because it make your recommendation more realistic and it can also help
increase your credibility.
If your visitors are interested in what you are offering, they will be more than happy to learn what is good about the product, what is not so good, and how the product will benefit them.
Always try to show proof that what you are promoting works as promised. If you take the time back up your claims with facts and data, visitors will gladly click your links and make a purchase. Posting testimonials and endorsements is a good idea too. Many times, you can find these on the seller’s website. Just make sure you ask permission before you use them. You can also poll the people who have already purchased a through your link to see how they like it.
Avoid hype at all costs. It is better to sound low key and confident when you are promoting affiliate programs. Always do your best to sound professional and your visitors and customers will be more responsive to what you have to offer.
It is a good idea to recommend products that you have tried or at the very least from sellers you trust. Whenever possible test the product before you begin to ensure that, the people you are referring it to won’t be left high and dry after they purchase. Some sellers will make review copies of their products available to established affiliates so don’t be afraid to ask.
5. Affiliate Marketing Beginners Basics – Affiliate Tips
It is a proven fact that most people don’t make a purchase on the first time they visit your website or read and ad you post. In fact, it can take several exposures to an offer to get them to take action.
That is way it is extremely important to do everything within your power to collect contact information from your website visitors, social media followers and customers who purchase through your links.
As I mentioned in your third lesson when you have a list of contacts you can email them with updates and offers that will appeal to them. When it comes to colleting email addresses there are many methods you can use. It is also a good idea to use an email service with an autoresponder so that you can automate the follow up process and make your job easier.
A great way to entice people to join your list is to offer them a free gift like a report, ebook or even a short course like this one. You can also publish a newsletter, which will give you a great reason to stay in touch with your subscribers on a regular basis.
One of the biggest benefits of building your list is that it gives you the opportunity to
develop a relationship based on trust with your subscribers, which goes back to the know like trust aspect of marketing online that we discussed in the last lesson. If people recognize you as someone who is honest and trustworthy they are more likely to purchase through your link.
This strategy is a delicate balance between providing useful information with a sales pitch. If you continue to write informative emails and publish helpful reviews you will be able to build a sense of reciprocity in your readers that often leads to making more sales.
Before we close this last lesson, there are a couple more things you need to know to help ensure your success. They are the importance of cloaking your affiliate links and tracking your campaigns.
Link cloaking or masking is a process that replaces your long affiliate URL with one that is shorter There are many reasons why you should cloak your links like it looks better, is easier to work with and most of all it disguises your affiliate ID and protects it from being hijacked by other (unscrupulous) affiliates.
There are several ways the you can do this. My preference it to use a WordPress plugin called PrettyLink because it makes it possible to shrink, cloak, track, organize, share and test all of your links so they look like they are coming from your own domain, which adds to your credibility.
There are also a wide variety of free link cloaker’s like TinyURL and GhostURL as well as fancy paid ones. They are very easy to use and they can make a big difference in your campaigns
Lastly, it is very important to track the progress of your campaigns so that you know
what is producing results and what isn’t. This way you won’t waste your time and money promoting programs that don’t convert. Again, there are many ways to do this from using a simple plugin like PrettyLink to track clicks to setting up a (free) Google Analytics account where you can monitor the activity of your campaigns.
Many affiliate programs and networks like JVzoo, ClickBank and Amazon have built in software that will track your clicks, campaigns, conversions and sales, but is a good idea to have an outside tracker as well because even though they are reputable it doesn’t mean they are infallible. When it comes to maximizing commissions, it’s always better to be sure than sorry!
Related Info Products:
Affilorama – The #1 Affiliate Marketing Training Portal
Passive Profit Pages – Low Labor System
Resell Rights Weekly – Free Membership Access PLR & MRR Products