STARTING AFFILIATE MARKETING
It is a common thing
these days to hear young adults discuss about affiliate marketing and make
their ambitions towards making it great online via the platform. It is seen as
a simple way and attractive since one does not need to create a new product.
There are many reasons that people would choose this line of internet business
while it attracts so many online entrepreneurs.
As an affiliate
marketer you will essentially be going for a sort of "soft sell," or
pre-sell as it is sometimes known, that directs prospects (potential customers)
to the sales page provided by the vendor you're working for. For example, if you're
an affiliate for Commissions Joint or Clickbank, you'll be sending people to
the web page for the particular product you're promoting. Before starting to
promote a product as an affiliate marketer you should consider the following:
1. Structures of the Network
Another thing you want
to take into consideration is how the network is set up since different
networks have different structures. For example, ClickBank allows you to do
business with a variety of vendors who each conduct their affiliate program
differently. This leaves you with multiple choices when it comes to choosing
products to promote as they may have different commission rates and other
variables. On Amazon Associates, however, the commission rates are standardized
regardless of what products you're selling since you're doing business with
only one vendor: Amazon itself.
2. Look out for a Profitable Affiliate Network
An affiliate network
is a program that you join to gain access to a variety of affiliate products to
sell. A popular example would be Amazon Associates. When you sign up for their
affiliate program you're given the ability to gain a commission on any product
of theirs you sell for them. Before joining a network there are many things you
want to first consider. One of the most important factors is how and when you
will be paid. Some networks pay by check while others can send money directly
to your bank account or PayPal account.
3. Commission Rate
Your commission rate
is how much you get paid per sale. For example, if you're promoting a product
that the customer is expected to pay $67
for and you get a 35% commission then you make $23.45 per sale. Commission
percentage can vary greatly but in the end you want to look at the actual
amount you're being paid, not the percentage itself. Also take into
consideration that some products or services offer re-billing. This is when the
customer signs up for something, usually a membership website of some sort, and
you get paid a commission for every monthly payment they make. While the exact
structure of these types of programs can vary, you can generate a nice stream
of auto-pilot income promoting them.
3. Is the Product Selling?
Many affiliates make
mistakes of promoting products that are difficult to sell. This will demoralize
the affiliate especially if he/ she is a newbie. This should be avoided at all
cost. Before you decide to promote a product make sure that it is something
that is already selling well. While trying to find "untapped" niches
for products and services to sell which can make you a lot of money, it isn't
recommended for beginners due to the high amount of risk involved and the
marketing experience it takes to spot a profitable untapped niche.
4. Intelligent Marketing
of Product.
Once you've found the
perfect product you then must decide how you're going to market it and drive
prospects to the product's sales page. There are many different ways to do this
and how you decide to go about promoting the product will have a big impact on
the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaign. Affiliate marketing is
all about driving targeted traffic to your website. You can drive free traffic
which will take a time investment OR paid traffic which will take a money
investment.
5. Create Your Sales Funnel
When you're doing
affiliate marketing you need to have a good sales funnel planned out. This will
keep your marketing methods focused and ensure that you're able to keep track
of which methods are making you the most money. The sales funnel should be
extremely simplistic. That's because affiliate marketing is a very simple, easy
to grasp business model.
Overall affiliate
marketing is a great starting point for anyone who is new to Internet
marketing. Making money online with affiliate marketing is super easy as long
as you apply a concentrated effort to promoting your affiliate products. One
needs tenacity and a little bit of hard work.
