Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting other people’s (or company’s) products.
You find a product you like, promote it to others, and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.
- You’re happy because you earned a commission,
- The company is happy because they have a new sale from a customer that they might not have normally been able to reach,
- And the customer is happy because they learned about a product from you that will hopefully fulfill a need or desire.
THE BEAUTY OF AFFILIATE MARKETING IS THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO INVEST THE TIME AND EFFORT TO CREATE A PRODUCT TO SELL. YOU CAN BEGIN SELLING SOMETHING AS AN AFFILIATE AS SOON AS YOU HAVE A PLATFORM TO SELL IT ON.
Affiliate marketing is something I’ve been doing ever since I started my first business online.
I finally settled in on one of the top affiliate programs. I offer affiliate marketing through…Elite Marketing Pro.
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT RULES I HAVE FOR AFFILIATE MARKETING
Before I share the strategies that I’ve used to generate affiliate commissions, there are extremely important rules I use when promoting products that are not my own. You don’t have to use these rules in order to become an affiliate or be successful, but it’s what has helped me grow my affiliate income over the last couple of years:
- I only recommend products as an affiliate that I’m extremely familiar with—preferably products that I’ve used and have helped me achieve some success. If I’m not confident in the product and I don’t feel it will positively help people, I will not promote it.
- I never directly tell anyone to buy a product. I always recommend products based on my experience.
Why Affiliate Marketing Works Well with Blogs
Affiliate marketing isn’t the only way to make money from blogs and it won’t suit every blog/blogger (more on this below) but there are a few reasons why it can be profitable in this format. Perhaps the biggest of these reasons is that affiliate marketing seems to work best when there’s a relationship and trust between the publisher (you) and their readership.
I’ve found that as this trust deepens that readers are more likely to follow the recommendations that a blogger makes.
Of course this can also be a negative with affiliate marketing – promote the wrong product and trust can be broken (more on this below).
Easy Money with Affiliate Marketing ?
While affiliate marketing can be incredibly lucrative it is important to know that affiliate marketing is not easy money. Success with affiliate marketing relies upon numerous factors:
- traffic (high traffic helps a lot)
- finding relevant products (product you like)
- finding quality products (no fad, cheap products)
- building trust with your readers (big one)
- having readers who are in a ‘buying mood’ (trust)
- you being able to write good sales copy (more)
A word about sales copy; if you are not a good copy writer…practice. Learn how to write good copy. It will take time and practice but believe me it is worth the time and effort. I was not good at copy writing and even today, I learn something new. Practice…practice….practice.
Elite Marketing Pro has a product called The Copywriter’s Guild. I highly suggest you grab a copy.
There’s also some risk associated with affiliate marketing in that if you push too hard or promote products of a low quality you can actually burn readers and hurt your reputation and brand.
It is also worth nothing if your blog style or approach does not match the product or products you are promoting. For example: If your product is all about weight loss or how to lose weight or any kind of weight lost programs, don’t blog about how to build a bird house (extreme example).
Your blog style and blog articles must stay with the theme of your products.
It’s also worth noting that affiliate marketing doesn’t work on all blogs. I have seen blogs that try to attract audiences who are not in a buying frame of mind and other blogs it just doesn’t fit with the blogger’s style or approach.
5 SUGGESTION ON HOW TO START AFFILIATE MARKETING:
A. Picking Your Niche
By picking your niche means to sell the products according to your area of interest. You should select a niche according to your expertise. For example if you are an interior designer you will be more comfortable to promote an artistic piece of furniture rather than some home gadgetry.
B. Do Your Homework
Before signing up with any affiliate company you need to do your homework. Who is the affiliate company? Know the product you are promoting. How is the commission structured? What type of support does the affiliate company offer? And do they offer training/coaching?
C. Choosing An Affiliate Program
While choosing an affiliate program you need to make thorough research in affiliate marketplace as to which affiliate marketing program is performing well basing on your blog style. It is also important to be aware of the latest products publishing in blogs of your niche. So that you remain updated with your blog.
D. Signing Up With An Affiliate Company
After selecting your program, something you like and want to promote, you need to sign up with the affiliate company who is offering that affiliate program. Signing with an affiliate program may have a cost associated with it. Make sure you know what you are getting and if there are any restrictions. Of course, you need to know your commission on the sale.
After signing you will receive a tracking line or an affiliate ID, and from then onwards while promoting that company’s product, you will offer that affiliate link to direct the consumer to the company’s website or product offering.
E. Are the Product or Products In High Demand?
It doesn’t make sense to offer a product that no one wants. Like wise, offering a “fad” product may make you money in the short term, but long term? Choose a product that has a high demand, easy to offer and appeals to many. The broader you audience, the more sales and the more money you will make.
After years of trial and error, I have found that the universal appeal are educational products or training on “How To.”
Take the blogger who is offering weight loss to their readers. Do you think they would be interested in how to write good copy? Of course.
How about the blogger who is just starting and needs information on “How To Blog.” Do you think they would be interested in knowing more about how to blog?
What if the blogger want to know more about on how to promote the product and blog on video. Do you think they would be interested in a Video How To? Of course.
Educational products have a universal appeal across many aspects of people’s interest. The smart affiliate marketeer will have these type of products to offer to the readers.
Again, in my years of marketing, I have offered various products. Some were good and some were ???? But I found that I can always offer help and advice to a wider audience by using training, educational and “How To” products.
In this series of Affiliate Marketing, there are rules to be a smart affiliate marketer. The smart marketer will use proven tools and knowledge to build a successful Affiliate Marketing Business.
Your next article to read are these rules. Click this link to be taken to: “Here Are 10 Rules To Be A Smart Affiliate Marketer.”
CONCLUSION
Affiliate marketing, with its unique set of advantages has brought revolution in the e-commerce industry. This boom in e-commerce industry has resulted in record sales by people such as you and me. Blogging is the flexible method of marketing and promoting your affiliate product with ease and comfort of your home at any time and your convenience.
Affiliate marketing and blogging go hand and hand. Your readers benefit from your product, the affiliate company benefits from the sale and you benefit with making money. Thus, it’s a win win situation for all, the advertiser, the publisher and the consumer.
Your advantage with affiliate marketing are many. Here are just a few:
- No product development
- No Inventory to stock
- No shipping cost
- Low cost to start
- No risk
- Work from home
- Easy
- Good commission structure (do your home work here)
- No long term commitment
- More
Before starting affiliate marketing business its disadvantages should also be taken under consideration:
- In affiliate advertising some people are involved in false advertising and unfair and unlawful ways to malign brands.
- Merchants may be dishonest and promise higher rates and then reduce afterwards.
- Affiliates may engage in false advertisements to mislead the merchants and get commission.
Affiliate marketing with all its advantages and disadvantages is still one of the best home based online businesses. Its advantages can be overcome easily by taking simple security checks and measures.
My Affiliate Program just happens to be Elite Marketing Pro. I found this program works for me since I like offering help and advice. The commission program is excellent, the support and coaching is what I wanted and needed and the management team are the top people in the industry.
Elite Marketing Pro Review
In a nutshell, the new Elite Marketing Pro VIP program allows you to earn 100% commissions for every product you sell from your affiliate links.
The Elite Marketing Pro Affiliate Program pays 100% for the Attraction Marketing Formula with a nice 40% on all other products but this new program (VIP) pays 100% commission on all of these products and more:
- Anatomy of the Perfect Blog Post
- Simple Video Script Formula
- 5 Winning Headline Formulas
- Attraction Marketing Formula
- The Copywriter’s Guild
- Ultimate Sales Funnel
All of these products are proven, best-sellers that convert well. They all come with complete stand-alone lead capture pages and sales funnels.
But that does not mean you have to promote every product to make a ton of money. In fact, in the affiliate back office it says:
It is recommended that you advertise Attraction Marketing Formula and the 10-Minute Traffic Workshop.
Here’s to your success in Smart Affiliate Marketing Strategies,
PS: As mentioned, I market Attraction Marketing Formula and it’s 10-Day Online Bootcamp. Great product and over 10 days you get good information for your Network Marketing Business. I also recommend the 5 Winning Headline Formulas. For anyone who is promoting their Home Based Business Online, this program is a MUST. Click on the images below to get either or BOTH.
