Affiliate marketing has steadily become a viable way for people to make money on the Internet. However, it’s a lot harder than it looks. People have trouble understanding how to launch themselves properly into the market and start making money right away. So how does affiliate marketing work? Let’s us look at some of its core ideas.
How does affiliate marketing work? It’s broken down like this. You have a blog, website, email list or some other online conduit where people can listen to your opinion on certain matters. You decide to partner up with a company that sells a product or service you’d like to recommend. As their partner, you become their affiliate (also known as an associate, partner, internet marketer, etc.). You’re now able to recommend (sometimes referred to as market or promote) this product or service to your followers by writing a post about it, placing a banner ad somewhere on your site, talking about it on social media, or mentioning it in an email listing. You provide a special link to the product or service so followers can check it out for themselves. Be sure you use your affiliate link, as it contains a special number, or affiliate ID, which is unique to you. When one of your followers uses your affiliate link to check out the product or service and purchases it, you earn a commission.
Not too complicated right? People hear this and jump at the opportunity, but before diving in head first, there are some important things to remember if you want to become an affiliate. Firstly, always tell your readers when you are using affiliate links, do not keep them in the dark. Secondly, choose only products or services you can recommend without reservation. Products or services you’ve used yourself are great since you can speak from experience. Finally, choose products or services that are relevant to your niche. If your site is about video games and you promote car parts, you’ll look like you don’t know what you’re doing and at worst, you’ll be branded a “spammer.” Once you develop a bad reputation as a spammer, it’s incredibly difficult to rebound. Promoting bad stuff makes you look bad and will hurt you in the long run. Have high standards when investigating products and you’ll be fine.
As stated before, endorsing a product you know well is highly recommended, as you’re able to talk from firsthand experience and provide insightful feedback. Be creative when you’re looking for things to promote. Every product or service you use and love might very well be affiliate-worthy. Here are some ways to find out whether or not there’s an affiliate program attached to the things you talk about and use. Think of a product or service you already like and go to the website of said product. Look for a link in the footer that says “Affiliates,” “Referral Program” or something similar. Follow the links to sign up. Sometimes there are slight variances in word usage or terms. If your first search doesn’t turn up anything, try again.
Another way to find things to promote is to join an affiliate network and browse through their available campaigns. In fact, many companies offer their affiliate program via an affiliate network, so many times as you are searching for possible products to promote, you will have to join an affiliate network anyway. This is often advantageous since you’ll have access to a lot more products, all in one fell swoop.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work With Networks?
What is an affiliate network? An affiliate network is like a middleman. They provide a place where advertisers (companies with products or services to sell) are matched up with publishers (you, also referred to as “affiliates”). Advertisers approach affiliate networks rewarding any of its publishers $XX to whoever can promote this product and land a sale. If in agreement, the network lists that campaign on their website. Once you as the publisher join an affiliate network, you can log in and see the available campaigns and offers to promote. Affiliate networks are nice for advertisers because the advertisers don’t have to run the affiliate program themselves. Affiliate networks are nice for publishers because it’s like one-stop shopping and they don’t have to hunt for individual programs. Of course, affiliate networks are nice for the affiliate networks themselves because they are acting as middlemen and getting a piece of the profit pie. There are many different affiliate networks. Many are easy to join, but some require you to apply. Different affiliate networks provide different products so you’ll want to hunt around to find the one that best fits you.
What Is Affiliate Marketing Training?
While it may seemed like we covered a lot, there are a lot of things to consider when endorsing certain products and building an audience. Luckily, there are great lessons and articles at AffiliateMarketerTraining.com on how to become an effective affiliate marketer. Articles include tips on marketing, social media, SEO content, blogging, website development, and online business. With a diverse amount of content, AffliliateMarketerTraining.com has everything you need to know about how to become an effective affiliate marketer. Check out what they have to offer!