What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where you receive a commission for promoting someone else’s products or services. It can be a great way to make money online, and there are a lot of affiliate programs out there that you can join.
Why affiliate marketing is the Best Business Model
There are many reasons why affiliate marketing is the best business model for making money online. Here are some of the most important ones:
1. You don’t need your own product
One of the biggest barriers to making money online is developing and selling your own product. This can be a time-consuming and expensive process, and it’s not always guaranteed to be successful. With affiliate marketing, you can promote somebody else’s product and earn a commission without having to go through all of the building processes yourself.
2. It’s relatively low-risk
Another reason why affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online is because it’s relatively low-risk. You’re not investing any of your own money into the venture, so you don’t have to worry about losing any of your own money if it doesn’t work out. And if you are using ads to promote and they aren’t working so well, you can just stop, optimise and restart or pick a different program to promote.
3. It’s scalable
One of the best things about affiliate marketing is that it’s highly scalable. That means that you can make as much money as you like depending on the effort you put in.
The amount you make can be anywhere from a hundred dollars a month to tens of thousands of dollars a month. Again, this is a business you are trying to start. You will not see amazing results on day 1 or even month 1 for that matter. Just be consistent, put in the work, and you’ll see the money rolling in soon.
4. You can work from anywhere
Another great thing about affiliate marketing is that it’s a completely online business, so you can work from anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection and a laptop and you can be up and running(you could start with a phone as well).
5. It’s relatively passive
Another big advantage of affiliate marketing is that it’s relatively passive. Once you’ve set up your business and put in the effort, you should be able to see conversions over time. The more established you are in the long run, the lesser effort you will have to put into the business.
6. There are endless opportunities
Finally, one of the best things about affiliate marketing is that there are endless opportunities of promoting things.
There are millions of products and services out there that you can promote, so you’re never limited in what you can do. Whether you want to promote physical goods or digital products, there’s an affiliate program for it.
How does affiliate marketing work?
The concept of affiliate marketing is simple.
You promote a product or service of an already established company, and you receive a commission for every sale that you generate for them.
The process of affiliate marketing usually works like this:
- You find a product or service that you want to promote.
- You sign up for an affiliate program with the company that offers the product or service.
- The company gives you a unique affiliate link to use when promoting the product or service.
- You promote the product or service using your affiliate link.
- When somebody clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, the company will track it and give you a commission.
Finding a Niche
Before you get started with affiliate marketing, you should ideally understand what niche of products or software you want to promote.
A niche is a smaller, more specific market within the broader market of the product that you want to promote.
For example, if you want to promote a product like Clickfunnels, then your niche could be something like “Funnel Building” or “Email Marketing”.
This is important because it will help you narrow down the products or software that you want to promote, and it will also help you target your marketing efforts toward the right audience.
Niche ideas for affiliate marketing
There are multiple niches that you can choose from when it comes to affiliate marketing. Here are a few niches to simplify things for you so you can get going:
1. Home and kitchen – In the home and kitchen niche, there are multiple things you can promote relating to household products and kitchen equipment and appliances.
2. Fashion – The fashion niche is another popular one, and it includes anything related to clothing, accessories, or style.
3. Health and fitness – This niche covers anything related to physical health, mental health, and wellness. you can even sell digital courses, ebooks and more.
4. Technology – The technology niche is a broad one that includes anything from computer hardware and software to consumer electronics.
5. Travel – The travel niche covers anything related to planning and taking trips, both internationally and domestically.
7. Business and finance – This niche covers a wide range of topics related to business, including entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, and more.
7. Sports and Outdoors – The sports and outdoors niche includes anything related to physical activity, such as hiking, biking, and even fishing.
8. Gaming – The gaming niche is perfect for anyone who loves video games and wants to share their passion with others.
9. Education – The education niche covers anything related to academic subjects, such as books, websites, and software.
Keep in mind, that you can monetise all of the niches shown above.
Types of affiliate programs
Let’s now understand affiliate programs from a sales perspective. Essentially, we have 2 types of affiliate programs, one where you can be an affiliate for physical goods and one where can be an affiliate for digital goods.
Product-Related Affiliate Programs
In a product-related affiliate program, you promote and sell physical products from a company. For every sale that you generate, the company will pay you a commission.
The commission that you earn will depend on the company that you’re promoting, as well as the product itself.
For example, Amazon Associates is a popular product-related affiliate program, and it offers commissions ranging from 4% to 10%.
Digital Product-Related Affiliate Programs
In a digital product-related affiliate program, you promote and sell digital products from a company. These could be anything from ebooks to online courses, and for every sale that you generate, the company will pay you a commission.
With digital products, you could even promote software! These software could range from email marketing tools, AI content generation tools and much more.
Recurring Affiliate Programs
A recurring affiliate program is one where you can earn a commission for every month that a customer stays subscribed to a service.
This type of affiliate program is also known as a subscription-based affiliate program.
For example, if you promote software like Jasper AI, you can earn a 30% commission for every new sale that you get. Remember, you get a recurring commission for every month that they stay subscribed! Pretty cool right?
The benefit of a recurring affiliate program is that you can earn passive income as long as the customer continues to stay subscribed.
Best Affiliate marketplaces
An affiliate marketplace is one where brands list their affiliate programs where affiliates can find them, apply for them and then promote them.
The advantage of using an affiliate marketplace is that it’s a one-stop shop for finding affiliate programs. You don’t have to go to each individual website to find their affiliate program and application process.
There are multiple Affiliate Marketplaces from which you can get various offers to promote physical as well as digital products. Here are some of the Best marketplaces to get you started:
The Amazon Associates Program
The Amazon Associates Program is one of the most popular product-related affiliate programs, and it’s a great place to start if you’re new to affiliate marketing.
In the Amazon Associates Program, you can promote anything that’s listed on Amazon, and you’ll earn a commission for every sale that you generate.
ClickBank
ClickBank is a popular digital product-related affiliate program, and it offers commissions ranging from 50% to 75%.
You may market anything from ebooks to online courses and even products in the ClickBank affiliate program, and for each purchase that you make, you’ll earn some money.
To get started with the ClickBank affiliate program, all you need to do is create an account and start promoting products.
ShareASale
ShareASale is another popular affiliate program that offers both physical and digital products. In the ShareASale affiliate program, you can promote anything from fashion to technology, and for every sale that you generate, you’ll earn a commission.
To get started with the ShareASale affiliate program, all you need to do is create an account and start promoting products.
Digistore24
Digistore24 is another new affiliate marketplace where you can find and promote both physical and digital products.
In the Digistore24 affiliate program, you can promote anything from ebooks to online courses.
JVZoo
JVZoo is a popular digital product-related affiliate program, and it offers commissions ranging from 50% to 75%.
JVZoo’s affiliate program allows you to market anything from ebooks to online courses, and for each sale you help push through, you’ll get a cut of the profits.
Ways to start a proper affiliate marketing business
There are many ways to get traffic to your affiliate links, but when affiliates find out that they can promote their links on websites and social media pages as well as 100 other places on the internet, they oftentimes do not see any traffic.
This is because they don’t end up focusing on one traffic source at a time. This is a very crucial aspect if you want to actually see some results.
That’s why we have listed 2 of the Best Places to Promote Affiliate links.
1. Start a Blog
If you want to get started with affiliate marketing, one of the best things that you can do is to start a blog or website.
A blog or website will give you a platform to share your thoughts and promote products.
If you don’t know how to start a blog, check out this detailed guide about how to start a blog in 2022
A blog when made right provides a lot of value to the reader and acts as the centre point between the company and the customer.
If you write great articles, rank them with SEO and gain some traffic, not only will you be able to see sales but will also be able to create a loyal brand that people trust.
2.YouTube channel
Another great way to get started with affiliate marketing is by starting a YouTube channel.
On YouTube, you can create videos about anything that you’re passionate about, and if you include affiliate links in your videos, you can make some money from it.
To get started with YouTube, all you need is a Google account and a camera, and a lot of dedication.
Youtube is another great source of traffic because it is a visual platform where people can see what they are buying. If you make great videos, you will be able to not only sell the product but also build a rapport with the customer which is essential for any business.
Other ways to get traffic to affiliate links
Now that we covered the 2 most important ways to grow a brand and get sales from our links, let us move on to some additional ways to get traffic. Keep in mind, these are also some great ways to get traffic, but none that I would prefer to Google or Youtube.
Getting a great following on Instagram is essential if you want to get some sales from affiliate marketing. Once you build a trusted audience, they will listen to what you say and go forward with your recommendations on products or services.
Once you have that following, you can then start promoting products through your posts, stories and reels.
If you do it right, you can make a lot of money from Instagram Theme Pages
Pinterest is an excellent way to get traffic to your affiliate links, and it can be a very powerful instrument if used correctly.
The ideal technique to utilize Pinterest is to create aesthetically pleasing pins while also providing a description of the product.
Then, just add a Call-to-action to your affiliate link and you’re good to go.
Keep in mind, that you are not going to make sales instantly. You have to keep uploading good quality content for a long period of time before you actually see a few sales coming in. The same goes for Instagram.
Affiliate Marketing vs. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a business model in which eCommerce entrepreneurs sell products without having to carry any inventory. When a store owner receives an order from a customer, they simply contact the supplier, who will then ship the products directly to the customer’s doorsteps.
Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, is performance-based. This means that affiliates only get paid when they drive results, such as sales or leads. Many affiliates choose to promote products from other people’s businesses to earn a commission.
While dropshipping allows you to start an online store with little to no upfront investment, it’s not as scalable as affiliate marketing. In other words, dropshipping is great if you’re looking to build a small business, but affiliate marketing should be your go-to option when aiming to make money online passively(once you have put in the effort of course).
I definitely prefer affiliate marketing as it is somewhat simpler to understand especially if you are a beginner and definitely cheaper to get started.
Where can you learn affiliate marketing for free?
Youtube
Youtube is an amazing place to learn anything for free. Just type in affiliate marketing on the Youtube search bar and you will get tons of videos from people who are willing to teach you for free.
Quora
Quora is a great platform to ask any questions that you have related to affiliate marketing. You will get plenty of answers from experienced marketers who would love to help you out.
Facebook groups
There are a ton of Facebook groups dedicated to affiliate marketing. Just type in “affiliate marketing” on the search bar and plenty of options will come up.
These groups are great because you can interact with other people who are trying to learn affiliate marketing and get help from more experienced marketers.
Blogs
There are many blogs that teach affiliate marketing for free. A quick Google search will give you a bunch of options to choose from.
These are just some of the ways you can learn affiliate marketing for free. The best way to learn is by taking action and implementing what you’ve learned.
Learn Affiliate Marketing with Online Courses
There are a lot of websites that offer online courses on affiliate marketing if you really want to get in-depth into affiliate marketing and have one source that teaches you all.
With Youtube videos and blogs, there can be a lot of not-so-great information out there so if you want to be sure that you are learning from people who know what they are talking about, then paying for a course might be the way to go.
Also, with affiliate marketing, there is a LOT of information available on the internet for free. So, if you don’t want to get distracted by all of the free information and just want to focus on learning from one source, then a course might be the better option for you.
A few good ones are Udemy, Skillshare, and Coursera. Just type in “courses on affiliate marketing” on your preferred search engine and plenty of results will come up.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. It’s a performance-based marketing strategy where affiliates are only paid when they drive results, such as sales or leads.
If you want to start a business with little to no investment, then affiliate marketing is a great option for you.
Now, it’s your turn to start.
Have you tried affiliate marketing? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!