Making money through affiliate marketing is much easier than many would like to believe. What makes people shy away from affiliate marketing is they think that it requires a significant upfront investment, or you have to spend countless hours producing content. The truth of the matter is, you can get started for almost next to nothing.
If you go the route of blogging, for example, all you need is a domain and hosting. WordPress is free to use, and there are also free themes that you can use to design your site. You can read our guide to start a WordPress blog here. Blogging only requires you to type out posts and come up with original ideas that people will find useful.
Social media can also be used as a traffic method for affiliate marketing.
You will want to be very careful if you go the route of sending social traffic directly to affiliate offers. No one will follow you if all you do is bombard them with links asking them to buy something. The vast majority of the content you post on social media needs to be helpful. It’s best that you send traffic to a content site such as a blog and not directly to the offer itself.
By going this route, you’ll seem less spammy, and your website will also receive more traffic. If you have a box on your site to collect email addresses, maybe a few of the visitors will join your list, as well.
Promote products or services that you believe in
What is the number one reason why people fail at online marketing? It’s because they promote scammy offers. You might see an offer and think that just because it has big payouts that it’s a good idea to push it. Take a look at the product page and ask yourself if you would buy it.
If not, then you can almost guarantee that no one else would buy it either. No one will part ways with their money if they feel like they’re about to get ripped off. If you’re promoting a digital offer like a course or an eBook, ask the affiliate program if you can have a review copy.
If you can deliver sales, the program should have no problems showing you what you’ll be promoting.
Avoid doing anything that will harm your reputation
You can’t repair your reputation once it has been tarnished. Always remember that people will judge you based on the products and services that you promoted in the past. You need to realize that people have a long memory, and they will remember you pushing anything less than desirable.
Only promote offers that you know for a fact are rock solid and worth buying. Anything else and you’re asking for problems. Under no circumstances should you ever consider trading your good name for a fast buck.
Give honest reviews so the customer can make the right decision
Reviews are hot right now, and they will be for the foreseeable future. Tell your visitors what you think of what you’re selling them. If you believe there are some negative aspects, then lay it out there for the public to hear.
By being honest with the people who consume your content, you stand a much better chance of making the sale. If you’re far too one-sided and always say something is great, then your traffic will know that you’re saying whatever it takes to make a sale.
If you’re a successful affiliate marketer, share your experience in the comments section below, so that it can help/motivate the beginners.