How to Become an Affiliate Marketer (5 Steps)

2 years ago 134

Affiliate selling is 1 of the champion ways to make a passive income, enactment from anywhere, and make much state successful your life.

But however does 1 go an affiliate marketer? Does it outgo thing to get started? How agelong does it instrumentality to really make money?

I’ve been successful affiliate selling for astir a decennary and person built 3 abstracted affiliate selling businesses, 2 of which marque six figures…

And today, I’m going to thatch you precisely however to go an affiliate marketer, conscionable similar I did.

Let’s commencement with the basics.

How bash affiliate marketers make money?

Affiliate marketing is astir promoting idiosyncratic else’s products oregon services utilizing an affiliate link, past making a committee if the idiosyncratic who clicked connected your nexus buys something.

Most affiliate marketers beforehand their affiliate links connected assorted channels, including their website and blog, YouTube channel, oregon societal media channels. They whitethorn make contented that talks astir the “best vacuum cleaners for favored hair” and nexus to the vacuum cleaners they discuss.

YouTube affiliate selling  example

Once the user of that contented clicks done and buys the vacuum cleaner, that institution past sends the committee outgo to the slope relationship of the affiliate marketer—typically astatine the extremity of the period aft accruing and accounting for each the income of that month.

But you tin bash much than simply reappraisal products. One of the beauteous things astir affiliate selling is that the ceiling is arsenic precocious arsenic your ain creativity. 

You tin spot affiliate links successful astir immoderate portion of contented you create, whether that’s promoting a VPN work connected a video astir starting an online concern oregon sending the nexus to your friends immoderate clip they inquire wherever you got your cool shirt.

But that begs the question—how does 1 find affiliate programs to articulation and promote?

Where to find affiliate programs

There are 3 main ways to find affiliate programs:

  1. On affiliate platforms
  2. By performing a Google hunt for [company name] affiliate program
  3. By reaching retired to companies straight and asking them

The archetypal method—affiliate platforms—is by acold the easiest and fastest mode to find a batch of options. Some of these platforms include:

Simply make an relationship connected these platforms, caput to their “merchants” section, and commencement browsing what they have. Many of them let you to browse based connected category, arsenic you tin spot successful ShareASale below:

ShareASale affiliate dashboard

Most affiliate dashboards enactment successful this aforesaid mode oregon precise similarly.

But if you can’t find thing that interests you oregon person thing circumstantial successful mind, you tin ever bash a Google hunt to spot if a institution has an affiliate program.

Google hunt  for iKamper affiliate program

As you tin see, the institution iKamper has an affiliate programme leafage connected its website. But not each institution volition person an affiliate programme advertised connected its website anywhere.

In these cases, there’s inactive hope—some companies either don’t openly advertise their affiliate programs oregon tin beryllium convinced to commencement 1 for you.

Pick up the telephone and telephone the institution whose products you’ll similar to promote. Ask a typical if they person an affiliate program. You’ll astir apt request to beryllium redirected to the company’s selling manager oregon adjacent the owner—depending connected however tiny the institution is.

Tell them you privation to spouse with them and nonstop them postulation and income successful speech for a tiny committee connected each purchase. It’s a win-win—they get much income without spending anything, and you get wealth successful the bank.

How to make and way an affiliate link

As an affiliate marketer, you’ll privation to familiarize yourself with however affiliate links work. These are your breadstuff and butter.

Most affiliate links incorporate your unsocial affiliate ID. Sometimes, you tin take what this is; different times, it volition beryllium a randomized drawstring of numbers and letters. This is conscionable the codification that associates clicks and income with your affiliate account.

For example, 1 of my affiliate links looks like this:

https://outdoorsyinc.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=4&aff_id=1064

You tin spot the information aff_id=1064. That ID is what links the merchantability to my account.

In summation to your affiliate ID, you whitethorn besides beryllium capable to adhd immoderate precocious tracking to assistance you cognize wherever immoderate clicks connected your nexus came from. This is simply a bully signifier to get into, arsenic it volition assistance you find which pieces of contented and which products are generating the astir wealth for your business.

This precocious tracking typically includes a “Source,” which is the determination of the link. Examples of sources whitethorn beryllium “email-newsletter” oregon “best-vacuum-for-pet-hair-youtube.” It helps you recognize wherever the clicks and income came from.

So if I were to adhd a root to my supra link, it would look like this:

https://outdoorsyinc.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=4&aff_id=1064&source=ahrefs-article

Now you tin spot the &source=ahrefs-article. If you were to theoretically click that nexus and rent an RV done it, I would person a committee and cognize that you recovered my nexus from this article, acknowledgment to the added source.

You tin often besides see sub-IDs, click IDs, and galore more. But that’s a spot excessively precocious for this guide. Check retired this usher to affiliate nexus tracking with Google Analytics for more info.

Is affiliate selling worth it?

This is the large question: Is it worthy getting into affiliate selling right now?

The answer, successful my eyes, is simply a resounding yes. I’ve built my life, my career, and my state connected affiliate marketing.

The benefits of affiliate selling are that you don’t person to transportation immoderate inventory, woody with lawsuit service, vessel anything, oregon marque immoderate of your ain products oregon services.

All you person to bash to marque wealth arsenic an affiliate marketer is probe and beforehand the products and services you love. That’s it.

It’s 1 of the champion concern models to make recurring, passive revenue. 

So if you’re idiosyncratic who doesn’t caput a steep learning curve and moving hard to turn an audience, affiliate selling is decidedly worthy it. It conscionable takes clip and dedication.

How to go an affiliate marketer successful five steps

So you’re acceptable to go an affiliate marketer? Here are the 5 steps to get started:

1. Choose an affiliate niche

The archetypal measurement is deciding connected your niche. That is—what class bash you privation to speech astir and promote?

Examples of affiliate niches see hobbies, wide topics, lifestyles, oregon beauteous overmuch anything. If it’s thing someone’s funny in, it tin beryllium an affiliate niche.

Some niches are much lucrative than others. Any niche successful the concern abstraction volition often person precise high-paying affiliate programs, for example. But it’s besides an highly competitory space.

Historically, I’ve chosen each my niches purely based connected idiosyncratic interest. 

To win arsenic an affiliate marketer, you volition request to make a lot of contented astir a topic, astir apt for years to come. If you take thing that doesn’t involvement you—no substance however lucrative its affiliate programs whitethorn be—you astir apt won’t succeed.

That said, obviously, this is your choice. You cognize yourself mode amended than I do. If you deliberation you tin probe and make thousands of pieces of contented astir thing you’re not funny successful if it means you marque a batch of money, past by each means spell right ahead.

To deliberation of a niche, inquire yourself:

  • What americium I funny successful learning about?
  • What bash I cognize a lot about?
  • What bash different radical archer maine I’m good at?

The overlap of your answers tin assistance you determine what to talk about.

But earlier you perpetrate to a niche, instrumentality it to measurement #2.

2. Analyze the competition

I volition caveat this conception by saying that you tin win successful immoderate niche with capable dedication.

However, not each niches are created equal. Some are highly lucrative—and competitive—while others are little competitory but whitethorn not marque arsenic much money.

A batch of your determination volition beryllium connected however overmuch wealth you request to win successful your ain idiosyncratic goals. Do you privation this tract to instrumentality implicit arsenic your superior income oregon conscionable go a tiny broadside hustle?

Either way, analyzing the contention of your imaginable niche is easy. Just caput implicit to Google and hunt for immoderate wide keywords you deliberation you whitethorn privation to get postulation from.

For example, let’s accidental you privation to commencement a blog astir upland biking. A lucrative keyword successful this abstraction whitethorn beryllium “mountain motorcycle gear.” If we look astatine the hunt results, we tin rapidly measure however hard it whitethorn beryllium to fertile connected Google for this keyword:

Analyzing contention  for upland  motorcycle  cogwheel  connected  Google

As you tin see, the #1 effect is from REI—a highly authoritative business.

If I scroll down, I besides spot Amazon, Trek Bikes, and galore different high-authority websites besides ranking for this keyword. At a glance, this tells maine the contention is steep.

To backmost this up with amended data, you tin instal Ahrefs’ SEO Toolbar and spot the Domain Rating (DR) of competing sites, arsenic good arsenic a people of however hard it whitethorn beryllium to fertile for a fixed keyword and however galore radical hunt for that keyword per month.

Ahrefs' SEO Toolbar data

This information allows you to rapidly glimpse astatine accusation showing however competitory a keyword (and, potentially, a niche) is connected Google.

Alternatively, you tin besides usage our free keyword trouble checker to cheque this information. 

KD people     of keyword "mountain motorcycle  gear," via Ahrefs' escaped  keyword trouble  checker

This KD people of 29—on a standard of 0–100, 100 being the astir difficult—is really reasonably casual successful examination to astir keywords. But it doesn’t archer the whole story.

For a brand-new website, this volition beryllium a hard keyword to fertile for. Search motor optimization (SEO) takes clip and effort.

If you privation to larn much astir however to bash keyword probe and find competitiveness, cheque retired our afloat usher here.

For now, what you request to cognize is that if you privation to fertile for high-value keywords connected Google (that bring you free, recurring traffic), you should look for niches with keywords that each person a KD people of little than 20.

If you can’t find that, it doesn’t mean you can’t usage that niche. It conscionable means it volition instrumentality much time, effort, and learning than a lower-competition niche.

Here are immoderate guides to assistance you find competitiveness connected channels different than Google:

3. Pick your affiliate selling method(s)

Once you’ve determined that your niche isn’t excessively competitory for your liking, it’s clip to take which methods you’ll usage to beforehand your affiliate links.

There are 5 main methods astir affiliate marketers use:

  1. Build a website and do SEO
  2. Start a YouTube channel
  3. Grow a pursuing connected societal media
  4. Craft an email newsletter
  5. Make a podcast

Which method(s) you take volition beryllium wholly connected however you similar to make and stock content. 

If you’re a bully writer, a website and SEO whitethorn beryllium your champion bet. If you emotion photography, societal media is astir apt your game. If you’re large connected camera, deliberation astir doing a YouTube channel. If you emotion to talk, commencement a podcast. 

I’ve seen palmy affiliate marketers utilizing each of these methods. Rather than trying to explicate however to bash each idiosyncratic one, I’ll conscionable amusement you examples of palmy affiliate selling for each method and nexus retired to guides for that method.

Websites and SEO

There are TONS of examples of palmy affiliate selling websites. In fact, we’ve done lawsuit studies connected a batch of them. Here they are:

YouTube channels

YouTube, similar Google, is simply a hunt engine. Which means it’s besides a large root of free, recurring traffic. Here are immoderate adjuvant articles if you privation to instrumentality this route:

Social media channels

While this is my slightest favourite method of affiliate selling due to the fact that it requires changeless learning and contented creation, it is inactive an option. Here are immoderate utile resources:

Email newsletters

While email newsletters are amended arsenic a supplementary transmission to your different channels, it’s imaginable to person ONLY a newsletter—like my friend, Mike, does with his transmission The Tonic. He uses a operation of affiliates and sponsored ads to monetize his list. 

Here’s what to know:

Podcasts

From “The Tim Ferriss Show” to “Entrepreneurs connected Fire,” determination are LOADS of examples of palmy podcasts that monetize with affiliate selling and advertising. Here are immoderate resources to get you started:

4. Create and stock world-class content

Regardless of which channel(s) you choose, if your contented isn’t good, you simply won’t succeed.

Becoming a palmy contented creator means honing your craft, going the other mile, and putting retired contented that’s amended than everyone else’s. The amended you get astatine creating world-class content, the much wealth you volition marque arsenic an affiliate marketer.

I can’t thatch you however to marque astonishing contented for each imaginable transmission successful this 1 guide. That’s what the links successful the past measurement are for—to amusement you what’s moving and however you tin bash it better.

What I tin archer you is what it takes to make large content—regardless of the channel.

In my opinion, each contented needs to bash 1 of 2 things: entertain oregon inform. If you get bully astatine 1 of these, you volition succeed. If you get bully astatine some of them, you volition thrive.

To make amended content, inquire yourself:

  • What is my extremity with this content?
  • How tin I springiness the astir magnitude of accusation successful the slightest magnitude of clip and effort connected the portion of the consumer?
  • Can I instrumentality thing distant to marque my constituent clearer?
  • Can I rotation this successful a mode to marque it much absorbing oregon entertaining?
  • What points tin I marque that my contention is missing?
  • How tin I marque this more fun?

If you spell done these questions each clip you constitute a blog station oregon movie a video, you volition amended the prime of your contented over time.

Here are immoderate examples of what I personally see to beryllium world-class content:

  • Tips for How to Film Yourself: In this video, Dunna uses fantabulous video editing, large organization, and entertaining cuts to explicate however to movie yourself better. He focuses connected acquisition and usefulness first, making wealth second.
  • Julian Shapiro’s Guide to Writing Well: This is 1 of the astir well-done guides connected however to constitute non-fiction that I’ve ever read. It is enactment into digestible chunks, good formatted, and to the point. Again, the absorption is connected worth first, monetization second. 
  • How to Rank connected Google’s Front Page successful Less Than 3 Months: This is simply a podcast occurrence I did with John Lee Dumas from EOFire. While I didn’t personally monetize it with affiliate offers, I gave high-value accusation successful bid to summation SEO clients.

5. Continue to turn your audience

Affiliate selling doesn’t extremity aft you make a fewer pieces of contented and commencement making immoderate money. You person to proceed to standard it up.

At first, you volition beryllium doing everything. Creating, editing, uploading, publishing, and selling each of your content. Coming up with ideas. Reaching retired to radical for promotion.

But eventually, arsenic your affiliate links statesman to bring successful a profit, it’s a bully thought to reinvest these profits to standard up your quality to create.

Examples of this see hiring writers oregon video editors, spending wealth connected paid ads, and adjacent building an SEO team

Don’t remainder connected your laurels arsenic you bring successful passive income. Take it from me—I got lazy aft 1 of my websites blew up, and it yet crashed 60% due to the fact that of it. Keep connected apical of your game, and your affiliate concern volition proceed to provender you for years to come.

Final thoughts

Starting an affiliate concern is 1 of the astir lucrative ways to gain recurring, passive income.

However, it does instrumentality a batch of clip and dedication to larn however to bash it and make each the contented you request to beryllium successful. You volition apt person to enactment for a agelong clip with small income to show.

If hard enactment and a steep learning curve don’t scare you and you privation existent fiscal freedom, I can’t urge this concern exemplary enough.

Have questions? Message maine on Instagram.

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