Ever wanted to make money from your website? Maybe you have dreamed about making money from a podcast or from your blog. If you have ever wondered how product reviews, or tutorials on YouTube could generate steady income, or wondered how to make money on social media, you are in the right place.
The term is “Affiliate Marketing” and it’s probably a lot easier than you think to make money this way. Today I will walk you through the process. We can discuss the upside and the downside, and you can judge for yourself if it’s right for you.
What exactly is Affiliate marketing?
To begin with, an affiliate marketing strategy is when a business pays others to promote their products or their services. For instance if you promote a particular brand of suitcase on your YouTube Channel and a visitor buys the same suitcase then in this instance the suitcase company would give you a commission.
There is a whole economy of people making money on the internet this way. It costs nothing to become an affiliate in most cases. You simply sign up, and start sharing the companies links to their products.
How does it work?
Joining an affiliate program is great but don’t just join any affiliate program. Look for higher quality items to recommend confidently. Don’t blindly join everything you come across. Most affiliate programs give you the choice to promote what you want to. Promote what makes sense to you, and remember to only recommend products you can trust. Furthermore, a lot of advertisers will offer different size banners and advertising graphics that you can pick from. This is nice because you can do whats right for you. Use only what fits with your preferences and ignore the rest.
Whenever a viewer clicks on one of these special banners or links, the advertiser will be able to track and give you credit for any purchases that they make.
Different kinds of companies will offer a few kinds of options for you to earn money. Below are some examples:
- Pay Per Lead: Payment is offered when a visitor provides contact info to the advertiser. (This is the hardest to make money at but still quite possible to succeed at.)
- Pay Per Click: Payment is offered when a visitor clicks on the merchants link
- Pay Per Sale: Payment is offered when a visitor buys something from the advertiser. Typically this can be in the form of a commission and tend to be the most lucrative.
Where to start? What affiliate programs should I look at first?
If you can justify it or it seems relevant to you and your following start with hosting. Hosting affiliates pay rates are some of the absolute highest rate or earning.
ASPnix and other hosting companies offer pretty competitive commission rates. For instance ASPnix offers a 50% commission on all sales.
Should I quit my day job?
In 2018 the field of affiliate marketing is still growing like a fire. For a number of reasons it’s really replaced a lot of other kinds of marketing on the internet but there are a few catches you should know.
-It’s really cheap to get into. There is no product to manage. No shelves to stock.
-It can be whatever you want it to be. Nearly anything on the internet can be made to earn money through affiliate marketing if done the right way. It all depends on you.
-It’s a passive form of income. Meaning, depending on your level of success you don’t need to manage it all of the time to generate income. Don’t take this to mean it doesn’t take any work at all. Like anything hard work and diligence pays off.
-You work from home. Those who find success in this field can work at their own pace and without the daily commute.
A final warning: You probably aren’t going to get rich overnight. Just because it’s a good opportunity to earn money doesn’t mean that you should necessarily quit your day job or give up your career. Don’t forget that like any new opportunity there is a learning curve. As you learn you will get better. As you get better you will make more money.
Pro Tip: Rookie mistake #1
Don’t forget to take your time. Don’t sign up for 3 dozen affiliates on your first day and find out afterwards that you can’t manage that many. Start slow, pick just a few good ones. Get comfortable with them before you start to grow some more.
In the end the real key to success is diligence and practice. Treat affiliate marketing like any other business and you will go far. As an honest way to drum up a little side money it really can be great but if your want to make this your full time gig you will need to invest yourself.
