Disclosure: This post may contain links to the affiliate websites, and we receive an affiliate commission for any purchase made by you on the affiliate website using such links.
Do you want to tap the billion-dollar affiliate marketing industry? People are earning six, seven, or even eight-figure income through affiliate marketing. In this post, I am going to tell you how to make money from affiliate marketing online successfully.
What affiliate marketing is
Affiliate marketing is the selling of products created by others and getting paid a commission for doing so.
In affiliate marketing, you have to generate a link and share it with your contacts. When your contact purchases through this link then you will earn a certain amount.
This amount could be a percentage of the product or service amount, so this is what affiliate marketing means.
This amount varies from the category of products and company to company.
Affiliate marketing is a real business in the same way journey is not very easy. You cannot achieve success overnight but can be very successful with affiliate marketing.
Meaning of Affiliates
An affiliate can be a company or an individual. Affiliate marketing and blogging have a perfect connection, most of the affiliates are bloggers or content makers.
These affiliates are closely related to the industry of promoting products.
Affiliates are those people who write posts about products, services, make videos, or use different marketing methods to promote products.
When visitors on the affiliate site perform purchases using links on the company website then the affiliate is paid a commission for promoting of product. In most cases fix percentage is being paid as a commission.
Meaning of Merchant or Company
An identity that pays a commission to an affiliate is called a company, merchant, retailer, or advertiser. Affiliate companies in general pay based on Pay per click, Pay per Lead or Pay per conversion.
This is based on the performance of affiliate marketing how much can you earn, so more conversion more earning.
The commission is generally paid on monthly basis, but it can vary as per affiliate terms.
Affiliate marketing for business is an advantage compared to pay per click because you have to pay only after-sale is performed.
What is an affiliate network
An affiliate network has the role of middleman between the company and the affiliate. Also keeps managing relations between these two and provides third-party checks and balances.
All affiliate networks track, report, and manage affiliate payments. Once you sign up for an affiliate network then usually can manage all the companies in the affiliate network.
Examples of popular affiliate networks are Commission junction, ShareAsale, and Clickbank.
What is an affiliate link
Once you sign up for an affiliate program then you will get an affiliate link. This is a special URL that has an affiliate user name or ID.
You can generate a link for every product and share it on your website, social media, or other media activities.
When a visitor clicks on an affiliate link then a cookie drop in the visitor’s browser to track conversion activities.
Finally, when a visitor performs a purchase the company knows who has made the sale and makes credit to an affiliate.
Does anything cost joining an affiliate program
No, the affiliate program has no joining cost, but if you choose some promotional activities then it may cost you.
For example, creating a blog or YouTube channel does not cost more but your time and ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram may require some investment.
How affiliate marketing works step by step
For now, you simply need to know how affiliate marketing works. The merchant provides a unique link to the affiliate so that it can be assessed, who performed the sale.
In these four steps, we can understand how affiliate marketing works
1.Your followers visit the website and read the article.
2.Visitor clicks on an affiliate link on your website and reaches the merchant website.
3.Then after a visitor purchases product or service using your link.
4.You get paid commission for the sale.
These are a few popular affiliate programs where you can join and make money from affiliate marketing.
ShareAsale
CJAffiliate
ClickBank
Amazon associates
Where to start affiliate marketing
You can promote the products of many companies as an affiliate and earn a commission for doing so. Affiliate marketing for beginners is also simple.
Going through the following steps you will get insights into how affiliate marketing is done.
- Choose a platform
- Decide your niche
- Select affiliate program
- Generate content for affiliate marketing
- Optimize traffic on affiliate site
- Promote click on an affiliate link
- Conversion of clicks into a sale.
1.Choose a platform
The first step is to choose a platform for affiliate marketing. You can opt for any platform such as create a website, YouTube channel or join an affiliate program of a company.
For example, you can start a blog later when it appears in search engine results then after creating an affiliate link on your website you can earn money from affiliate marketing.
Creating a blog or YouTube channel is one of the best options because Google is number one and YouTube is the number two search engine.
You can create content around searchable topics and drive targeted traffic on your offer.
This means you can write on specific search engine queries about buyers’ search or people who are very close to purchasing.
2.Decide your niche
Deciding on a niche is an important step for affiliate marketing. You can choose an area of your interest and expertise.
Your niche must be helpful to others, this is also an important factor. Entrepreneurs make another common mistake in the selection of a niche to get rich on their own.
You can become rich, but this should be a side effect of helping other people. Here you are as a problem solver, if you are having a problem then others must be facing also.
3.Select an affiliate program
After completing the above two steps next you can select an affiliate program. Choose products that are related to your niche and content.
Through an affiliate program, you can sell any product or service available. The best affiliate programs have evergreen products.
The affiliate marketing business model is beneficial for both merchants and affiliates. They both can earn money from affiliate marketing.
There are three types of affiliate programs
-
High Pay low volume
Some of the software selling companies have high-paying affiliate programs. They sell it for small businesses and have a limited number of buyers.
-
Low pay high volume
This type of affiliate program is for mass appeal products and has low payouts. For example, on the Amazon affiliate program, you can earn up to 10% commission. This type of affiliate program needs high traffic.
-
High pay high volume
A credit card is an example of high pay high volume affiliate program. Nowadays most peoples require a credit card and they are attached for a long time.
4.Create content for affiliate marketing
Maximum traffic on affiliate sites comes from organic search. Google is a number one search engine, so if you do not focus on SEO then losing a big audience.
So many social media, podcasts, and paid traffic options are also available.
If you are doing affiliate marketing with a blog then the first step is to write at least 20 articles. These articles must be in-depth and include your niche. If your blog is on fitness then write on fitness only not on dog training.
You must have a complete website before entering for affiliate marketing.
If your blog does not have content or audience then you have fewer chances for affiliate approval. Therefore first write such type of articles which can rank better.
5.Optimize traffic on affiliate site
The next step is to build an audience so that people read the article and click on the affiliate link. For this, not only optimization rather many channels can be used.
Nowadays these options are available to drive traffic on affiliate site
Paid Traffic
YouTube
Podcast
Quora
Ideally, you should create a fan base of repeat visitors. Data shows 8-12 visits are required to create a trusted visitor.
6.Raise clicks on an affiliate link
Over time you have built content on a blog or YouTube. Also, the channel is driving a considerable amount of traffic to your site. Now the time has come to optimize content to improve conversion into sales.
You have to place the affiliate link at the proper place balancing with other factors. If your link is at the bottom of the page then people can miss it. If your link is in the introduction then it will look spammy.
7.Conversion of clicks into the sale.
In affiliate marketing, two types of conversions are required. The first conversion is to click on the affiliate link. This is in your hand you can use tactics to improve the chances of a click.
The second conversion is product purchase which is beyond your control.
Making steady sales requires a strong understanding of customers.
When you identify the best customers then work backward to make up the best buyers.
Can affiliate marketing make you rich
Can affiliate marketing make you a millionaire? Yes, it is true. You can start affiliate marketing with a small investment.
First thing is to choose a good affiliate program of your interest and start working on it. You can make money from affiliate marketing part-time, full-time, or even more income.
Affiliate marketing can be presented as a super easy business model to make money online. Even though hard work, consistency, and patience are inherent requirements to achieve goals. Again you can earn a substantial amount of money from affiliate marketing.
Successful people in affiliate marketing earn 99% of their income from only a few affiliate programs. These people focus on only a few affiliate programs and work hard for years to be the best and provide value to their audience.
Final thoughts on affiliate marketing how much you can earn
Affiliate marketing is such a business model, in fact, attracting all the people who want to start an online business.
The reason behind this is the low entry barrier and you can do your first affiliate sale very quickly.
If you want to earn substantial money from affiliate marketing then you have to make effort for a long time. Also, focus on selected affiliate programs to succeed.
I will highly recommend starting affiliate marketing if you are doing this through blogging or a YouTube channel.
Suggested posts for you: Top ways to make money online
What is SEO? How does it work?
Earn money online through Surveys