10 Ways to Start Your Affiliate Marketing Business
Affiliate marketing business can bring some serious income. If you’ve ever wanted to become an affiliate marketer, but didn’t know where to start, check out these ten simple ways to get your affiliate marketing business started on the right foot!
1) Know what you are promoting
Building an affiliate marketing business is all about having a product or service that you can promote. If you don’t know what you are promoting, you will have a very hard time earning any money. It’s okay if your first product takes time to find, but be patient and keep searching for one. Just because one opportunity seems like it isn’t going anywhere doesn’t mean it isn’t. You just need to look harder. The perfect product is out there waiting for you; you just need to find it!
2) Sign up with multiple affiliate networks
Joining affiliate networks is one of the first steps you should take when you want to begin affiliate marketing. Each network is a bit different, so it’s crucial that you sign up with multiple networks so that you can maximize your opportunities for success. As an affiliate marketer, there are a number of benefits for signing up with multiple affiliate networks, including more exposure and better conversion rates. Here are some of our favorite affiliate networks: Amazon Associates (our review), ShareASale (our review), Clickbank (our review), CJ Affiliate by Conversant (our review) and Rakuten Linkshare (our review).
3) Stay focused on your niche
Instead of worrying about becoming a jack-of-all-trades, focus on one or two niches and become an expert in that space. This way, you’ll find people who are interested in what you have to offer and can (eventually) earn more by serving those markets better than anyone else. Even if you’re just starting out, it never hurts to try your hand at a variety of niches—after all, they say variety is the spice of life! But be sure to keep tabs on where your passion lies. When deciding which niche(s) to focus on, ask yourself: What do I enjoy? What do I know? What do my friends and family think I’m good at? Where am I seeing opportunities for myself right now? Do any current hobbies or activities fit into my interests?
4) Brand yourself professionally
It’s easier than ever for a novice marketer to get started online. Nowadays, anyone can start their own digital business on sites like Etsy and Shopify. If you have an idea that could make money and be sold online, there’s no time like the present. Set up your website, open a merchant account (see above), design some graphics—and sell away! You don’t need a ton of traffic at first. In fact, if you want to try out affiliate marketing before really diving in, it’s better to start small with one or two products and then build from there once you understand how everything works.
5) Create a Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is a piece of content that you give away to leads (prospects) in exchange for their contact information. The content can be something as simple as an ebook or a cheat sheet, or it can be a more complex service, like a checklist or tool. The point is that it’s valuable—and free—content that will give you something of value later on down the line. You might also offer a discount code or coupon to incentivize them to sign up. You could even run a contest and reward prospects with early access if they share their email address with you. Whatever your strategy, make sure your lead magnet provides real value before asking people for their contact info. And always let them know how they can unsubscribe from your list at any time!
6) Take Great Product Photos
Visually, you have less than a second to grab someone’s attention online. If your product photos are fuzzy or dark, you won’t stand a chance at turning an impulse buyer into a regular customer. Take these tips from our friends at Shopify and learn how to take eye-catching product photos for your business. With even basic photo editing software, you can brighten up those photos and make them pop with color. And if you don’t feel like taking your own pictures, services like Fiverr offer cheap rates for quality product shots that will help boost sales. The key is not to spend hours on each photo—rather, spend 15 minutes here and there tweaking images that will draw more people in.
7) Promote Yourself
You need to be an expert at something—or, at least, seem like one. If you’re not sure what you have expertise in, start by making a list of your hobbies and interests. You can also consider your profession—if you’re in real estate or advertising, for example, it might make sense to go with marketing as a niche.
8) Use Graphics in Your Posts
Visitors are more likely to click through and read an interesting post when it’s accompanied by visual elements. Illustrations, photos, or short videos can help drive your point home and encourage readers to engage with your content. While you probably don’t want too many images in a single post, two or three graphics can go a long way in keeping people engaged. Just make sure they’re relevant! If your product is about dog training, for example, include an image of a dog. If it’s about weight loss, show someone running on a treadmill.
9) Post on authority sites (even if they don’t pay!)
The best place to start is on major authority sites like Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, and Inc. By building credibility and establishing your expertise in these places, you can gain a strong reputation and following that will put you in good stead when it comes time to launch your own site. While larger publications may not pay as well as niche sites, they tend to have higher traffic counts which means your content gets seen by more people—giving you a better chance of conversions down the line.
10) Don’t Give Up!
If you’re starting a business, there will be bumps in the road. That’s just a fact of life. Some business ideas aren’t feasible, others aren’t profitable enough and others run into legal issues—but that doesn’t mean they can’t be revived at a later date. If your affiliate marketing efforts are falling short of your goals, don’t give up! First take stock of where you are and then try altering your strategy as needed.
