Make money online anytime, anywhere. That’s the dream, right?
That’s also the concept behind affiliate marketing. In this article we dive into affiliate marketing tips to help you learn how to get started and best practices for earning passive income online.
Affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular ways of generating passive income online because of how easy it is to get started and the massive potential for earning money. While there is a ton of information out there, the affiliate marketing tips provided in this article are geared to helping those just getting started in this world.
Spend on affiliate marketing in the US alone has increased from $5.4 billion to $8.2 billion in just five years, with the rising trend expected to continue.
So let’s help you get in on the trend by looking at what affiliate marketing is, how it works, and our five affiliate marketing tips to help you start earning money online as an affiliate marketer.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Simply put, affiliate marketing is a process for content creators, marketers, or really anyone with a social media handle to earn commissions by promoting other business’s products or services.
The idea behind affiliate marketing is that as an affiliate, you market relevant products from other business’s that you believe your audience will have an interest in. As you drive traffic to those company’s sites through custom referral links, you earn cash for each lead or sale.
The key to successful affiliate marketing is getting the right products in front of the right people. Once you’ve identified and understand your target audience, earning money through affiliate marketing is one of the most rewarding ways of generating passive income.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Before diving into our affiliate marketing tips, it’s important we first start with understanding the three parties involved:
- The Product Owner – the business with the product or service you will be marketing.
- The Affiliate – you.
- The Consumer – your audience.
Affiliate programs are typically free to join and easy to register for (see affiliate marketing tip #3 below). Product Owners usually allow for easy sign up directly through their site, laying out the terms and conditions as well as commission structures.
Once an affiliate has registered and been approved by the product owner, they are provided a unique affiliate link associated to their account. Affiliates share this link in a blog, social media, email newsletter, or directly on their website to their audience. The affiliate earns a commission for every purchase or sign-up generated through the unique affiliate link associated with their account.
Commission rates vary from company to company, but typically fall between 5% to 50% of the sale. Depending on your niche, audience and passive income goals – it’s important to understand your earning potential with various affiliates.
Five Affiliate Marketing Tips For Getting Started:
1. Choose a Niche:
The first of our affiliate marketing tips is perhaps the most important. Choose a niche or industry that you’re passionate about. This could be anything from fitness, travel, beauty, or technology. The key is to choose a niche that you have knowledge and experience in so that you can provide valuable information to your audience.
2. Choose Your Medium:
Affiliate marketing tip #2, it’s time to choose your medium or mediums as we’d recommend. Affiliate marketing is all about having a large audience, so you’ll want to have several mediums to build that audience. We recommend starting with a website and social media channels, but also consider newsletters, YouTube channels, Podcasts and more.
3. Find Affiliate Programs:
The next step is to find affiliate programs that offer products or services related to your niche. You can find them many different ways. If you have a company/partner in mind already, usually just Googling company name + affiliate program will point you in the right direction.
If you are just getting started with affiliate marketing, you can start with marketplaces such as Amazon Affiliates, Commission Junction, and Awin to name just a few. Check out this article by Adam Enfroy to see even more affiliate opportunities: 157 Best Affiliate Programs.
4. Promote Products:
Once you’ve found affiliate marketing programs to join, it’s time to start promoting their products. You can promote products through blog posts, social media, email marketing, or other methods. Be sure to provide valuable information and reviews about the products to help your audience make informed purchasing decisions.
5. Monitor Your Progress:
The last of our affiliate marketing tips for beginners, it’s important to monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed. This includes tracking your traffic, sales, and commissions to see what’s working and what’s not. You can use tools like Google Analytics to help you monitor your progress.
This is a lengthy post, but that’s because there is a lot of potential to earning passive income through affiliate marketing, but it takes time and effort to be successful.
By following the affiliate marketing tips outlined in this post, you’ll be on your way to building a profitable online affiliate marketing business.
Remember, the key to success is to choose a niche you’re passionate about, build a website, find affiliate programs, promote products, and monitor your progress.
Hopefully you enjoyed this post and found our five affiliate marketing tips helpful. Want to find other ways of generating passive income online with online businesses? Check out our article 15+ Easy Online Business Ideas for Beginners.