When people ask me, can I really make money with affiliate marketing. My response is always YES. It is an excellent way to make money and you can do this at home and anywhere in the world as long as you have a computer and internet.
Being an affiliate marketer means marketing someone else’s products and services and carrying no inventory at a low cost.
This can be a lucrative market and you can definitely make money. How much you make depends on the type of affiliate program you choose and how hard you work. Clint Eastwood said ‘What you put into life is what you get out of it’. If you don’t put the effort into making your business successful, you will not make money.
The Real World of Affiliate Marketing
The problem is, there are many get rich scam programs in the internet world promising you overnight success. Some websites will tell you they do everything for you and you don’t have to do a thing because they do it all for you and all you have to do is pay to get that service. Some websites say you can get rich quickly with little effort. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are they are scam sites.
Often times, there will be an image of someone standing next to a Lamborghini or some other type of expensive automobile. This person tells a short story of how millions were made in a matter of 3 days.
BEWARE, these sites only want your money. Once they take your money, you will not hear from them again or once they take your money they feed you with more enticing information but you can’t see what’s behind that curtain until you pay again.
THE TRUTH IS, while there are many scam websites online, there are still legitimate and honest affiliate programs where many people are making money. How much they really make depends on the type of affiliate program they choose. Some programs offer very little commission, while others offer very lucrative commissions and even recurring commissions.
Legitimate Affiliate Programs Truth
Some legitimate affiliate programs can be very little cost while others may be expensive. For example, let’s say you sign up to promote a merchant’s products and services because it’s FREE for a given number of days. You enter your email address and enter into their website. Once inside you are offered options that you can purchase for additional services. These are up sells.
Some programs may offer you lots of up sells and while they are still legit, it can get very expensive. You will need to decide if you are getting the value for the up sells.
In my opinion, if you are looking for an affiliate program to join, look for one that says FREE for so many numbers of days so you can take a good look around inside the affiliate program website.
Look for a program that is suitable within your budget.
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Where Do You Begin
Still interested? OK, you need to start somewhere. The first thing you need to realize is a business whether it’s online or a local store, you are helping your visitors solve their problems. When people search in the search engines, they are looking for information.
You are providing the solutions. How do you do this? To be a successful online affiliate marketer you need to put effort into your business and work hard.
If you don’t want to work hard to be successful, then affiliate marketing is not for you.
Any successful business person will tell you, it’s hard work and they all have common habits in addition to working hard. They have goals, they never give up even when they fall and they are always consistent and never quit learning.
There are many types of affiliate programs, here are a couple of popular ones.
PPC (Pay Per Click) also known as CPC (Cost Per Click)
Most people who have small websites like this kind of PPC affiliate marketing because it’s a convenient way to make money. This is known as internet advertising where the advertiser pays you (the publisher). You need to have a website to place the advertiser’s banner ads. When the visitor clicks into the ad, you make money regardless of whether the visitor purchases from taking action on the ad. Your commission is very little in fact under a dollar per ad click.
PPA (Pay Per Action)
This is definitely a win-win for you and the merchants on this type of affiliate marketing. This is actually my favorite and is what I’m involved with. In my opinion, for you, this is THE most financially rewarding program to be in as an affiliate marketer. The affiliate program owner (the merchant) pays you when your visitors take action on your articles by purchasing the merchant’s goods or services.
Your commissions here are generally larger, and sometimes recurring. The merchant is happy because they made money in a very easy way and you are happy to receive their compensations. You can earn 15-20% commissions.
What to Look for When Choosing an Affiliate Program To Join
If you are new to the online business world, you need to have a website and internet but that’s not all. You need to somehow be on page 1 in the search browsers like Google, Bing and Yahoo otherwise your visitors will not find you and you will not make any money.
The first thing you need is a niche, something you are passionate about. It can be a hobby or something you have always been interested in learning. When you learn about something you become an expert on it.
Second, you need to have a website. You can build a website in a matter of a minute.
Take a look at this video and you will see how it takes to build a website.
The next thing you need to do is be in an online training platform website so you can learn how to beautify your website and make it look professional, This is where the fun and excitement begins.
You need to get all the training necessary to get your articles to RANK ON PAGE 1. Being on page 1 is important because most people when they key something into the search browser and see a list of articles pop up, they quickly scroll up and down on that first page and if they don’t find what they’re looking for, they will most likely move on and enter something else into the search browser.
You lost your opportunity if your article was on page 3. You see, people don’t have time to browse around. They assume that what is on page 1 is all the important and best articles.
What I Recommend
If you don’t already have a website, you need to be in an online training and support platform to get you started, a place that teaches you everything you need to know to rank on Page 1 in the search engines. Remember you are in this to help people with their problems and of course, make money.
You can’t sell anything and make money without learning the tricks and tools to be successful. If you want your visitors to trust you, you need to build your brand… YOU! This means having a website.
If you are already a seasoned online affiliate marketer but looking to really make your business successful, then this is also what I suggest you look for and join.
Look for an online platform that gives you the following:
1) Online Friendly and Huge Community. This also tells you the legitimacy of their site. The community or members should be friendly and supportive and not in competition mode. The more members the better because you will get a range of expertise.
2) #1 is Support. You need to have 24/7 live support with Live Chat. Look for quick responses after all your business is important and if the owners really care about you, they will have someone answer your questions quickly within seconds. This includes website support.
3) Private Messaging. When you’re in a community support platform, it’s easy to feel comfortable with another member. Being able to discuss things privately can get you answers and feel more confident.
4) Training Programs. It should be transparent. You may be a visual or hands on learner, perhaps both. Look for videos for training with written how to’s directly underneath that. Look for types of training such as Beginner/Starter and or Affiliate training so you can also promote them and make money while you learn.
What are they teaching? Are you going to get everything you need to know to get your online business running successfully. Things you need to learn for example:
– how to build your website (under a minute)
– how to design your website
– how to find your niche
– how to build the foundation of your website
– how do you market, how does this work
– how to rank on page 1
5) 1 on 1 Training. If you get stuck and feel like you can’t figure things out, 1-on-1 training is excellent. You don’t want to waste your time trying to figure something out. Get help, get advice.
6) Keyword Research Tools. Learn how to get quality ranking keywords with low competition. Keywords are what people enter into the search engines when they look for something.
7) Site Ranking Tool. This is a great way to keep track of your Google ranking progress. Not many affiliate programs offer you this which means you go elsewhere to get it. Personally, I think it best to be in a platform that virtually has everything you need in one place.
8) Private Access to Owners. If the owners are genuine and yes, granted they are busy people, they need to be there for you. It may take a while for them to respond so be patient. They need to be there for you. If you can see them interacting with other members, you are definitely in the right training platform.
9) Affiliate Program. Look for a training program that offer their own affiliate program, This means while you learn, you can earn commissions. Find out what kind of commission you will be earning, how it works, when you will get paid and see if they offer you any recurring commissions, if they do, this is a BONUS. Check their Terms and Conditions.
10) Friendly Website. It should be easy to navigate around.
11) The Owners. The first thing I like to do is see who the owners are and how long they have been in business. It’s important to know their experiences and what they believe in. They should be available or at least give you their contact information.
12) Website Analysis. It’s important to keep track of where your visitors go when they read an article of yours. Perhaps they leave quickly and never come back again, maybe they go to another article of yours which makes Google very happy. By doing the analysis, you can determine what article works and what is not working. You need your visitors to take some kind of action.
13) Readable Helpful Content Training. Everyone can communicate with friends and family and other people who come into your lives. Learn how to incorporate your communication into your writing.
14) Reliable Website Backups. Make sure the owners have excellent backup systems.
Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing
PROS
- No inventory
- No shipping of products
- Work anywhere you want as long as there is a computer and internet
- Can earn income 24/7, 365 days a year
- Make it full-time or part-time
- Great opportunity to help people with problems
Cons
- Hard work and takes time
- Owners have control
- Some are scams so you need to do your due diligence by researching and reading reviews.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, yes definitely you can make money and it can be very favorable. What you need to decide is how hard you are willing to work.
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I hope I gave you helpful information and if you have any questions or comments, it would be AWESOME to hear from you.
Thanks for reading!
Monica