MAKE MONEY ONLINE

AFFILIATE

MARKETING

FOR BEGINNERS
GO FROM $0 TO $1,000 IN PASSIVE INCOME

If you’ve been listening to us for long, you’ve learned that bloggers make
money by building an audience that trusts them, and then offering products or
services that will genuinely help that audience.

Affiliate marketing is really just a quicker way to offer products and services
without creating them yourself.

For bloggers, that means you find a product or service that you like, promote
it to your readers, and earn part of the profit on each sale that you make.
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What is affiliate

marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a modern interpretation of a very old idea — getting a

commission on a sale. You introduce your readers to products or services
from trusted companies or individuals and get a commission on any sales
from customers you send their way.

Why should you learn

affiliate marketing?

Here are three compelling reasons:

1. You can monetize your blog sooner than you would if you created your
own products from scratch.
2. You can learn what types of products your audience is clamoring for,
reducing the risk of any future product launch of your own.
3. You can get your readers used to the idea of buying from you — and
increase their level of trust (as long as you pick the right products and
services to sell).

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Is affiliate marketing

easy?

Affiliate income can look pretty attractive, but to succeed you have to
make sure that:

1. You’re producing regular content on your blog. You have to give a lot
of free value to your readers to build your credibility before you start
asking for sales.
2. You have an email list with at least 500 subscribers. If you can attract
and keep 500+ subscribers engaged around your topic, you have a
foundation with earning potential.

HOLD OFF ON AFFILIATE MARKETING IF...

If you already have a list of at least a few hundred people and are
planning to sell services like coaching, consulting, design, writing or
other professional services (as in legal advice, finance, or real estate) in
the short term, it’s probably best to hold off on affiliate marketing.

That’s because for service providers, your best bet is selling services
first. It’s simply your most profitable way to start monetizing.

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Affiliate Marketing for

Beginners: A Glossary

The partner who promotes the

AFFILIATE
merchant’s products for a commission.
Also called the publisher.

An informal agreement specifying the

AFFILIATE
rules that both parties agree to,
AGREEMENT
responsibilities, rates to be paid and
other legalities.

A trackable URL that identifies the

AFFILIATE LINK
affiliate as the source of targeted traffic
to a merchant’s site. (A click on an
affiliate link counts as a referral.)

An online marketplace where merchants

AFFILIATE
list their products and where affiliates
NETWORK
can find products to sell.

A program set up by merchants to pay

AFFILIATE
commissions when affiliates refer
PROGRAM
people to their products.

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A percentage of the total sale that is

COMMISSION
paid to the affiliate for referring the
sale.

In affiliate marketing, cookies are used

COOKIE
to assign a unique ID to the buyer in
order to tag the purchase as being
referred by you. Cookies usually have a
predetermined lifespan, so that even if
the buyer doesn’t purchase right away,
you will still get credit for the sale if it
occurs within that time-frame (often 60
days or more).

The end user or purchaser of the

CUSTOMER
merchant’s product or service.

The owner or creator of the product or

MERCHANT
service. Also known as
a retailer or brand.

Credit for a click or a sale that occurs

REFERRAL
when the affiliate sends traffic to the
merchant’s site.

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How to Start Affiliate

Marketing in 5 Steps:

HERE’S THE KEY POINT YOU NEED TO

UNDERSTAND IF YOU WANT TO BECOME AN
AFFILIATE MARKETER:

You’re earning a commission in exchange for giving readers

valuable insights on products or services they were already
thinking about purchasing.

STEP 1: IDENTIFY WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE IS

ALREADY PURCHASING

The core question you need to ask yourself is:

What types of products and services is your audience already buying?

Initially, you might not know exactly what products to promote, but if you think
about it for a bit, you can probably guess the major categories.

When in doubt, you can also email your audience and just ask them.

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STEP 2: CHOOSE A PRODUCT TO PROMOTE AS AN

AFFILIATE

Here are your two main options (with your best option listed first):

OPTION #1: PROMOTE PRODUCTS YOU ALREADY KNOW AND LOVE

OPTION #2: FIND PRODUCTS VIA AN AFFILIATE NETWORK

STEP 3: GET YOURSELF SET UP AS AN AFFILIATE

Whether you work directly with a merchant or through a network, you’ll have
to apply, be approved and provide certain information so that you can be
paid.

At a minimum you’ll need to provide:

Your personal/business contact information for tax and reporting purposes.

Your bank account where commissions will be sent.

In turn, the merchant must provide you with:

An affiliate link. Whenever you post about the product, you’ll use this
trackable link. It will have a long tag at the end of each link that includes
your affiliate ID.

You’ll also usually get some tips and useful assets for marketing the product
(often found in a welcome guide or on the affiliate reporting site).

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STEP 4: START PROMOTING YOUR CHOSEN

AFFILIATE PRODUCTS

Ultimately, all your hard work finding and evaluating products only pays off if
somebody takes your advice and make the purchase, right?

For that to happen, you need to put your recommendation in front of your
audience. Even more importantly, you need to make your
recommendation trustworthy.

This is where a lot of affiliate marketers slip up. They think slapping some
banners up on their blog that link to affiliate products is all they need to do.

Here's what to do instead:

OPTION #1: CREATE A RESOURCE PAGE ON YOUR BLOG

OPTION #2: CREATE AND PROMOTE CUSTOM CONTENT

OPTION #3: CRAFT PROMOTIONAL EMAILS FOR YOUR SUBSCRIBERS

OPTION #4: RUN EXCLUSIVE LIVE EVENTS

STEP 5: COMPLY WITH LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

(AND BEST PRACTICES)

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that you let people
know you’ll earn a commission.

So wherever you share an affiliate link, whether it’s in blog posts, web pages,
or emails, let your readers know that you stand to earn a small commission if
they buy through you — and if they choose not to use your link, no worries.

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Affiliate Marketing

Examples: 4 Types of

Products to Promote

Usually, most of your affiliate income will come from one or two “ringers” —
core products that just about everyone in your audience needs and which
also pay a good commission.

As you progress, you can add complementary products to round out your
offerings and help your audience in new ways, but identifying your core
earners is an essential first step.

We highly recommend you start with digital products, services and courses
for this simple reason:

They usually have greater earning potential.

OPTION #1: DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

Digital downloads are online resources that your readers can access
instantly, without having to wait for a package to come in the mail (as is true
for physical products).

They could be audio or video files, PDFs, ebooks or even links to webpages
where the content lives online.

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OPTION #2: ONLINE, HOSTED AND PROFESSIONAL

SERVICES

When it comes to selling services as an affiliate, it’s important to concentrate

on those which will be accessible to your entire audience no matter where
they’re located (as opposed to service providers who serve local customers
only).

OPTION #3: ONLINE COURSES

Online courses are an important subset of digital products, especially for

bloggers, and the market is huge. They’re so popular that they deserve their
own category on this list.

Online courses exist on just about any topic you can think of. They range in
price from free to thousands of dollars, with higher-priced programs
promising big results for students.

OPTION #4: PHYSICAL PRODUCTS

IIf you decide to represent physical products on your blog, your best bet is to
choose high-quality, distinctive products that that will appeal strongly to your
specific audience.

Avoid commodity products that your readers can buy anywhere — the
commissions are so small you won’t make worthwhile money unless you can
drive tremendous traffic to your site.

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The Bottom Line on

Affiliate Marketing

That dream you’ve had of making money while you sleep isn’t just a silly
fantasy. It’s a completely achievable reality.

Sure, it’s not as easy as pushing a magic button, but with a little knowledge
and persistence you can definitely do it.

Once you’ve gained a respectable following, affiliate marketing is one of the

best ways to make money blogging. And the best news is that it’s so easy to
get started.

Simply identify the one big thing everyone in your audience needs to reach
their goals and start there.

Choose a great digital product that you believe in and share it. Tell the story
of your successes.

Provide lots of valuable content that helps and educates your readers, and
take care not to be too salesy.

Be honest and transparent. Nurture the trust that readers place in you.
And finally, be patient.

All your efforts will pay you back with that sweet “cha-ching” of overnight
deposits into your bank account.

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