Affiliate Marketing Training:

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners

By Sarah Jamieson

Affiliate Marketing For Beginners: As an affiliate marketing beginner, you should know that success is the result of running your affiliate marketing as a business.

Making money from affiliate links is a great side effect of having a successful website, not a cause of success. Affiliate marketing is not an easy way to make lots of money overnight.

It's tough to make a profit on the first sale, and if you don't have a backend you are leaving the vast bulk of your potential profits on the table.

You need a clear reason for prospects to visit your site, join your list, buy through your link - and then come back and buy from you again and again.

In other words, you need your own compelling, engaging site that keeps customers coming back. You can't build a business with a one-page site that has nothing to offer.

Just like any business that wants to be around for the long haul, affiliate marketers need three things to be successful:

  • A unique selling proposition (USP)
  • An email list
  • A backend

As an affiliate, you must give prospects a reason to buy through your link - and then come back and spend money with you again and again.

In a sea of cookie-cutter lookalikes, what will make you stand out?

Affiliates need to offer their own content, value, and user experience.

Don't just build your business around the program with the highest commission level!

The best affiliate programs are the ones that will dovetail with an existing passion, hobby, or skill you have.

You need to have an interest in your market because otherwise you'll get bored and give up.

If you want a long-term income from affiliate marketing, you need to keep creating content, marketing, and building relationships with customers.

Look at your passions and skills. What do you love doing? Maybe it's a hobby or even your current job. Whatever your passion is, it's likely there are other people out there who will also be interested in what you love.

Start with what you enjoy and the goal of helping other people and you'll be going in the right direction.

For example, if you love gardening, you can start your own gardening website that provides great content. Gardening-related affiliate links will be a natural fit for your site, but they're not the main attraction for visitors - your content is.

Content is the value you provide that will help you achieve search engine rankings, attract social media followers, and build an email list of loyal subscribers.

Next, create your own products or services to sell - you'll be offering something truly unique and more profitable!

Let's recap - these are the building blocks of affiliate success:

  • You need your own website or blog with your own content.
  • Create your site around a topic you're really interested in, not just whatever product has the highest commission.
  • Offer a great user experience and quality content - that's what will attract visitors and keep them coming back.
  • You must build an email list. This allows you to follow up with visitors and deepen the relationship.
  • Don't rely totally on affiliate programs. Create your own products and services using all the market research insights your affiliate programs have given you.

Affiliate Marketing Training > Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Work? > What is Affiliate Marketing? > How to Find the Best Affiliate Programs > Affiliate Marketing for Beginners > Affiliate Marketing Pitfalls >