Learn Affiliate Marketing

Everyone wants that passive income laptop lifestyle its very allurring. Sadly less than 7% of people who attempt this as a career actually learn how to sustain a passive income. Some more bad news there is no such thing as passive income but there is a way to get as close as possible to building a passive income affiliate money making revenue stream. 💰💰💰

Take The Bootcamp

If all this sounds a bit much and you don’t really know where to start I would highly recommend the affiliate Bootcamp 100 days to sustainable lifestyle income. The community behind Affiliate Bootcamp is just as valuable as the training provided. 

affiliate bootcamp

Learn: Affiliate Marketing Money.

Most people Ive talked to and trained that are getting into affiliate marketing tell me that its the job where you play on a computer and work in your pyjamas. Thats the vision most people have about affiliate marketing and the lifestyle, its semi true but before you get to the pyjama level theres a bit of grind. My goal is that this page gives you the knowledge to have you out there shopping for new pyjamas in a short amount of time :).

In a nutshell as an affiliate we well find physical and digital products that appeal to us or have great commissions attached to them and we then promote the products to people. When people interact with our recommendations and reviews of these products and they take action and buy we get a cut of that sale. We do this a couple of times and then start to really focus in and make our sole focus to create the best converting product reviews there are on the internet.

Now nothing is truly passive especially with Google and Facebook getting smarter and smarter. We still do work and have to put in a bit of effort but its nothing like swinging an axe in a lumber yard. You can start making money in as little as a week with this type of work.

"Competition is everywhere but creativity is restricted to those who step outside the box" - Quote by some guy.

When working with first-time affiliate marketers, the questions that keep popping up are:

  1. What is affiliate marketing?
  2. How does affiliate marketing work?
  3. How can I find affiliate programs to join?
  4. What are the different types of affiliate programs?
  5. How do I choose the right products or services to promote?
  6. How do I create content that will attract visitors to my website?
  7. How do I promote my affiliate links effectively?
  8. How do I track my performance and earnings as an affiliate marketer?
  9. What are some common mistakes to avoid in affiliate marketing?
  10. How can I improve my affiliate marketing skills and knowledge over time?
  11. Can you do it for me and I pay you? (the answer is no, but ill teach you)

As you start your journey in affiliate marketing, it's essential to be curious, explore the market and test things no matter what they are. I try not to be like anybody else, and I urge you to bring some creativity to your new affiliate business.

I say this because 99% of Amazon affiliate stores reak of the same smell, look the same and say the exact same thing.

amazon affiliates dissappointed at commission reduction

Learn How Affiliate Marketing Works

How affiliate marketing works

Affiliate marketing is a type of online marketing opportunity where you promote someone else's product or service and earn a commission for any sales or leads that are generated through your unique affiliate tracking link.

Here's an example: Let's say you have a website that provides reviews of cooking utensils for a Thermo-mix, and your readers trust your recommendations. You could become an affiliate for a company that sells kitchen appliances, such as blenders, and include a link to their product in your review. If a reader clicks on your link and makes a purchase from that company, you would earn a commission on that sale.

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don't have to create or own a product to sell it. Instead, you can partner with existing companies and earn a commission on the sales you generate. Affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn passive income and grow your online business, especially if you have a website, blog, or social media presence with a dedicated audience.

How affiliate marketing works image from shopify
image courtesy of shopify

How can I find affiliate programs to join?

If you're new to affiliate marketing, you may be wondering how to find affiliate programs to join. There are many ways to find affiliate programs, and the best method will depend on your niche and the products or services you want to promote.

Here's an example: Let's say you have a blog about travel, and you want to earn money by promoting travel-related products and services. One way to find affiliate programs in this niche is to search for "travel affiliate programs" in Google or other search engines. You can also check out the websites of travel companies you admire, as many of them may have affiliate programs you can join. Additionally, there are many affiliate networks, such as Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and CJ Affiliate, that offer a wide variety of affiliate programs across many niches.

When looking for affiliate programs, it's important to consider factors such as the commission rate, the quality of the product or service, the support offered by the company, and the terms and conditions of the affiliate program. Once you've found a few affiliate programs that align with your niche and goals, you can apply to join them and start promoting their products or services to your audience.

brad pitt money ball money works

What are the different types of affiliate programs?

There are several types of affiliate programs available, and understanding the differences between them can help you choose the best one for your needs as an affiliate marketer.

Here's an example: Let's say you have a website about health and fitness, and you want to promote products related to nutrition and wellness. One type of affiliate program you might consider is a pay-per-sale program. This means that you earn a commission when someone clicks on your unique affiliate link and makes a purchase from the merchant's website. Another type of affiliate program is a pay-per-click program, where you earn a commission when someone clicks on your affiliate link, regardless of whether they make a purchase or not. Finally, there are pay-per-lead programs, where you earn a commission when someone clicks on your link and completes a specific action, such as filling out a form or signing up for a free trial.

In addition to these commission structures, there are also different types of affiliate programs based on the products or services being promoted. For example, some affiliate programs focus on physical products, while others focus on digital products such as e-books or online courses. Some affiliate programs may even offer recurring commissions, where you earn a commission every time a customer renews their subscription or makes a repeat purchase.

As a new affiliate marketer, it's important to explore the different types of affiliate programs available and choose one that aligns with your niche, goals, and audience. By understanding the different commission structures and product types, you can make informed decisions about the best affiliate programs to join and promote.

call a supplier

How do I choose the right products or services to promote?

Choosing the right products or services to promote is an important aspect of affiliate marketing. You want to make sure that the products or services you promote are relevant to your audience and align with your niche and brand.

Here's an example: Let's say you have a blog about parenting and you want to promote baby products as an affiliate. To choose the right products to promote, start by thinking about the needs and interests of your audience. What types of products would be useful or appealing to them? For example, if your audience consists mainly of new parents, you might focus on promoting products related to baby care, such as diaper bags, baby monitors, and baby carriers.

Once you have identified some potential products or services to promote, it's important to do your research. Look for products that have a high commission rate, good reviews, and a solid reputation in the market. Consider testing the product or service yourself to ensure that you can recommend it with confidence to your audience.

Another factor to consider when choosing products to promote is the competition. If there are already many affiliates promoting a particular product, it may be harder to stand out and generate sales. On the other hand, promoting a unique or niche product can give you a competitive advantage and help you stand out in the crowded affiliate marketing landscape.

When I'm choosing products or services to promote in my mind I'm thinking of myself and what would help me but I'm also thinking about common problems I keep hearing from friends and family and what could be useful to solve the problems they have or what aligns with their interests. Disclaimer I'm not pitching products and services to my friends and family haha, Im more thinking about people in general and what common problem thousands of people may have. Always link a problem back to a solution. 

Now keep this short list in your mind when selecting what to promote:

-Understand your audience and who you would be recommending things to

-Is it better to promote physical products, software, memberships or digital goods.

-What channels are popular for the product you are considering

-How technical is the product to explain

-Whats the commission rate like, how many sales does it have. Do some quick sums based on the price of the product, the commission % and the number of reviews and you get a quick pulse check on potential earnings

-Will you need a physical product to demonstrate the features or access to the software to show it off or not

-What are the reviews like for the product you are thinking of promoting, if there are all 5 stars then its worth looking at but if there are lots of poor reviews its best to protect your reputation and avoid promoting it. Do your due diligence.

-How saturated is the market for this product

If you keep a short list you can work your way through a lot of ideas and come up with a qualified list of potential products to promote. 

You should also bookmark any people, websites and social media links to the product that you are thinking of promoting as competitive research is vital to your success.

Creating content with UGC

How do I create content that will attract visitors to my website?

Creating high-quality content is an essential part of attracting visitors to your website and building a successful affiliate marketing business. The content you create should be informative, engaging, and relevant to your audience.

Here's another cooking example: We are back on your cooking website that focuses on cooking recipes and kitchen utensils and you want to promote kitchen products as an affiliate. To create content that attracts visitors to your website, start by identifying the needs and interests of your audience. What types of recipes, cooking techniques, or kitchen products would be useful or appealing to them? For example, you could create a blog post on "10 must-have kitchen tools for every home cook" or a video tutorial on how to use a particular kitchen gadget.

When creating content, it's important to be authentic and helpful. Avoid simply promoting products for the sake of earning a commission; instead, focus on creating content that provides value to your audience and offers solutions to their problems or challenges. By building trust and credibility with your audience, you increase the chances that they will click on your affiliate links and make a purchase.

Another factor to consider when creating content is search engine optimization (SEO). By optimizing your content for search engines, you can increase your visibility and attract more visitors to your website. This involves using relevant keywords, creating high-quality backlinks, and ensuring that your website is fast and user-friendly.

In summary, creating content that attracts visitors to your website involves understanding your audience, creating helpful and informative content, and optimizing your content for search engines. By consistently creating high-quality content, you can attract more visitors to your website and increase your chances of success as an affiliate marketer.

If you are using a lot of video content to promote your offers its worth while creating video content for multiple platforms. Make the videos you produce available on most video platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok but before making your videos have a scout at what others people are doing for these channels as TikTok videos are different to YouTube videos in style and content.

My advice is to always be building. The more momentum you have the bigger the earning potential.

how affiliate links work

How do I promote my affiliate links effectively?

Promoting your affiliate links effectively is crucial to earning commissions as an affiliate marketer. Simply adding affiliate links to your website or social media platforms is not enough; you need to actively promote them to your audience in a way that encourages clicks and purchases.

Here's an example: Let's say you are an affiliate for a fitness product and you want to promote it on your website and social media channels. To promote your affiliate links effectively, start by creating content that showcases the product and its benefits. For example, you could create a video demonstrating the product in action, write a blog post reviewing the product, or share your personal experience using the product.

Once you have created your content, it's important to actively promote it to your audience. This could involve sharing your content on social media platforms, sending an email to your subscribers, or even running paid ads to drive traffic to your website.

Another effective way to promote your affiliate links is through influencer marketing. By partnering with influencers in your niche who have a large following, you can reach a wider audience and increase your chances of generating clicks and sales.

It's also important to use the right types of affiliate links for your promotion strategy. There are many different types of affiliate links, including text links, image links, and banner ads. You may find that certain types of links perform better than others, so it's important to test and track your results to determine which links are most effective.

In summary, promoting your affiliate links effectively involves creating high-quality content, actively promoting it to your audience, partnering with influencers, and using the right types of affiliate links for your strategy. By putting in the effort to promote your affiliate links in a strategic and thoughtful way, you can increase your chances of success as an affiliate marketer.

How do I track my performance and earnings as an affiliate marketer?

Tracking your performance and earnings is crucial to understanding the success of your affiliate marketing efforts. By monitoring your performance and earnings, you can identify what's working well and what needs to be improved, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Here's an example: Let's say you are an affiliate for a beauty product and you want to track your performance and earnings. One way to do this is by using an affiliate tracking platform, such as Awin, ShareASale, or ClickBank. These platforms allow you to track clicks, sales, and commissions, and provide you with detailed reports on your performance.

In addition to using an affiliate tracking platform, it's important to set goals and metrics for your affiliate marketing efforts. For example, you may want to track the number of clicks on your affiliate links, the conversion rate of those clicks into sales, and the amount of commission earned from each sale.

It's also important to track your performance on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed. For example, if you notice that certain products or promotions are not generating as much revenue as you had hoped, you may need to adjust your strategy, such as changing the products you promote or adjusting your marketing tactics.

Finally, it's important to keep accurate records of your earnings and expenses for tax purposes. This may involve keeping track of receipts, invoices, and other financial documents related to your affiliate marketing business.

In summary, tracking your performance and earnings as an affiliate marketer involves using an affiliate tracking platform, setting goals and metrics, tracking your performance on a regular basis, making adjustments as needed, and keeping accurate records of your earnings and expenses. By monitoring your performance and earnings and making adjustments as needed, you can increase your chances of success as an affiliate marketer.

fail-to-commit

What are some common mistakes to avoid in affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing can be a profitable and rewarding way to earn money online, but it's important to be aware of some common mistakes that can hinder your success as an affiliate marketer.

Here are some examples and some of my biggest mistakes:

Mistake 1: Early on I started promoting too many products too quickly and couldnt stay on top of what I was promoting and what was performing. I really went 1,000 products and no real topic of promotion I was using a scattergun approach. The high payouts were very tempting and I thought having 1,000 fishing lines in the water would get me a lot of bites, what I actually did was confuse my audience due to the wide range of irrelevant product categories. This took me a while to fix. So mistake 1 is promoting too many things at once.

Mistake 2: Another mistake to avoid is not disclosing your affiliate relationship with your audience. This is required by law in many countries, and failure to disclose can damage your reputation and lead to legal issues. Be upfront and transparent with your audience about your affiliate relationship and ensure that your disclosures are clear and conspicuous. 

Mistake 3: Pay per click gets more attention from big time affiliates than SEO but when starting out you might not have budgets for advertising so SEO is crucial in helping you start something. I was taught by a big time affiliate Jeff Jenny (absolute legend) to run paid ad campaigns at your product review pages and thats how it works, but it wasnt until I started really reviewing Jeffs work to see that he does that when the time is right and he actually starts with a lot of focus on SEO becuase its free traffic. He sends the paid traffic when he knows its a converting page. I spent a lot of money on paid ads when I should of been SEO-ing the heck out of my pages. Thanks Jeff.

Mistake 4: One I have struggled with is neglecting to track your performance and make adjustments as needed. I just dont have the focus to follow all of my links, so I use a VA to pick up after me and track all the links. Tracking your performance and earnings is crucial to understanding what's working and what needs to be improved. Make sure to regularly monitor your performance and make adjustments as needed to optimize your strategy.

Mistake 5: Finally, the biggest mistake is not being patient and persistent. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and it takes time and effort to build a successful affiliate marketing business. Don't get discouraged if you don't see results right away and be persistent in your efforts. You can be working from home in your pyjamas but it takes time.

starting a business with Forrest whititaker

Have You Tried To Build A Profitable Affiliate Business But Failed? 

Are you trying to make affiliate marketing work but struggling?

I know that bitter taste fo failure all to well. My first attempts to build a affiliate authority site crashed and burned, actually to be honest my earliest “best” attempt got hacked the moment I got any momentum and that set me back months.

That speedbump set me back but did not stop me. I came back again and again site after site and Im confident with the results.

It’s no secret – most people fail to hit their income goals with affiliate marketing.

Why?

The list is basically endless, but here’s a few main reasons:

  • No clear plan to follow each day to build a brand, audience & monetise
  • Chasing quick wins & not focused on building a real business for the long term
  • Selling the wrong products & focusing on low ticket because it’s ‘easier’
  • Not crafting a unique offer to stand out from the crowd
  • No plan or system to routinely convert leads into buyers
  • No way to get fresh leads every day (so their business just dries up)

If any (or all) of these sound familiar, you aren’t alone – it’s VERY common.

Thankfully there’s a better way that allows you to overcome all these issues quickly.

I’ve outlined it all in my new 100% Free 3 Step Affiliate Blueprint Guide.

This guide walks through the 3 step process my students & I use to grow our brands & audiences while monetising with high ticket affiliate products.

This works even if you’re a beginner, it’s just a matter of following the steps & implementing.

The information in this guide has generated me & my students multiple 6 figures in the last 18 months.

Please only download it if you intend to read it & actually use it – otherwise the information is wasted.

Yo money money money

How Much Money Can An Affiliate Marketer make?

That's like asking how long a piece of string is because everyone will have a different journey. I like to think of it like this, what you put in you will get back.

Is Affiliate Marketing Easy?

If you have some experience with websites, digital marketing and business then yes it can be quite easy to get started. If you are a complete novice then it will be quite a steep learning curve, but there is also some success stories with people who are new to affiliate marketing doing quite well 12 months in.

I think in my experience and working with new and seasoned marketers that those that carve out the time to do the work, have the focus and drive to make something from nothing generally do quite well.

If you are easily distracted by courses, tools or friends and family it may take you some time to get some traction.

💰 Can affiliate marketing make you rich?

I hear this one all the time and most of the people asking fall into two categories:

  1. They generally don't know and are asking out of interest
  2. They watched a guru YouTube video and are dipping their toes into the fast money lifestyle

While you can make a lot of money from affiliate marketing many successful marketers will use profits to either invest in long game stability offline or invest heavily into their digital assets to continue their growth. Both are very wise moves and will help you no matter the way you want to go.

Yes, affiliate marketing can make you rich. This comes with a disclaimer that you need to put in the work upfront to get the backend payments. It won't happen overnight, it won't happen because of one promotion and it won't happen if you outsource everything.

But it can happen if you apply yourself to your goal of earning $10k a month in 14 months of hard work. That's a realistic goal with some commitment.

💰 What are the best affiliate programs to join?

This entirely depends on your niche you want to target. In some cases, Amazon is a great choice for you but for others, they are the worst option as private merchants will pay 10x more than Amazon.

 

💰 What percentage do affiliate programs pay?

Every program and merchant has its own terms. You can expect 5% to 40% as the main bracket most will payout. There are unicorns that allow 80% or so but the medium is 5-40% commission.

💰 How do affiliate marketers make money as beginners?

This is a very easy answer and its been repeated several times. Set your goals, keep focus and committed to reaching them through the use of momentum. I dedicate a little time each day to my work and making sure the affiliate machine is working as planned. It's not rocket science but it's not easy street.

To make this super easy to understand here are the key steps:

  • Organise your banking documents and accounts
  • Organise your business documents and tax particulars
  • Build a simple website to use as your portfolio base
  • Apply to affiliate networks 
  • Build out your landing pages with the best affiliate offers
  • Monitor the performance and optimise as required
  • Get paid

Thats the nuts and bolts of it in a few short steps. Each step can be broken down into its own set of tasks to complete but you get the picture. 

This page was purpose-built to help educate and share an understanding of the ins and outs of affiliate marketing. I trust I have answered your questions about this career path and if I have missed anything please do get in touch with me. Go out there and make some Click Bucks!

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