Affiliate Marketing – How Does It Work?

There are literally thousands and thousands of different ways to make a living on the internet…believe it.

You can take surveys, you can get paid to write, you can even earn money listening to music!  However, that’s not something very reliable or that will make you a passive income.

I’ve tried different ways to earn money online, but the best and most profitable business model I have ever tried is Affiliate marketing.

With affiliate marketing you can earn money while you sleep and making a passive income every month.  The sky is the limit with affiliate marketing.  You can earn as much as you want as long as you learn affiliate the right way, be consistent, and put in the time.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a business model that’s considered one of the most profitable online businesses and can be done any where in the world!

It’s profitable and very simple, yes it requires hard work and dedication, but its concept is very simple and straight forward…anyone can do it.

In the simplest sense, affiliate marketing is selling other people and companies products.  For example, a company like Amazon has millions and millions of products on their marketplace.  You can literally promote every single Amazon product and earn commissions whenever someone buys anything from Amazon.  To sign up to be an affiliate at Amazon, is a very simple process; Amazon will provide all the necessary tools and links for you to earn money.

Obviously, Amazon is not the only affiliate program out there; some common affiliate marketing platforms include: Clickbank, Rakuten, eBay, Commission Junction (CJ), JVZoo, and ShareASale

Here’s a video that explains affiliate marketing in more details

How To Succeed With Affiliate Marketing?

There are lots of people that succeeded with Affiliate marketing but there are also those that have failed.  In order to be successfull with affiliate marketing, you need to start the right way.  Here are some tips to be an affiliate marketing success story:

1) Start a Website

There are many people still under the impression that they can profit with affiliate marketing by promoting affiliate products on social media or with their friends.  As a newbie, it’s highly recommended to start a website, because it’s going to be the foundation.  A website is a must if you want to be successful in affiliate marketing.

2) Choose a Niche that You Enjoy

Many people like to start a website about a specific topic just because it’s very profitable, but that’s actually the biggest mistake you can make.  Pick a niche on something that you are passionate about.  If you go for a niche that you don’t like chances are you will abandon it very soon.  On the other hand, picking a niche based on your passion, will keep you motivated, and you will have tons more to talk about.  What is your passion?

3) Help People & The Money Will Come Later

That’s another huge mistake that a lot of newbies make.  If you want your website to be successful financially, you need to help people first!  That’s it!

People won’t buy from your links just because you have some affiliate links sitting around telling them to click on it. You need to help them with useful content; if they find your content helpful,  they will definitely buy from your affiliate links.  With that said, don’t recommend something that you wouldn’t buy yourself.  In order to gain trust, you must be honest.

Help people first, write lots of engaging and helpful content.

4) Give Your Site time to Grow

Helping people does not mean you have to write a couple of helpful articles and the money will come.  That’s not how affiliate marketing works.  You need to give your site time to grow; be patient and you will see the fruits of your labor–in a short time.

Before Google and other search engines send you traffic, they need to know that you’re the real deal.  That you are providing a benefit to readers. Google hates people that write some content today and then disappear for months!  Be consistent!   You need to be consistent in working on your site; when Google sees that you actually publish helpful content on a regular basis they will send you tons of visitors that will in a short time translate into profits!

5) Take an Affiliate Marketing Training

If you’re serious about your online success with affiliate marketing, the best thing you can do is to invest in an affiliate marketing training.  An affiliate marketing training will teach you the basics and everything you need to know in a very clear and simple way.

There are many affiliate marketing training programs out there but the best I can think about is Wealthy Affiliate.  WA is free to start and doesn’t cost a arm and a leg–compare to others.

I highly recommend you to check it out, because they have some amazing training/support for you.

Final Thoughts

Affiliate marketing is a very profitable business, it is not a get rich quick thing, so you must work hard. If you put in the time and effort, you will reap the benefits.  If you are willing to work hard and apply the tips mentioned in this post I am sure you’re going to succeed.

To learn everything about this business model I recommend you to join Wealthy Affiliate; it’s free to try and they have some great training and support.

So, think about this?  What are you passionate about? Books, sports, animals, video games, travel…Let us know, comment below.

Kay