Making money from your website or blog through affiliate marketing can seem daunting at first but is a fully achievable goal. While some articles may make you feel as though you’re late to the party that’s not the case at all. Through carefully curated ads and good content marketing, you will able to celebrate your affiliate marketing success.
So let’s jump in and consider these 5 steps:
1. Good Content. In order to make money through affiliate marketing, you first need an audience. Once you have a steady flow of new or repeat readers that are eager to see your daily postings or content updates, you’ll be able to attract better affiliate partners and products to sell. You can achieve good content through a website, blog, newsletter and groups on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. Identifying your channels to build good organic content is your first goal and integrating relevant affiliate partners will benefit your audience. This is a win/win/win, your audience is being served relevant product and services, your affiliate partner makes a sale and you get paid. There is a fine line between being too spammy and being relevant so focus on your audience with good content.
2. Promotion. Promote your product or service in your ads to incite readers to click through. With some affiliate marketing programs, you only make money when someone clicks on your ad, goes to the promoted site and makes a purchase. Writing posts or creating content to subtly promote what’s reflected in your sidebar will give your readers some incentive to follow through and actually buy something from your affiliated sites. The result? More money in your pocket. Be sure you abide by the FTC guidelines and disclosures about how your website or blog makes money.
3. Pick your Affiliates. Choose your affiliates wisely. This sounds like common sense, but it needs to be said. For example, if your blog is all about your devotion to your doll collection, the last things that you want to advertise are guns. Well, you could, if you wanted to, but your success rate would be extremely low. Stick to what you know and love, and view your affiliate marketing partners as extensions of both your personality and your website. Your readers are there because of you; sell them “parts” of yourself and you’ll be successful.
4. A/B Testing. Use more than one type of ad and more than one type of affiliate program. While you don’t want to turn your site into one giant blinking pop-up ad, by diversifying the programs that you participate in and the types of ads that you adorn your site with, you have a better chance of creating sales. Some of your readers absolutely will not click on a sidebar ad, but those same readers may fall for a link placed within a blog entry or other copy. The same goes for the various affiliate programs – each one may offer different incentives, so it’s wise to sign up with two or three of them.
5. Be your own affiliate. Becoming your own affiliate may sound a little crazy but spending a little money (after initial success of course) in order to make some may be necessary. If you decide to go with a prepacked solution as opposed to a custom built program be sure to pick the right technology. The software should have easy link building & tracking capabilities for your product or service. Your goal is to build affiliate sales not figure out how to build your affiliate program. Lastly, be sure to offer great rewards for all your hard working affiliates.
While it will take some time to achieve affiliate marketing success, these 5 steps will hopefully give you some food for thought.
