Affiliate marketing; self taught!
Affiliate Marketing you say?! What is this and why is it seemingly all over social media? If you are like me, your curiosity is piqued and have found yourself more and more on the verge of getting involved. I finally did and am sharing with you in my own words what I discovered for myself.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate Marketing: an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company.
Many affiliates will leverage social media to drive traffic to their content which in turn gives greater exposure to the company’s product or service they are promoting. There are many advertising models and ways to monetize that site traffic from there. That said, the marketplace is virtual and unlimited in terms of niches. Choosing a niche? I cover that further down.
If you have stumbled on the plethora of IG reels, stories, posts, tiktoks etc. about people making piles of cash, I can assure you non of it is an overnight success. Some of it is likely spam and various versions of bait to get you in the door, while others are genuinely making an impact and have developed a full fledged high performing businesses over time.
So now what? Like any business start up, you’ll need to invest some sweat equity in the early stages. Do your research, ask questions, become knowledgeable about the subject matter and then decide what’s best for you as a next step. This can all be self taught.
Can I teach myself affiliate marketing?
YES!
Where to start in becoming an Affiliate Marketer?
- Choose a niche
- Choose a traffic source (website you have or build)
- Create useful content to build trust
- Grow an audience
- Choose an affiliate program
- Respond and chat with your audience.
Before jumping into the 6 items above, I highly recommend joining a reputable community that can offer all the tools, resources and support you will need to get yourself up and running. One such platform is called the Wealthy Affiliate. They offer free guidance on how to navigate each of the 6 steps, making it super easy to be up and running in no time.
So now what?
Jump in here: Get Started – Free Access to Wealthy Affiliate
Or, keep reading…
At WA they have brilliantly mapped out a series of core training that will take you from one stage to the next in your affiliate marketing journey. Ultimately, showing you how to build out your own website and optimized for generating income at any level you desire. Your website can become your primary source for where you share your affiliate links.
I looked at other options of course and just wasn’t feeling the whole vibe. At Wealthy Affiliate they have a starter platform at no charge where you can test drive their program. For me, this was where I started, exploring the free access to WA and then having enough exposure to decide if they would be a good fit for my journey forward as an Affiliate Marketer.
Picking a Niche – follow your passions
Deciding on what the focus area of your business will be and the eventual content you will be creating, shouldn’t be a hassle. It comes down to what are you passionate about? Ask yourself, what could I do that I am passionate about and will help others? For me, it became all things related to pursuing a nomadic lifestyle.
You aren’t limited to this approach either. Picking a niche can have other angles as well. Inside the WA (Wealthy Affiliate) platform, there are plenty of articles on how to narrow down your niche for your business.
Building a website – no experience necessary
I was stunned when I realized I actually did it! I built my site with zero experience and all through the core training at WA. Granted, I had only just begun. I have a website up and running and even indexed already with google! Believe me, if I have come this far with very little time invested, anyone can! Now, that said, everything will take shape based on your intention, goals, available time and overall commitment to what you are wanting to achieve.
Want to jump in and see what you’re capable of with a best in class website hosting platform? You can build out your first website, for free, with no experience through the WA starter site. It’s super intuitive and will have you up and running in minutes.
FREE WEBSITE BUILDER:
Writing your first blog post – content creation
Daunting right?! Writing that first post, sharing it with the public will likely feel overwhelming, as it should. Trust me, it will flow, I promise! Inside the WA platform, there is a HUB section that helps you organize a content rich approach, through SEO keyword searches, and even an AI wizard to get you started. Sweet, I know!
Creating great content – follow these tips!
- Make your content Expert, Authoritative, and Trustworthy. This means providing accurate, well-researched information that is written in a clear and concise way.
- Be Useful. Your content should provide readers with something new or valuable, and it should be relevant to their interests.
- Be Original. Craft unique content that is based on your own research and experience.
- Be Timely. Make sure your content is up-to-date and relevant to the current moment.
- Be Comprehensive. Your content should cover all of the important aspects of your topic, and it should be thorough and detailed.
Ready, set, GO!
Check out this blog post Getting out of Your Comfort Zone for a fun and easy way to get started with ideas on what to write about first!
Choose affiliate programs
When getting to this stage, you will want to have decent traffic to your site before applying to some affiliate programs. Don’t be surprised if the first few you apply to don’t accept your application. It’s normal for the early stages. For the relationship to be mutually beneficial, you will need traffic that can lead to customers.
- Research the product or service you are wanting to promote
- Look at the commission rate
- Check the cookie duration
- Evaluate the affiliate program’s reputation
- Look at the promotional materials
- Consider your audience
There is lots to consider here beyond the 6 points. Inside Wealthy Affiliate there is plenty of resources and tools to help shape your affiliate marketing strategy.
Action over manifestation = results
If you jump back to the first paragraph I wrote in this blog post and wonder about all those people who are actually thriving in this world of affiliate marketing, one thing for sure to be true, is the successful ones have taken repeated action! They have road-mapped a plan for success, set goals and keep momentum. As I have stated, there is much for you to consider on where and how to start. I have found my actions have led me to some pretty great early wins in this first stage of setting up my business. You will still need to manage expectations along the way. Naturally, this whole process will take time.
Patience – for real!
What I learnt in the first 3 weeks is to simply follow the core training (from WA) step by step and watch it all come to life. With each session it will become more clear on how each moving part is building the bigger picture. My first highlight was watching the google symbol turn from black and grey to colour once I was officially indexed in google on my first 3 posts published.
SO EXCITING!
Now, not getting ahead of yourself, your website will still be a work in progress and not even close to what you want it to be. You can see mine here at The Modern Nomad Life Brand as a “work in progress” and evolving as I go!
This is normal and you should expect it to take months to be optimized in a way you are becoming more content with. This doesn’t mean it can’t function and start earning you those dollars in the early days. Traffic typically will increase as you generate more and more quality content to bring more readers.
Community – leveraging like minded entrepreneurs
If you are feeling like there is no possible way to go at this alone, you don’t have to! For starters, I am here to help in anyway I can. Part of why I wrote this blog. It helped me reflect on the early days of getting started and how could I share some valuable insights with others. I was fortunate to find a community of like minded people within the WA HUB platform who have eagerly responded to any of my silly questions.
Hope to connect with you soon and hear all about your progress and what niche you landed on! Leave a comment and let me know what surprised you the most about this summary of affiliate marketing.