Hello my beautiful friends, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. This week I’m going to be talking about how to make money with affiliate marketing. We will be diving into how affiliate marketing works, the benefits of affiliate marketing, how to decide which programs to be an affiliate for, how to organize your affiliate links, and finally sharing some final notes on best practices when it comes to affiliate marketing.
This episode will only scratch the surface of everything you can possibly do with affiliate marketing, but I want this to serve as a starting point for anyone who wants to start using affiliate marketing in their business or wants to better utilize it. For the purpose of this episode, we’re discussing how affiliate marketing works when you are an affiliate of someone else's product, course, or software tool.
Webster’s online dictionary defines ‘Affiliate Marketing’ as:
“A marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays a commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referrals.”
So rather than a company paying for ads to market their product or service, you, as an individual become the marketing ‘arm’ and because you market their product, you are compensated.
When I first started using affiliate marketing it felt ‘icky’. But once I realized that the company may not have made that sale without my recommendation, it became a lot more natural for me to utilize affiliate marketing for my benefit and as long as it is a tool, program, software, etc., that I use and personally believe in. I eventually realized it doesn’t need to feel ‘icky’ at all.
Something thing to keep in mind about affiliate marketing is that it can really be a passive form of income. You don’t need to create the product, you just need to believe in it and recommend it to those you feel would benefit from it, especially when it can fill a gap for your audience. Products or services that you know, like and trust, and you feel aligns with your audience; these are the ones you want to market.
One of the biggest recommendations I have when it comes to affiliate marketing is that you always want to make sure you are aligned with the offer or product and that you’re excited about sharing it and authentic when doing so. Another recommendation I have is to always disclose that you are using affiliate links. It is a good thing to be upfront about them, and in some cases/ locations you’re legally required to do so.
Tips for Getting Organized
There are so many ways to keep your affiliate links and information organized and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I also recommend creating a resource page on your website, keeping all of your recommended resources, with affiliate links, in one place on your website making it easy to find. Additionally you can create individual blog posts, highlighting each of them, digging deeper into why you recommend them. If you really want to exercise affiliate marketing and get into it, you need to make sure you're driving leads or eyeballs to those pages so that people are clicking on those links and purchasing as well.
Another thing to consider is not to piggyback too many affiliate offers (unless that is your sole business) one after another. If you tend to recommend products or services back to back too frequently it becomes too much for your audience. I would rather recommend my top three programs that are really strategic and intentional, that I can focus my time and energy on when it comes to launching and marketing those programs rather than trying to do a bunch of different ones.
I don't think there's a right or wrong way to go about this. This is just more of my personal experience with affiliate marketing. When it comes to affiliate programs that I've been part of it takes work. It's more than just throwing up a landing page and telling people about it once. You have to market the program or product.
Until next time, keep doing it your way.
Insights:
Resources:
SDH 382: Overcoming Distractions and Focusing on Your Ultimate Leap with Sarah Wallace
SDH 381: How to Grow Your Business with a Free Facebook Group with Amanda Boleyn
SDH 380: Achievement Addiction With Shauna VanBogart
SDH 379: 6 Software Systems You Need to Set Up in Your Online Business Today With Amanda Boleyn
SDH 378: Planning, Deciding and Executing Your Ultimate Leap with Victoria Marcouillier
SDH 377: Do This 1 Thing to Quit Your Day Job Sooner with Amanda Boleyn
SDH 376: Scarcity vs Abundance In Your Business with Amanda Boleyn
SDH 375: Success in Content Marketing with Lacy Boggs
SDH 374: Streamline Your Income with Jessica Stansberry
SDH 373: Declutter Your Life and Take Back Your Time with Amanda Boleyn
SDH 372: Replace Your Income and Quit Your 9-5 with Christine McAlister
SDH 371: Hosting Your First In Person Event - All Your Questions Answered
SDH 370: Being Okay Adapting with Your Ever-Evolving Business
SDH 369: It Isn't About Getting It Perfect, It is About Getting Started with Amanda Boleyn
SDH 368: From Big Law to Legalpreneur With Andrea Sager
SDH 367: Behind the Scenes of Building A Business While Working Full-time with Kristi Jacobsen
SDH 366: How Jeni Landed 4 Coaching Clients in 4 Weeks with Dr. Jeni Waeltz
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