It’s my opinion that affiliate marketing continues to be among the best ways of making money online. That being said, there are a lot of contention about “how” to make money with affiliate marketing. One of the big problems for someone starting out is how to develop a BS meter for all the bad information out there. One surefire way to fail is to try to switch up your tactics every few weeks as the “latest and greatest” fad comes along.
One important thing about affiliate marketing is that it’s a slow process that builds on itself. Nevertheless, with so many different “secrets” “tips” and “guides” out there, it can be tough just to stick to one method. Hard…but essential.
Here are 4 ways to grow your affiliate marketing business
Start a Website
For people who have never done anything online, the idea of starting your own website can be daunting. To the uninitiated, it can seem like a big and scary hurdle. The first question may be “why do you need a website?” The short answer is that you don’t. You can surely make a living as an affiliate marketer without one.
However, it is not easy to do that these days. Having some sort of centralized website is an important part of affiliate marketing. It gives you a platform to speak on a hub that you can point many of your efforts into. While affiliate marketing does not technically need a website, it often is an integral part of online business success.
Create a Killer Email Sequence
Hopefully you understand the importance and relevance of a lead magnet. It can build your email list, which is essential to long-term success as an affiliate marketer. With a good email list, you have a level of control that you simply don’t get with preselling offers on a website.
Become an Authority
Your #1 goal is to establish authority in a marketplace. You can do this by concentrating on one “traffic strategy” and using it to build an audience. From there, you can slowly get followers who will join your email list and buy what you recommend.
Here are a few ways to do this:
Run a Blog. You don’t need to produce a TON of website content. However, it should create a schedule of publishing quality information on a regular basis. Three articles a week is the MOST you need, but one article a week is probably the LEAST you want to write.
Forums. You should be active in any forums in your niche. Leave comments. Help people out. Your signature should have links to your site / landing page. Your help should be genuine and heartfelt. Simple spammed links in forums are worthless. You can really use this venue to both help people out and build that authority. When you build a name for yourself, people WILL follow and see what other content you have.
Blog Commenting: Commenting is one of the best ways to get your site found initially. It is simply going and leaving GOOD comments on sites within your niche and related niches. This leaves a link back to your site and begins to get your name recognized.
Article Syndication: This is a good technique if have lots of good quality content (1,200 to 1,500 words.) You build up a network of people who are willing to publish your articles. Then whenever you have a new post, you email the individuals who will post your content on their site.
Testing and Tracking
Testing and tracking is how you can take a so-so affiliate business and turn it into six-figure income. Again, this is business, and in a business, you need to know what works and what doesn’t. Testing and tracking is not optional. It’s something you have to do to improve on the “affiliate system” you’ve created.
The key to success with any affiliate marketing business is FOCUS. You can’t write a month’s worth of content and expect to succeed. Results come from building a large audience over many months and years. There are so many, shiny, bright objects on the Internet. All promise a full time online income. I’ll let you in a secret, look up Pure Leverage. Find out why it’s currently booming with affiliate marketers. Many of them are focusing into it. It is recommended that you focus on one affiliate niche at a time. It’s excessively easy to dabble in lots of things. The trouble is you won’t get measurable results when you do that.
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License: Creative Commons image source
About the Author
Lois N. Cervantez has a very long career as a marketing and public relations professional.
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