Everyone’s an expert at something, and an area that one has some knowledge about is a good place to start when deciding to join an affiliate marketing program. Potential affiliates should start with something they at least partially understand, or something with which they have some expertise. Starting “close to home” has several advantages. First affiliates have the incentive to work harder on their money-making pursuits, because they’re working with topics that interest them. Second, their own experiences can really add a lot of depth to web content. Third, as they continue working on their marketing plans, they’ll have to do more research and learning.Learning about something they love will keep them motivated and focused.
Once the affiliate has chosen a topic, a web host, a domain name, and has built a website, he or she can begin the next step. Affiliates can put as much or as little time into their affiliate marketing plans as they want. If an affiliate has a day job, she can put in a few hours a week, or on weekends. If the affiliate is a stay-at-home parent, retired, or unemployed, he can take several hours during the day to work on his projects. If the affiliate is a college student, she can work between classes or late at night. One of the great things about working online is that the worker can set his or her own hours. Of course, some of the affiliate’s success is dependent on how much time he or she has to devote. In general, the more time the affiliate puts in, the better the results will be.
Aside from a central website, affiliates can diversify their efforts to branch out and increase traffic. Imagine Bob sets up a blog where he discusses a particular topic like vintage cars or children’s toys. If his blog has had some success, bob can branch out to attract more people. He can start an email list or newsletter to reach his potential customers weekly or monthly. He can also create new websites about related subjects. The vintage car blog can link to his new website about paints for vintage cars, for example. His blog about toys can also link to another website where he reviews various children’s toys. Some of Bob’s efforts will be more successful than others, but trial and error will yield more success in the long run.
Which Marketing Programs should we Use?
One of the great things about affiliate marketing is that merchants have discovered just how lucrative affiliate marketing programs can be. Back in the early ‘90s, Amazon discovered this when they started their revolutionary affiliate program. Basically, if an affiliate could help Amazon make a sale of a book or CD, he or she got a cut of the sale. This created the opportunity for regular folks to write book reviews and present their recommendations to their website visitors, friends, and family. If any of those people ended up making a purchase, then the affiliate could get a portion of that sale. If the affiliate was very successful at this, he or she could make a lot of money simply by recommending the products that someone else sold.
Today most major merchants have affiliate marketing programs. Large retail companies like Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon, Overstock, Buy, Wal-Mart, and many others offer affiliate marketing programs. If there is a sales opportunity online, there’s probably an affiliate marketing program to match. Because there’s so much opportunity for different affiliate marketing programs, every potential affiliate can choose to market the products he or she likes and knows well. Also, the affiliate has the option to attract a niche market.
The most profitable affiliate marketing programs are generally for loans, mortgages, education programs, and gambling. These markets, while lucrative to some, are also highly competitive because of the high payouts available. In short, if an affiliate is just beginning and doesn’t know much about affiliate marketing, he or she may not have the best success with these programs. An affiliate’s best chance of success will be with products that the affiliate already uses and believes in. Staying “close to home” gives affiliates an added advantage when they are starting out, because they will be able to make sales convincingly.
Another type of program an affiliate might consider is generalized affiliate marketing programs that represent several different companies. Programs like Commission Junction, Double Click Performance, Link Share, and Share a sale offer opportunities for the affiliate marketer to host advertising from large companies and national brands. These programs offer the affiliate a wide variety of affiliate marketing opportunities, coupled with comprehensive statistics information.
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