Looking for the best online affiliate opportunities? If you are anything like me, you may be overwhelmed with how many there are available, how to choose and which of them is legit! These options can be narrowed down by a number of factors, we will get into each one of them as we go along. For now, as a result of my experience looking for the best affiliate opportunities, allow me to share Online Affiliate Marketing Opportunities with Awin.
Table of Contents
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Before we get into the Online Affiliate Marketing Opportunities available, let’s retrace our steps just a tad. Online Affiliate Marketing is strange terminology to some people, so let’s clear that up before we get too deep into this.
An Online Affiliate Marketer is an entrepreneur who has a website where they sell and promote the products of other companies.
I have written an in-depth article about Online Affiliate Marketing please feel free to read it if you need any further clarification.
Online Affiliate Marketing has been around for years and year, as online buying increases, so too has the online marketing increased. Just to give you an idea, last year 45% of sales were made online! That’s a huge number!
The companies who sell products and services online are fond of us Online Affiliate Marketers because we offer a platform for their advertising which is free. As opposed to traditional media where they are required to pay for time or space, with Online Affiliate Marketers, the companies only have to pay a commission when a product has been sold. It’s a great deal for both parties involved. Most Online Affiliate Marketers do this for a living because they love the freedom it can offer – the freedom to work the hours you choose, where in the world you want to work etc. Here is an article about the freedom of being an Online Affiliate Marketer, well worth having a look at.
I have written an in-depth article about Affiliate Marketing, please feel free to read it here.
Who and What is Awin
Awin is one of the biggest, affiliate networks. What is an affiliate network? There are Merchants (the companies selling products and services) who can and often do have their own Affiliate Program. Then there are Affiliate Networks who act as an intermediary between Merchants and Online Affiliate Marketers.
As an Affiliate Network, Awin offers their merchants and their affiliate marketers (also known as publishers, I guess that is because we publish online) the service of ensuring that both are legitimate. What this means is that the online affiliate marketers are vetted by Awin to ensure that the merchants are working with entrepreneurs and businesses who are reputable and trustworthy, plus they have sites that are a good match for the products and services. Likewise, the online Affiliate Marketers are protected too because all sales and commissions are monitored through Awin.
I hope this makes sense to you. Feel free to click through to Awin on the banner below:
Difference Between Affiliate Programs and Affiliate Networks
Affiliate Programs are set up and run by the company themselves. That is the company selling the products and services. This means substantial investments into developing an affiliate program and this also includes building their own online platform to host the affiliate program.
Alternatively, the company selling products and services (Merchants) can join an Affiliate Network where the online set up is already up and running. The Merchants only have to set up all of their products, services, promotions etc into the affiliate network. The network earns a share of the profit along with the Online Affiliate Marketer.
The Affiliate Network arrangement works extremely well for us as Online Affiliate Marketers because we can earn from more than one company within the one platform. We do not have to learn a multitude of different Affiliate Platforms, we have the opportunity to become really proficient and learn how to find our way around one network, without having to re-learn how to create the links, tracking etc on the different Affiliate Program platforms. It really is a win/win situation.
Online Affiliate Marketers and Merchants alike sign up with the Affiliate Network at no cost. For both parties, this is the least expensive way to start an online business. We, as Online Affiliate Marketers, don’t need any employees either, just time to spend on building our websites. This is an incredible opportunity to make use of your creative skills, just one or two hours every day can create your money-making business within a year – at no cost!
If you just happen to be a Merchant and would like to sign up with Awin, please go ahead and click on the banner below, it will take you to where you need to go.
About Awin
There is a range of Affiliate Networks, examples are Awin, Rakuten, ShareASale, CJ, Flexoffers just to name a few. I am keen to write articles on as many of the Affiliate Networks as possible. For today though we are going to focus on Awin.
Awin has over 13 000 Merchants on it and more than 100 000 Online Affiliate Marketers signed up. As you can see from the image above, Affiliate Marketers earned $734 Million through Awin last year! That is some serious money, I am sure you will agree!
If you are not one already, do you want to consider becoming an Affiliate Marketer? Click here for my Number One Recommendation! In case you need a bit of persuasion, there is a FREE Starter package available to you, the best online business training available and an awesome community of like-minded entrepreneurs. Hope to see you on the inside!
How To Join Awin
Getting started with Awin has been made as simple as pie. Even I have been able to find my way around, trust me, I am not highly technical! If you are technically inclined, it will be even more of a cinch for you.
In order to sign up with Affiliate Networks, you will first need everything in order on your side. The most important part of this is that you would need to have a website which contains content and a bit of time behind it.
Setting Up Your Website Is Simpler Than You May Expect
No website yet? No stress. Seriously, you do not need to be concerned about this. You can set up your own website in under 30 seconds (I was conservative and wrote about 60 seconds, but it truly is under 30 seconds). Have a read about how right here.
When your site is up and running, you get to select your niche and target market. Many people are not sure what to write about and who they should select as their target market. Here is some information about What A Niche Website is all about. The training offered in my Number One Recommendation takes you through all of that.
Once that is in place – your website, your niche and target market, then you start to write articles which are rich in information and can assist your target market. Much like I am doing right now. Ensure that you are offering value and not just telling to sell something, that is really not how it works online. It is about offering your experience and insight to help others find solutions to their challenges.
After you have published say 15 articles, you can go ahead and start applying to the Affiliate Networks and Affiliate Programs.
Ready to Sign Up with Awin Affiliate Network
Right, click on the banner below and head to the Sign-Up tab, as you can see, I receive an Affiliate Commission through the link. Once you have joined Awin, you can do the same!
The next screen will then be the account set up screen, follow the process of creating your account and verify your website. There are 4 different steps you will have to follow:
Step One – Account SetUp
First up you need to follow the setup process by inputting all of your company and personal information. This includes your company name, your own name, email address, and password.
Step Two – Promotional Type
Next, you will need to let Awin know the primary country you will be promoting to and what types of plan you are seeking. It is best to expand each of the sections and click the box next to all that apply to your niche or site.
Step Three – Promotional Space
This is where you will enter your website information, together with a bit of a description letting Awin know where you’re going to promote. Also include here the sectors you are targeting, i.e. Financial, Retail, Travel etc
Step Four – Verification
Awin is a strict company and does not approve everyone who applies. To sign up with Awin you will need to provide the information they require. Please ensure you have everything to hand, i.e. your URL, all the information mentioned above.
Once the verification steps have been completed and all the information has been submitted, it takes up to 48 hours for Awin to complete everything. My experience was that they were very efficient. I have seen that some Affiliate Marketers paid $5 to join Awin, I don’t know if they have changed their policies since I joined them, I did not pay to join at all. Even if I did have to though, I would have paid the $5, Awin is a very highly regarding Affiliate Network company and, once everything is in place, you will make the $5 back in no time.
Sourcing and Applications to the Right Affiliate Programs on Awin
Once you are approved and given accesses to Awin, find your way to the Dashboard, where your accounts are listed. If you are like me and have just gotten started, there will only be one account listed there. Okay, so I do have more than one. But this is still few and will grow as I do.
When you go in there you will find the Awin Affiliate Dashboard with all the account information, links, tools, advertisers details and reports.
It’s great fun finding the advertisers you want to work with on your website. Once you see something that interests you and is a good match for your niche and target market, click on the Advertisers name a drop down will result and you then select “Join Program”. Simple as that!
Here is a screenshot of the Awin Dashboard in the Advertisers drop down area. you will see on the left-hand side that you can click for different Sectors and under that the different Regions. On the right you see a menu where you can see All Advertisers, Joined, Not Joined, Pending, Suspended, Rejected and closed.
It’s great that they have combined everything in one area this way, makes navigating so easy.
There are stats available to you too as follows:
- Conversion Rate – This is the percentage of people who click the affiliate link and make a purchase. Targeting those that are higher is a wise route to take.
- Approval Rate – The higher the approval rate, the more likely it will be for you to get in.
- EPC or Earnings Per Click – this is the average earnings per 100 people clicking on the affiliate links. In other words, for every 100 clicks on the affiliate links, you get to earn approximately that much.
More information about the advertisers is available too, all you do is click the name of the advertisers and that gives access to their program.
Finding Links Within Awin
As Awin is a portal, there could be many Affiliate programs for you to be managing. Awin really assists with keeping everything in order, with the tools they provide to assist with creating and managing the affiliate links. Vital if you are looking to earn money.
There are more facilities available than I am currently using, as I grow I shall delve more into what is on offer. For now, I make use of the Banners and Links provided on the “My Creative:” tab, it really is super simple – even this lass who is not a huge techie is able to place the Banners and Links where they need to go.
If you are more advanced technologically than I am, you will really appreciate the options to make use of Link Builder (Deep Linking) as many of my Affiliate Marketing colleagues do. I will catch up with you all one day.
Come back and let me know how you go!
Look forward to hearing from you.
Blessings
P.S. You will see something similar from me in my other articles. If you are keen to:
- become your own boss and
- live a lifestyle of freedom – financial and geographical freedom –
have a look at the opportunity below. Be warned though, this is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme, it is an online business opportunity and ALL businesses take time to grow and develop. If you are serious about working hard to build YOUR business and earn good money, get stuck in now with the FREE Starter offer below. There is no need to even part with your credit or debit card details, this is an honest online business opportunity!
