Are you looking for the definitive guide to assist you with your bright shiny new affiliate marketing business? If so, you have just struck gold. Not because I am going to teach you here and now, but I am going to guide you to undeniably the best training available in 2020. Stick with me and enjoy the “how to” of affiliate marketing for beginners.
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Affiliate Marketing For Beginners
Anyone can succeed in affiliate marketing, that is right, absolutely anyone. There are specific criteria though and if you do not already have these inherently, no need to fear, everything can be learned, so long as you have a teachable spirit.
Just today I saw this question in the community “why is everyone not doing this?” The answers to that question will unfold in the next two paragraphs:
There are basic steps to follow in affiliate marketing, please do not be tempted (as I was) to take the short cuts. The most effective way to build your business is to take each step in turn. It is the same as building a house. You will need a secure foundation. Once that is in place, building out your business will be a steady and incremental process.
Here are the basics you will need to bring for your affiliate marketing business to be successful:
- Perseverance
- this is not a get-rich-quick scheme or scam, but it is the way to build your own sustainable business
- often times you learn as you go, that is you do not get it right first time. Perseverance is key!
- A teachable spirit
- I have learned and continue to learn that I really do not know what I do not know
- There is so much to learn about the world of online business as it is, and then technology changes some more.
- Remain teachable, keep an open mind to learning and you will do extremely well
- Time
- It does take time to learn and to create your business, you will have to trade in your Netflix time to build your business
- Patience
- As you have already seen, you can expect to plow time into the process of learning and building your business. Patience is also key. There will be things you don’t grasp at first attempt, at least that has been my experience. If you are patient and persistent, you will learn what you need to know
- Trust
- I encourage you to hold on to these words “trust the process”. Even when it does not make sense to you, remember to trust that those who have gone before you are sharing the best of the best.
We all like to believe that we know have the 5 qualities listed above. The truth is that we do not. The good news is this, you can learn to persevere, be teachable, use your time wisely, plus be patient and trust the process.
The reason everyone is not doing this is that they are not prepared to do everything it takes to build their own successful affiliate marketing business.
For me, the best way to ensure that I go the distance has been by managing my mindset. I have another article which will help you, it is called Mindset Mastery, you are welcome to have a read.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
This is a very good question and one we must be sure to answer before going on. Perhaps you already know and this is just an academic exercise for you. If that is the case, please just scroll on. If not, here is the answer courtesy of our friend Wikipedia
“Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts.”
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Between you and me, I am not convinced that Wikipedia has offered a great definition of affiliate marketing. For that reason, I decided to share a little more insight.
The diagram below really spells it out well for us.
1. A customer does a search for something. This could be through social media, Google, Bing or Yahoo.
2. Said customer finds the answers they are looking for and clicks through to your website. This is where you have created content for the niche the customer is interested in.
3. The customer buys the product as a result of your review or recommendation.
4. You earn a commission. Yip, you have just generated an income!
Awesome Advantages of Affiliate Marketing
I am not sure if you noticed the awesome advantages of affiliate marketing. Allow me to list them for you below:
You have no responsibilities when it comes to the products you are marketing! That’s right! You do not:
- Own the product
- Manufacture the product
- Warehouse the product
- Or have the task of delivering the product
How incredible (and cool) is that! Your only responsibility is to get the product in front of the customer looking to buy!
The “How To” Of Affiliate Marketing
Right, I think I have kept you in suspense for long enough. Let’s get into the reason you are here, the “how to” of affiliate marketing.
It’s not rocket science, I promise. We can cover this in four easy steps (easy to list below but will take time to learn and perfect):
Step 1 Choose An Interest
The amazing thing about becoming an affiliate marketer is that you can build your business around your own interests and passions. Think about it, whatever you love doing, chances are others love to do too!
Whatever you would buy for that interest, is what those are people would buy too. For example, you are keen on cycling (OK, maybe not you, but I definitely am), so you decide to start a business related to your love of cycling.
You get to research and write about your passion! What a pleasure!
Step 2 Build A Website
This may surprise you but building your website probably the simplest part of becoming an affiliate marketer!
It may not seem so at the outset, nor for the first little while, but once you have been following the training and implementing what you learn, you will be astounded at how far you have come!
It happens to us all.
Now, please do not be nervous about building a website. We have incredible training available to us, all in one place, not to mention the best Site Support team I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
I wrote another article entitled How To Build A Website In WordPress In 60 Seconds (I kid you not, it’s actually 30 seconds, I just did not want to sound like I was spinning a yarn when I wrote about it). Have a look and see how easy it will be for you to create your website!
The days of having to be technically minded and trained are long gone. We get to build our websites with relative ease compared to those who started out in the online industry decades ago.
Step 3 Attract Visitors
There are different ways to get free traffic or visitors to your website. The 2 main ways are:
- Paid traffic
- Free Traffic (also known as organic traffic)
We learn about free traffic before we start spending money on paid traffic. That way we learn and save money at the same time. Once we know what works, we can start allocating the budget to paid traffic.
Examples of paid traffic would be advertising on Social Media, Pay Per Click, etc.
Free traffic is attracted by writing articles for your website which will answer the questions being asked by potential customers online. For example, The “How To” of Affiliate Marketing for Beginners (see what I did there?)
Within my #1 Recommendation, you will see that we have access to a very cool free keyword research tool called Jaaxy.
It is a great tool, you will use it extensively. More can be learned in my Jaaxy Review.
Learning to attract visitors to our websites is probably the most intensive part of affiliate marketing. You can choose the most lucrative niche, create an exceptionally beautiful site, but without traffic, there is no business.
I encourage you to dig deep and persevere! I also invite you to read more about How To Get Free Traffic to Your Website too.
Step 4 Earn Revenue
When a visitor lands on your website, likes the looks of what you have written about, click on the link you have provided to buy the product – you get to earn the commission.
This is where you can say “show me the money”!
It is extremely exciting to earn your first $ online. When you have done it once there are two things to get excited about:
- You have learned how to generate an income online
- You can do it again, and again, and again, and … you get the idea!
The Best Place To Learn The “How To” Of Affiliate Marketing
Everything I have shared with you so far has been learned from one amazing platform. This is not my first rodeo so I know a little about what else is available out there.
There is no doubt in my mind that the absolute best place to learn is the one I describe as my #1 Recommendation.
It is my pleasure to introduce you as everything you need can be found in this wonderful platform. I have been a part of the community since October 2018 and am happier than a piggy in poop!
I have written two reviews and depending on how much time you have, you can choose which one to read:
- #1 Recommendation – Online Business Opportunity – the comprehensive review
- The Skinny On Wealthy Affiliate – an abbreviated review
Not only do you have the advantage of learning everything you need to know on one platform, but you also have access to
- An international community of online entrepreneurs and affiliate marketers
- All the tools you could possibly need:
- Keyword research tool
- Website domains
- Website hosting
- Website Support (the best in the business)
- and so much more
- Weekly live training with Jay, our training chief, also known as NinJay for all the amazing tips & tricks he shares
- Access to the owners of the business
- The opportunity to qualify for an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas
I will be here forever if I go into all the details, the points shared are just a brief glimpse.
Ooh, I almost forgot to mention. We can sign up for free and take a test drive … that’s right, 100% free. No need to even share your card information. This is a Free Starter Package and is an opportunity to find out firsthand if Affiliate Marketing is for you, PLUS you get to take the platform for a test run for free. Talk about a win/win.
Have A Look Right Here
I hope you have more insight into the exciting world of affiliate marketing now. It would be my pleasure to assist you with any questions you may have, just pop them into the comments section below and I promise to respond.
All going well, you will jump at the opportunity offered in the free starter membership. In that case, I shall see you on the inside!
Blessings as always
Awesome blog Louise! I totally understand affiliate marketing and can appreciate that this is a slow and steady race but one that I can win with perseverance!
Hi Helen
Great to see you here. Thank you for taking the time to visit and share your experience of the slow and steady race. Perseverance will pay, of that, I have no doubt 😊
Blessings always
Louise
Hi Louise,
Congratulations on the great article!
Very good information summarised in a clear and understandable way for each beginner.
The five qualities of a successful person who wants to build a profitable business online are spot on!
I mean I am guilty of some of them myself.
Perseverance and patience are probably the hardest ones. Perseverance because at first you need to have the motivation to keep going despite poor or no results and patience because it is in human nature to obtain many nice things as soon as possible.
Thank you for the reminder and kind words.
Tatiana
Hi Tatiana
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed writing this article and sharing some of my experience with building an online business.
I agree, perseverance and patience are really testedg – in the beginning, it’s almost like a honeymoon period, right? After that, we have to push through the “tough” times to create a mature business.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience here too.
Blessings
Louise
Hi Louise,
Affiliate marketing is indeed not a get-rich-quick scheme, but something you need to curate with hard work, patience, and perseverance. I love you mention this key point upfront.
As for the platform, you showed how to build a website in under 60 seconds, it blows my mind. Not to mention it offers a free trial for everyone interested in affiliate marketing. I will take a closer look very soon. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Matt
Hi Matt
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave your input on this post.
Awesome to hear how you appreciated the speed of building a website in the platform – I look forward to watching you grow from success to success!
Blessings
Louise
This is a well written and easy to understand article about affiliate marketing. The 5 basics needed to become successful are not easy for every beginner. I think a teachable spirit is probably the most important as that usually couples with patience. Once marketers start seeing success, trust grows. As a member of Wealthy Affiliate I’ve been impressed with the training and level of support
Hi Kathy
Thank you so much.
I agree with you on the patience aspect – learning something new requires patience with ourselves, not always easy.
It is wonderful to receive confirmation from you of your experience of Wealthy Affiliate. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings
Louise
Hi Louise,
this is very comprehensive and clear article about affiliate marketing especially for beginners. I agree with everything you have exposed especially with this that it takes a lot of time and patience for the first results. It is important not to give up.
I’m glad you recommended Wealthy Affiliate. From experience I can confirm that this platform is great. It provides a lot of support along the way and without it it is hard to imagine any affiliate story.
By the way, I like your site a lot and I find extremely useful items.
I have bookmarked it!
Thank you and all the best.
Danijela
Hi Danijela
I appreciate the time you have taken to read this article and leave me feedback – thank you so much.
Yes, Wealthy Affiliate is my number one recommendation for good reason – reading your experience is great confirmation too.
It’s so rewarding to know that you appreciated my site, as you know, creating an online business is a lot of work. Thank you, thank you.
Blessings
Louise