Affiliate marketing for beginners & dummies – how to find the best affiliate program and make sense with affiliate marketing
What is Affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing refers to the process wherein a commission is earned by an affiliate by marketing for the product of another person or company. The process is quite simple. An affiliate looks for products he enjoys and then goes on to promote it. He gets a share of the profit that comes from each sale made by the company. Affiliate links from a website to another track the sales.
Why Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is indeed quite a lucrative prospect, which has a lot to offer. For one thing, it is quite an excellent way of earning money as you have to promote products which are already somewhat popular. Merchants need to enhance their profits, and for this, they need online advertisers, which is where affiliate marketing comes into the picture. Popular products have already made some place among the consumers because of their quality. Therefore, you can use this popularity to acquire the attention of online consumers and get a commission without having to do much.
On the other hand, the products which are not really widespread need to be started with essential advertising and promotions. In this case, the process would be gradual.
Another reason that affiliate marketing is a better option is that you will find it to be a whole lot easier than having to build your company. A lot of time and effort goes into establishing a company and creating products. Lengthy processes are involved. In affiliate marketing, you are absolved from all these responsibilities.
Furthermore, affiliate marketing is not really complicated. It comprises of a few steps which are quite straightforward. However, keep in mind that it is a marketing tool. Thus, it is vital that your skills in marketing and up to date and polished if you want this venture to be a success.
In the case of affiliate marketing, you can be assured that profits come in relatively faster. A bit of your time, effort, and marketing knowledge is required. You do not have to invest anything financially in the program.
5 steps to start affiliate marketing
If you are looking to cash in on this opportunity, let us make things easier for you by guiding you through the steps.
Find a niche
The first step is finding a niche. You can think of the niche as a subset of a large market. For instance, if sports is a large market, basketball is a niche of this market.
When you are starting in the affiliate marketing industry, you will need to select a niche. It is advisable to find a small enough niche, which makes it easier for you to identify your targeted audience. At the same time, the niche needs to have adequate scope for profit. Those who can succeed in affiliate marketing are the ones who select a niche that they have some knowledge. Opt for something that gets you excited. It would be a good idea to do some research regarding the expected profitability of your niche. Take a look at products, services, and competitors related to the niche you are thinking of focusing on. You can explore trends, do keyword research, and look for top influencers for the purpose.
Sign up for affiliate programs
There are plenty of affiliate programs you will come across, and most of them do not require any fee for joining. You will need to look for affiliate programs that would serve your targeted audience and niche in the best possible way.
Some companies feature affiliate programs on their website so you can reach out to the brands directly while looking for affiliate programs. Another option is to search within the affiliate networks and find the brands and merchants you are interested in.
Build a “sales funnel.”
Sales funnel refers to a defined path taken by consumers before they make a purchase. The goal is to make a sale. However, sometimes the sales funnel can also be used for enticing leads to sign up for email marketing. There are four steps in building a sales funnel.
The first process is awareness wherein your target finds out about you via different means like social media and search engine portals. You then have to make the audience interesting in your offering. A specific desire has to be created for the product or service you are selling. Finally, you have to work to convert the leads into action.
If you use sales funnel in the right manner, it can be pivotal in turning leads into potential customers. Via sales funnel, you can have a better track of the sales process. This can also be crucial in enabling you to improve your strategy of marketing. Sales funnel narrows your focus and make it easier for you to reach out to your audience.
Drive traffic to the funnel
Once your sales funnel is ready, the next step is driving traffic to the funnel. There is a bit of work that you will need to do for the purpose. First of all, your website needs to be optimized for search rankings. This would increase the visibility of your website and thus play a vital role in the success of your affiliate marketing venture. For your sales funnel to be a success, your target audience needs to be aware of the brand and search engine optimization can be of immense help in this regard.
Keyword research, on-page optimization, and backlinks to your sites are some of the ways via which you can optimize your website. Featuring high-quality content will also prove to be of immense value. Effective sales funnel benefits a great deal with the profound quality of content, something which is easy to read and is informative as well. Try to present a unique perspective via your content and engage your targeted audience. The content needs to be reader-friendly, as well.
Lastly, make a trust-building landing page which would strike the final nail and make your sales funnel success. This is the last step which completes the desired action. This page needs to be capable of building trust and credibility among the audience. It needs to compel visitors to make a purchase. Make it feasible for the visitors and use multimedia where possible.
Build a relationship and pitch them via email marketing
You need to focus on building a bond with your visitors, and this is where email marketing can be of assistance. In the email, you need to ensure that you do not come across as someone desperate to make a sale. Instead, you need to talk about what is beneficial about your product in a simple way. Personalization can help in this. Your audience needs to feel the connection. Therefore, make sure that the emails are interesting with well-written content.
Why you should build a funnel and email list
You might be wondering whether it is worth the effort to create a funnel and email list for the success of your affiliate marketing venture. The truth is, you will find it to be quite beneficial in the long run.
For one thing, with the increase in ad cost, a sales funnel can make sure that your focus is narrowed and you have a clear picture of your targeted audience. Once you have a sales funnel, you have a clear idea of who you need to approach to make a sale. Thus, the money is in the list. The list tells you where there is scope for profit. The email list and the funnel would prove to be a long-term asset as you can use them to improve your marketing strategy and enhance your profits significantly.
Tools you need for affiliate marketing
There are some tools which can make sure that affiliate marketing becomes easier for you. Let us provide you with some examples.
Clickfunnels – funnel builder
Clickfunnels is one of those tools that you can use to build your funnel. A lot of factors work in favor of this tool. For one thing, it is quite easy to customize. It takes quite a lot of time to build landing pages that are capable of making an impression. With Clickfunnels, the process becomes easier. The tool is user-friendly, and it is not necessary that you have the technical knowledge to use it.
You are provided with professionally designed templates via this tool. Thus, minimal effort is required for designing the landing page. A few clicks would get the job done.
With this tool, it would become a whole lot easier for you to build the sales funnel. The tool also covers a large number of autoresponders. It saves a lot of your time and takes care of multiple aspects of the sales funnel. You get a unified dashboard with this tool.
(Clickfunnels is a software for building websites, to learn more about Clickfunnels review and learn about Clickfunnels price, you can also check funnel hacks and funnel builder secrets for the best clickfunnels discount)
Activecampaign – the email autoresponder
This is another useful tool which would make it easy for you to build email listing. It makes tagging easy. If you want to keep a tab on your subscribers, learn what they have downloaded, what they are interested in and whether they are taking any action on the email that you have sent them, you simply have to create a tag and tad them, and this is where Active Campaign will be valuable. The campaign builder allows you to create the tag with a lot of ease.
The tool is quite easy to use. It is highly unlikely that you would be confused by it. It makes navigation feasible and convenient.
Easy setup of automation is offered by the tool. You can segment your list via the tool based on the action taken by your subscribers on your email.
Building the list is crucial for every business and affiliate marketing. This tool makes the process easier and that too at a reasonable price. Another interesting point is that no fee has to be paid for the migration of stuff. All that you need to do is let the customer support know that you are looking for free migration and your work will be done.
Wealthy Affiliate – website hosting and support community
This is another tool which will come to your assistance in affiliate marketing. If you are wondering why this tool is worth a shot, let us explain what gives it an edge over other options.
For one thing, no payment is involved when you get started with Wealthy Affiliate. It would not ask for your credit card information. All that you need to do is set up your account, and your work will be done. Furthermore, this is not a free trial period. You can remain a free member till whenever you feel like it. Thus, there is no risk involved. A bit of your time is that is needed to get started. In case you think that this tool is not right for you, you can cancel the membership, and no harm will be done.
The tool offers you a step by step training. Different training modules are offered, and you can select the affiliate marketing content you prefer. The tool has a competent and reliable customer support service which is available throughout the week at any time of the day for your assistance. You will get a prompt response of your queries, and they will make sure that you do not feel abandoned at any point.
The training they offer is affordable, and you can select the program you deem fit with ease. Furthermore, there are no upsells or unexpected costs. This is not one of those tools that endeavor to squeeze out as much money from the consumers as possible. You will be provided with up to date materials and will get the assistance that you are looking for. This tool will surely make affiliate marketing a whole lot easier for you.
Click Here to get my free affiliate marketing training for beginners
How to build your funnel
you should also build a funnel to build your email list, I highly recommend clickfunnels which is a really powerful software to build a list and make money with it, you can read this Clickfunnels review and learn about Clickfunnels pricing, you can also check funnel hacks and funnel buiilder secerts for the best clickfunnels discount
Now that we have elaborated on how you can make your venture of affiliate marketing success and the role that sales funnel plays let us shed some light on how you can build this funnel.
1. Build a “funnel” using Clickfunnels – Clickfunnels
Clickfunnels makes it quite easy for you to build your sales funnel. Simply go to their website, http://getcffreetrial.com, and find the details. The tool is quite user-friendly, and you will not find yourself confused with the whole process.
2. Build an opt-in page
Once you have signed up with the tool, you can build an opt-in page which would direct your traffic.
3. Setup follow-ups emails – Active Campaign
After you have a clear idea of your targeted audience, you will need to reach out to them in an interesting way. Active Campaign will make this easier for you. Visit http://getacfreetrial.com, where you will find all the information to start your email marketing.
4. Integrate Clickfunnels with active campaign
Combine the two platforms to make sure that your sales funnel is integrated with your email list. This will make sure that you are able to reach out to your targeted audience in an effective manner.
5. Drive traffic
Finally, you will need to focus on driving traffic to your funnel. This can be a challenging step and might require some effort on your part. However, if you are aware of what approach needs to be taken, you will not face a lot of difficulty in attracting traffic your way.
How to Drive Traffic to Your Funnel
Solo ads
Solo ads are an effective way of driving traffic since these ads manage to make an impression and create brand awareness as well. If you want an eye-catching solo ad which reeks of high quality, you can visit https://99soloads.com.
Email marketing
You can also attract traffic by means of email marketing. Email marketing allows you to build a bond with your targeted audience. You can form a real connection with them. Active Campaign can make this step easier for you. Visit their website http://getacfreetrial.com and sign up for their services. In case you want to know more about email marketing and how you can use it for your benefit, you can visit https://emailmarketingcookbook.com to get training, free of cost.
YouTube videos
People respond to YouTube videos better. If you have a well-made YouTube view that speaks in favor of your product or site, you will find that a lot of people will be attracted to your site.
Facebook ads
Everyone uses Facebook these days. Thus, if you want to get the word out and increase traffic, you can use Facebook ads for the purpose.
Blog Traffic
Blog traffic is another impressive way of generating traffic. People turn to the internet to look for information on various topics, and thus, blog traffic can work quite well in your favor. Wealthy affiliate is among the best blogging platforms that you can make use of. Visit their website http://joinwa.com and sign up for free.
If you wish to learn more about the subject, you can get free training at http://bloggingincomeblueprint.com.
Others Ways to Drive Traffic
There are plenty of other ways of driving traffic. If you want to know more about this, you can visit http://nickaffiliatebootcamp.com and learn the different tactics that will make it easier for you to drive traffic.
Why You Should Build A Funnel
a funnel is the ultimate way to do affiliate marketing, if you want to build one, Clickfunnels is a really powerful software for building funnels, can read this Clickfunnels review and learn about Clickfunnels pricing plan, you can also check funnel hacks and funnel builder secrets for the best clickfunnels special offer to learn more about this tool
