3 Easy Ways for Newbies to Get Started in Affiliate Marketing

The internet is truly an amazing thing – it gives you access to almost anything you could ever want with just a click of the mouse; the web has changed the way we do almost everything, including business. Experts in the field tell us that the size of the web grows by more than a million pages daily! As more of us turn to the web for nearly everything – information, entertainment, business and many other reasons, this growth is certain to continue for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t take a business savant to realize that there is a lot of money to be made online – and this is an opportunity that no would-be entrepreneur should miss out on.

Are you thinking that only established businesses can make money online? Think again. You can make a lot of money online too, even if you are not an established business and have no products of your own to sell – but how? Through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing business model which lets you (the affiliate) get paid commissions for marketing the products or services of another company (the merchant). This is a rapidly growing industry and represents on e of the best ways to make money online; it is cost efficient for all parties involved and can make large profits for both merchant and affiliate.

Merchants get the opportunity to reach a much larger market than they would otherwise and affiliates make commissions. By leaving the marketing in the hands of affiliates, the merchant saves time and money which would otherwise be spent seeking out customers. Affiliates are usually paid by the sale – this can be either a percentage of the sale or a fixed fee per customer regardless of the size of the purchase.

If you want to get in on a piece of the money to be made in affiliate marketing, then following the three easy steps to starting an effective affiliate market venture can help you build success for your new business.

The first thing to do is to identify a niche which you are already interested in and know about so that you won’t have to spend as much time in researching the market. This will reduce the effort involved in starting up your affiliate marketing business and let you make a better website, since you will automatically be able to create better content which will convey your knowledge in the field and build yourself up as a credible voice – which leads to sales.

Second, seek out relevant affiliate programs which pay good commissions and build a website. You should find out about the conversion rates of any of these products or services; that is to say, the number of visitors who decide to buy. There are a number of affiliate networks and affiliate solution providers who can give you this information. Be sure to get all the facts before you make your decision.

After deciding on which field you will focus your efforts on, choosing a good product and creating a web site, then the next step is to get started promoting the product. This is the most important part of the business, of course since this is how you’ll drive traffic and earn commissions. If you are marketing big-ticket items, it’s possible to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. Of course, expensive items are always a harder sell, but if you use the right marketing strategies, then you can bring in the traffic which will lead to sales. Trying to tell you about even half of the ways to effectively market your affiliate products could take a book in and of itself – keep reading and strive to keep educating yourself on effective marketing and advertising techniques.

Remember that there is no guaranteed quick and easy way to make a success of your affiliate marketing business. All of the hype may make it seem like it will be easy to make enormous profits in the affiliate marketing business, but the truth is that you’ll have to put in a lot of hard work to make the money you want. You have to employ your creative powers and have the flexibility needed to take on new ideas to best promote your affiliate partner’s products and services to get the best results. Just signing up for an affiliate program and putting links on your site won’t make your affiliate marketing business a success. A lot of beginners don’t know this and simply give up on programs when they don’t give them the effortless overnight success they envisioned. However, if you go about things the right way, you really can make money in affiliate marketing, even as you sleep. Work hard and more importantly, work smart and you’ll build the success you want from your business.

27 Comments

  • Timothy Watson

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Great information as always Reed! One thing I always do is promote affiliate products that I actually use and that I feel can be beneficial. I am also trying cross merchandising, which I know from 16 years in the grocery business. I have an ad for my favorite hot sauce from Amazon on my marketing blog, for example. A lot of people love hot sauce, and this cant always be found easily.

    Tim

  • Bryan Hee

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    3 basic requirement to start an affiliate marketing;

    1. Product
    -front end, backend

    2. Website/Blog
    -provide valuable solution and information

    3. Traffic
    -Paid and Free Traffic

    To Your Success
    Bryan Hee

  • Hamid Mat Sain

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Nice article again from you Floren as always have been.Very apt and risghtly said.
    To the newbies thinking of plunging into Internet Marketing,almost all the advertisement trying to induce them into Network Marketing really doesn’t help. The hype and the misinformation in the title of the ads really fulfil Seth Godin’s book “All Marketers are liars…”.
    The truth is Internet Marketing is perhaps the easiest business to set in the sense that you do need much capital to start your business-almost no bank loans necessary,as opposed to brick and mortar business.But make no mistake,the amount of work,time and dedication to drive the business into motion let alone to succeed is no different.
    When you starting any new enterprise for income and profit,be it business or investment,there will always be some risk involved.Internet Marketing perhaps has the least risk as compared to the usual brick and mortar business.

    cheers

  • Luis

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Nice info as always Reed.I have been trying to earn money online but found out it is more difficult than it is than i thought.mostly i think the best way to learn is by my own mistakes. and try to feed myself with every bit of information i can and try different things.

    Luiss last blog post..** What is web 2.0 **

  • Saul Maraney

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Thanks for the great post!
    I am learning such wonderful information from you!
    Best regards,
    Saul Maraney
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    http://www.whatishooponopono.com

  • PV Reymond

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Hi Reed,

    Yes, affiliate marketing is the way to go when you are getting started.

    You can learn the basics and at the same time you get experience.

    On the other hand, you risk almost nothing. So, it is definitively the way to go.

    Thanks,
    ^PV Reymond

    http://www.pvreymond.com

  • Buzz Reed

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Reed,
    The usual hype for affiliate marketing is what we as marketers try to base our information and products on. It’s the “Newbies” that are our best customer. You as usual give the newbie a glimmer of hope and also valuable information, you keep writing I’ll keep reading.

    Buzz
    buzzreed.com

  • Anatoly Silkin

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    I thank! But I not in a condition to redeem your PRISE – on mine
    To card a zero!!!???Excuse, but I do not know English!!? Sincerely Anatoly Silkin.
    ?????????? ??????? ? ????? ??????????? -??????? ?????? !!!!!!!

  • Anatoly Silkin

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    I thank! But I not in a condition to redeem your PRISE – on mine To card a zero!!!??? Excuse, but I do not know English!!? Sincerely Anatoly Silkin. I CONGRATULATE AMERICA ON THE NEW PRESIDENT – BARRACK OBAMA!!!!!!!

  • Warren Brown

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Thank you for your ideas in Affiliate Marketing, this is a great avenue to make an income.
    Regards
    Warren

  • michael.f

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Reed, you captured the essence of becoming a affiliate marketer. You also have to learn some sort of marketing, of these products. And the obvious tools will be adwords, adsense, and your own testimony of the product/s. Good job

  • Timothy Millar

    Reply Reply November 6, 2008

    Hey Reed, Hope your day is going well, Affiliate
    marketing is the best and cheapest way to learn how to do business on the Internet,You can learn for free and eventually make some money but it will take plenty of hard work and tons of knowledge. Good luck to all that venture into the depths of Affiliate Marketing. Have a wonderful day, Timothy Millar “The Leprechaun”

  • John Counsel

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Right again with your advice, Reed.

    The BEST affiliate programs have a high-appeal, fast-paying FRONT end that delivers affiliates a quick profit of at least 50%, up-front, then offer an attractive BACK end RESIDUAL income stream that pays at least 20% to 35% every month.

    The back end should be more than just content (information or training) to keep members involved for more than 2-3 months. Necessary services, like e-commerce and autoresponders, etc, that members use every day in their businesses are a great offer for long-term profits.

    John Counsel
    CEO, The Profit Clinic

  • Wayne Bell

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Another great post Reed. Lots of good info. For anyone wanting to get started in affiliate marketing, here are some Free and paid programs we have found to be the best.

    Regards – Wayne

    Health, Happiness And Success
    Wayne & Susan Bell
    BELL’S HOME INCOME NETWORK DIRECTORY
    “Searching The World To Bring You The Best Online”

  • normz2

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Good post. Sound advice. I have to agree with Buzz. The best customers are the newbies. They are still on the learning curve and keep on buying even though their hard drives are filling up. I know, I have at least 30 gig of it on my hard drive. You have to find the niche and go with it.

  • Ernie Carroll

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Nice post Reed, as usual!
    I think the easiest way to get started with affiliate marketing is to put up a blog, do some article marketing to start getting traffic, and then use your profits to expand your knowledge and your revenue sources.

    Ernie Carrolls last blog post..Blogging to the Bank 3.0 – Honest Review

  • Jussi Koiranen

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Great post about the 101 of affiliate marketing, truly suitable for newbies, without any technobable.

  • Ishan

    Reply Reply November 7, 2008

    Great stuff!!! These ways to make money online are good..

    Thanks!

    Tripti Soni

  • Hj.Harith

    Reply Reply November 9, 2008

    Thank you. I am so sorry because I cannot make a comment here. At present I am still learning
    (complete novies) about online business.What
    I know, making business through online needs
    money along with good experiences on how to run
    online business activities. There are lots of this to acquire in order to get success.

  • admin

    Reply Reply November 9, 2008

    @Timothy thanks

    @Bryan good post

    @Hamid thank you

    @Luis nothing is as easy as it looks, but this is one of the easiest businesses to make successful

    @Saul you’re welcome

    @PV agreed affiliate marketing is great for newbies and veterans alike

    @Buzz thanks marketing at newbies can be very profitable

    @Anatoly not sure what you mean?

    @Warren you’re welcome

    @Michael thanks

    @Timothy thanks yes it’s not overnight

    @John yes those are nice affiliate programs

    @Wayne thank you

    @normz2 yes they are nice to have

    @Ernie it’s always good to reinvest

    @Jussi thanks

    @Ishan your comment has been edited

    @HJ continue reading this blog and you will find the answers

  • Jorge EZ Affiliate Blog

    Reply Reply November 11, 2008

    Like you say Reed; affiliate marketing requires a lot of hard work.

    Many people want to become rich overnight and when they don’t see INSTANT results they quit.

    Great post.

    Jorge

    Jorge EZ Affiliate Blogs last blog post..The BEST Affiliate Programs to Make Extra Money Online with a Website

  • Jussi Koiranen

    Reply Reply November 12, 2008

    Anymore knowledge as to how those trackbacklinks work? Now I’ve linked from my blogger to this article, but no trackbacklink is showing up… Weird!!

  • admin

    Reply Reply November 15, 2008

    @Jorge thanks

    @Jussi I’ve changed some settings on the blog it may have not let yours go on by mistake.

  • delords

    Reply Reply November 24, 2008

    Great Post Reed

    delordss last blog post..What types of Affiliate Programs To Join

  • admin

    Reply Reply November 26, 2008

    @delords thanks

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