The dawning of the internet has dramatically changed so many aspects of our lives. Rather than spending time walking around the shopping centre, we are ever more inclined to pull up a chair by the computer and dive into the world of the web and the numerous bargains it offers. For the entrepreneurial amongst us this has opened the window of opportunity wider than ever before, with people from around the globe able to promote the products and services they offer.
What’s more, those able to do the promoting can take a cut of the value of the sale; a win win situation for all involved. Affiliate marketing has provided financial freedom to thousands of individuals around the world and its popularity is continuing to increase.
For those wishing to cash in on the success of affiliate marketing you need not feel completely alone. There are many affiliate marketing networks to help you discover products to promote. Before selecting a network, it would be wise to do some research as to which will suit you best – although there is no reason not to join more than one.
Perhaps the most important factor is that of industry focus. One of the most common mistakes among new affiliates is to be lured by the high earnings potential of incredibly competitive sectors such as consumer finance, electronics or even the adult industry. You are best to focus on areas where you have genuine insight and passion. Building an affiliate business is a long haul and you are competing with just about everyone that has access to the web so differentiation is vital. Once you have decided on one or more sectors, you can then seek out suitable affiliate programs and networks.
ClixGalore is one of the best known affiliate marketing networks in Australia. With over 20,000 different digital products on display for you to promote and commissions of up to 75% of the value of the sale, this isn’t a great surprise. It’s free to sign up as an affiliate and there is in most cases no waiting around for the approval of the merchant of the product which enables you to start selling quickly and easily.
If you`re looking to sell for some well known brands such as ANZ, Apple or Foxtel you might want to consider using DGM as your affiliate marketing network. Everything from flowers to books, music and fashion are available for promotion through this network.
If you’ve been looking at getting into Affiliate Marketing but not quite sure how to get started on that website design then make sure you have a look at using Wordpress as your CMS/ design theme.
Wordpress is absolutely FREE of charge and can be installed in a few minutes if your web host has Fantastico as an option within their cPanel (ask your host if you are unsure). Also if you are looking to update the look and feel of your site you will find most updates and plugins available free of charge as well.
Wordpress is very intuitive to use and you can create highly targeted niche content sites to market affiliate products or generate adsense income.
For a step by step guide on using Wordpress go to http://umwblogs.org/wiki/index.php/A_step-by-step_guide_for_using_WordPress.
An affiliate niche is simply an area of affiliate marketing that you and your website/s focus on. So what’s the best and easiest way to find the niche your are going to go after?
Choose something you enjoy
Many people make the mistake of simply going for affiliate products that everyone else is promoting as well and as a result lose interest quickly and never really make any money from their affiliate marketing business. Choose a niche that you enjoy and are passionate about such as dogs, cars, beauty tips etc and you will find it easier to stay on track and keep an interest in your affiliate quest!
Utilise the skills you already have
Are you good at something? Do you have specific talents or skills? All of these can give you ideas as to what niche you should be targeting. If you choose a product or service that relate to skills and talents you already have you will find it much easier to show customers about the products and how they can be used in their everyday life. You will also find it easier to educate people and attract traffic to your website through article marketing.
Choose a niche where there is demand
Being passionate about a topic and having skills related to it will not necessarily sell products. If there is not a demand for the things you are passionate about then the reality is you probably won’t be making much money.That is why it is important to also look for affiliate products that are in high demand and that other people want to buy as well.
Research your keywords
Since affiliate marketing is primarily online focused, it is important to find out what keywords people are looking for related to the products you are choosing and how popular these keywords are. Take some time to use keyword research tools (Google offers a very handy one) to find out how popular search terms for the products you want to sell are and whether it is worth pursuing.
What I suggest you do is write down a list of things you are passionate about and then use keyword research to find out how popular these topics are with others before choosing your affiliate marketing niche. If you do this it can end up saving you hundreds of dollars in testing a niche- as well as saving the initial setup effort along the way!
With the pressures of work and long hours these days, people are looking to alternative forms of income to help them boost their lifestyle, extra cash for the weekend or to ultimately work from home. Affiliate Marketing appears to be a simple way for people to start out with this goal but inevitably most will be doomed to failure.
Affiliate Marketing requires patience, persistence and a lot (and I mean a lot) of hard work. When I first started out in affiliate marketing I was working a 40-hour a week job + around 40 hours per week on affiliate marketing. When starting out you ask yourself on many occasions if this is the right thing to be doing, but when that first commission cheque comes through ($80 in my case) i gives you the boost you need and the will to continue with your work.
So what is the best way to start out in Affiliate Marketing? There is no true answer to this, as your working and home-life will affect any outcome. But if you have a push in the right direction prior to starting it can save some heartache, frustration and more importantly CASH!
Choosing your website niche
The first step in creating an affiliate presence is choosing your niche. You’re going to be working with this project for a long time so I suggest choosing something that you are interested in so you keep motivated. Choosing a niche you think makes money although you have no interest in will ultimately get the better of you. As things slow and your motivation witters away so will your dedication to the project and you will most likely drop your plan.
Website Design
From a customers perspective, this is your first point of presence with the customer. Once they are on your site they will evaluate whether to continue with your website or not within the first second. If you homepage is not inviting or covered in advertising they will most likely hot the back button on their browser and go to a competitors website.
So where is the best place to start? If you are not technical (like myself) you can either learn how to design websites from scratch or as I did learn how to utilise web templates to form your web presence. There are many FREE web templates that you can use for your design including:
- www.freewebtemplates.com
- www.freewebsitetemplates.com
- www.steves-templates.com
Once you have decided on your website layout you will need a WYSIWYG (What you see if what you get) editor. There are a few free editors avaialbe on the web but if you can grab a copy of Dreamweaver it will make your life much easier!
