By Chris Walker
So, what is the best home business to start? Depending on whom you ask,
the answers will vary. But anyone who actually makes a living online will tell
you that affiliate marketing is the way to go. People simply love the
idea of affiliate marketing. In fact, many are taking it up full-time. You can
make thousands a year advertising other peoples products online--you are paid
every time you help generate a sale. But it is not that simple--you have to
know exactly what to do if you are to make money.
So lets quickly run over the some of basics of affiliate marketing...
With affiliate marketing, you are promoting someone else's product,
website, or service. When a visitor clicks on your affiliate link on your
website (or through your ads) and makes a purchase from the merchant you are
promoting, you get a commission. The commission amount you are paid is based on
the commission % and the price of the product. In the end, both the merchant
and affiliate win as they help grow each other's businesses.
From a merchants perspective...
Companies like the idea of using affiliates to grow their business, so
they usually offer generous commission to lure potential affiliates in (up to
75%). Companies can then have thousands of affiliates promoting their products
and only have to pay the affiliate if a sale is made.
You can work with as many companies as you'd like when you're an
affiliate. All you have to do after you get your affiliate link is get as much
traffic as possible to the merchant website.
Many companies can't do without affiliates-who usually do the boatload
of advertising.
The lifestyle you lead...
Affiliate marketing allows you to work at your own pace and be your own
boss. You choose the hours you want to work. The amount of money you can make
with affiliate marketing is virtually limitless.
With that being said, you can clearly see why affiliate marketing is the
best way to make money online.
Now lets run over some important rules...
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| Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
To me, familiarizing yourself with the product you are promoting is the
key to affiliates writing a comprehensive review. When you actually own the
product that you recommend, your visitors will be in awe of your in depth
analysis (lets face it, you can't fake a good review).
Your review should point out the good, as well as the bad, of a product/service;
you must be unbiased at all cost. If you neglect writing a good review, then
your customers won't believe you, and they will quickly exit your site in favor
of a more reliable source. This is a rule that many affiliate marketers look
past, but I guarantee if they would follow this first rule they would have
sales going through the roof.
When I first started using this technique a couple of years ago I simply
couldn't believe how much it helped my sales conversions.
So don't be lazy; know your product and then write the best review
possible.
Rule #2: If you bought it, you should use it.
It shocks me when people purchase a book or guide but don't actually use
it. You have got to put your plan in motion and use the products you purchase
to your advantage. That means you must read and reread every chapter and
implement every technique you learn. That is exactly what I do and I make a
living online because of it.
The bottom line is that most people don't want to read and follow simple
instructions; they want an easier way out. What you want to do is read and
implement. If you do that, you will have great success with affiliate
marketing.
While I know many people hate the idea of buying anything, it truly is
an advantage when you know something that your competition doesn't. So rule# 2
is to pick up a quality affiliate marketing guide, read it, and put it in
motion by applying all of the techniques that you learn. If you are serious
about making money online, you have to learn as much as possible.
Rule #3: Choosing the right products
If you want any kind of success with affiliate marketing you are going
to have to choose the right products. That means you must join a good affiliate
program--the last thing you need is to be in business with a bad merchant who
doesn't pay as promised and/or has a dismal affiliate program altogether.
Most affiliate programs are free to join. You must spend time finding
high quality affiliate programs if you are to make money. But if you want to
save time and choose from quality merchants all in one place, you can just
check out some affiliate networks. All you have to do is sign up once and
you're introduced to thousands of products from many different companies.
The main advantage of an affiliate network is that, unlike individual
affiliate programs, they will pay you from their network as opposed to
individual companies sending you separate paychecks. For example, if I join the
affiliate programs of Citibank, Circuit City, and Best Buy, I would receive 3
separate commission paychecks. But if I were to sign up to these programs
directly through a network I would receive one big fat paycheck instead of
three separate checks.
The other advantage of the networks is that affiliate programs are
ranked so you know which ones are doing good and which ones you should stay
away from.
Bonus Tip # 1: Don't always go after the
products with highest commission payouts, they tend to convert less--even
though there are exceptions such as gambling and computer products that convert
very well in spite of higher prices. For now, you should stick with lower
priced ($50 or less) products until you are more experienced with affiliate
marketing; they convert at incredible clips.
When you apply this rule, you will have more customers that are willing
to pay at your doorstep.
Rule #4: Getting Traffic
It's not just the products; it is your marketing ability that will make
you money. The marketing methods that you use will ultimately earn you the
money, not the products alone. And one technique that you are going to have to
master is getting as much traffic as possible. Lets face it, no matter how
great your product is, you still need traffic.
I will briefly cover the best ways to get traffic.
Lets start with...
Good ol' SEO...
First, you should apply some white hat Search Engine Optimization: Link
exchanges, writing high quality content, submitting your website to the major
and second tier directories, writing articles, writing press releases etc.
Use viral marketing to grow your business...
Take advantage of viral marketing. Give away free reports, free ebooks,
and free downloads. You should make it possible that your subscribers can give
it away to there visitors and audience as well. This will quickly spread the
name of your business and generate unprecedented traffic.
Pay-per-click advertising...
Last, but certainly not least, is pay-per-click advertising. The best
PPC service is Google Adwords. Running a successful campaign can get a bit
tricky, but if you get it right, you receive highly targeted traffic instantly.
If you use these three techniques, you give yourself a much better
chance of getting a high volume of quality traffic.
Rule #5: You are going to need a website
In the last lesson I covered different ways you can get traffic. Now we
are going to talk about the importance of a website. Yes, you can send traffic
directly to you merchants by Direct Linking and see some success without
a website, but to really take advantage of affiliate marketing you must a
have good website. With a solid website, you can "wow" your
visitors with great content, take advantage of email marketing, write reviews
for different products, provide reliable information, sell ads (such as Google
Adsense), and so much more.
Rule #6: Using pop ups to your advantage...
When someone visits your website, you only have about 5-10 seconds to
grab the visitors attention. What happens if you do all that work to get
traffic and the visitor leaves and never returns? You have wasted time and
money advertising and implementing SEO techniques. A good way you can turn that
traffic into loyal visitors is to have popups that advertise your
newsletter or any other particular offers you may have. What happens is a
customer likes your websites presentation and sees a pop-up window and decides
to give you their email address for future references.
I highly recommend you take advantage of using popovers; they are great
attention grabbers and it is a must for any affiliate marketer looking to grow
his or her opt-in list. Remember your opt-in list is where some of your most
loyal customers will come from.
Last Thoughts...
Affiliate marketing is a dream come true for anyone looking to earn
money from home. It has changed my life and I am now doing things that I never
thought possible. If you work hard, it will happen for you as well.
Article Source: EzineArticles expert: Chris Walker
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