Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: Guide on How To Start

The affiliate marketing niche is a multibillion-dollar industry for everyone to join and create a side income. It's perfect for creators, stay home moms, students, and individuals with an internet connection. One of the common ways e-commerce brands market their products is by displaying different products and services.

That was only one example of ways you can make money with affiliate marketing.

This blog post will give you different stats and examples of affiliate marketing programs and offers you can use to start and make money online. Here is another reason you should join this Market, Statista reports shows that over two billion people purchased goods or services online, and e-retail sales purchased 4.2 trillion dollars worldwide each year.

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Most of the best affiliate marketing programs are free to join, making the entry barrier easier. Plus, you can always test different offers without quitting your day job until you find a winner. The perfect side hustles for extra income and overtime to a total payment.

Don't you worry; I got you covered on how you can start today. This beginner's guide is all you need to hit the ground running.

Shortcuts✂️

What is affiliate marketing and how it works?

The benefits of affiliate marketing

How much can you make as a new affiliate marketer

Roadmap to affiliate marketing as a beginner

Earning passive income with affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing for beginners FAQ

Conclusion

What is affiliate marketing and how it works?

Affiliate Marketing is when a company pays a third party (the affiliate) to sell its product or service. This transaction is known in the business as a sales model. If you saw a social media post or listened to a podcast promoting a product, this was affiliate marketing. For recommending services or products to their audience, they get a commission on any sales generated by referral.

The way it works for you after choosing an affiliate marketing program, you'll receive a unique link or code that will track your sales. That allows affiliate companies to track who is reporting the sales and attribute a commission.

There are a lot of affiliate programs to choose from, ex: ShareAsale, MaxBounty, MaxWeb, and more. The best for the beginner's affiliate network, I would recommend starting with Clickbank. There is no prequalification or any experience needed to join this affiliate program.

Regardless of the affiliate program, here's how it all worked:

Store X as something to sell, you decide to promote it on your blog or social network.
Someone sees your offer and clicks on your unique link.
They buy something from store X.
Your tracking link is reporting to the company of the Affiliate network.
The purchase is confirmed by store X.
You receive a commission from store X.

For example, let's say you have a new liquor brand. Knowing that you need brand awareness, you could reach out to Evangeline's Pralines & Cream Liqueur to talk and influence people about your incredible drinks or liqueur.

Once people click on the link in the bio, they are redirected to a website or a product page. The good thing about your unique affiliate link, it comes with a cookie that stays on the browser and device.

Even if the person would exit the browser or the site, the cookie would still track that person's activity. Make sure you still get your commission after the person comes back and makes a purchase.

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The benefits of affiliate marketing

Now that you understand the core concept of Affiliate marketing, let's talk about a few benefits.

No need to own or acquire the vendor's product

Most affiliate marketing programs are public and sell at a large scale, so you don't need to buy the product you recommend. Amazon associates, for example, you can grab a link and start promoting it on your blog, social profile, or website.

Amazon Associates is also an excellent place to start as a beginner; there is no need to spend a lot of money on a physical or digital product, and easy to get approved.

Another great thing about Amazon associates, you can take your time to test different products and see which one resonates the most with your audience.

It's a good side hustle

The traffic you generate by building an audience on your blog or social media profiles will guide you when choosing an affiliate partner. When choosing your affiliate partners, you want to make sure they are the most appealing to your audience.

Combining the right audience and affiliate partners and your unique affiliate links and codes will bring you a day-after-day recurring commission.

Limiteless on earning potential

Newcomers can make a six-figure income. It may not happen on your first affiliate marketing campaign, but the potential is there for you to take and replace your 9 to 5.

An excellent example of that is Pat Flynn; he has reported earning up to $170,000 per month thanks to the affiliate marketing business.

Another great example; is the founder of Biking Know How Rohan Kadam also turned his blog from a side gig into a successful online business by using affiliate commissions. He did it during the never-ending COVID pandemic.

How much can you make as a new affiliate marketer

It all depends on the Affiliate marketing program you are involved with. Amazon associates program offers between 1% to 10% (by the time of writing this) commissions on sales. Others like, MaxBounty, and MaxWeb go from 50% to 80% commissions.

But since you are a complete beginner, I would go with ButcherBox andThrive Market, offering a flat $20 commission per sale. You can also join affiliate programs that offer recurring commissions as high as 30% per sale.

There is no limitation on earning income with affiliate marketing; it's really up to you and how much traffic and people you can reach. The affiliate program plays a significant role in your earnings and the affiliate offers.

Exciting facts by Statista reports that the affiliate marketing industry has reached $8.2 billion in 2022. Based on the 2017 report at $5.4 Billion.

So it's there for the taking, the Market is growing, and there's no sign of stopping soon. Google trends show a high demand & interest of 142% from 2016 to the present towards affiliate marketing products and Market, which keeps growing each year.

You can read the full Google Trends report here.

Roadmap to affiliate marketing as a beginner

Choose a Market between Health Wealth and Relationship
Choose your affiliate platform
Find Affiliate offers and programs
Start creating valuable content
Build your tribe of followers and fans
Be careful about what you say, promote, and follow FTC regulations.

1. Decide on a Niche

A niche is a more significant market segment defined by its unique characteristics. You become the expert in that market segment, and you are the go-to guy or girl.

Yoga for women is a niche market in health. Making money online is a niche market for wealth, and a dating website for men over 40 would be the relationship.

Here are the top affiliate marketing niches found by Easy Affiliate:

Lifestyle and wellness
Technology
Personal finance
Pet care

Of course, plenty more affiliate programs you can decide. But how do you find a good and profitable niche of interest to you?

Some things you need to consider:

Are you interested in this niche?Because to be an expert on that topic for your niche market, some knowledge and passion are necessary. To stay on top of your affiliate marketing games, you want to know more than the next guy and the vendor.

Can you solve problems? Most affiliate marketers have some knowledge of something or in a specific niche. This knowledge will give you an edge when presenting your subject to your niche market.

Is it worth it and profitable? The best place to answer those questions is Google, do a quick research on google and see if there's a good amount of search on that niche or topic. You can also read market reports on google Trends and Statista. Competition in a niche market is not always destructive; it also means opportunity.

Your goal is to be in a Niche market you enjoy talking about and learning. No need to focus on the six figures; for now, commit yourself that you're playing the long game.

2. Choose your affiliate platform

Your next step is to evaluate the different platforms you'll use for your business. For example, you can go on Clickbank, open an account and decide to promote offers from Clickbank using your Facebook profile or TikTok, and maybe Instagram.

There are two main ways to choose as a beginner:

Niche topic or product review site

An example of a product review site is the New York times Wirecutter site. They review companies' products for a specific audience and compare products with each other.

Digital content

This way of affiliate marketing is mainly done by creators, bloggers, social media influencers, and YouTubers. Every day they create content for their audience and publish that content so it can resonate with their audience. Doing so encourages clicks.

Picture provided by rob.com:

Being honest and authentic to your audience is key to success in affiliate marketing. The lack of connection with your audience will result in a poor purchase experience.

Still not sure about what platform to choose? My advice would be to start with the one you are most comfortable with and use every day. Maybe you are good at writing or blogging, then that could be your first route.

Using a platform you are already familiar with is a considerable start; it will help you create content, communicate more efficiently, and drive affiliate sales.

3. Find affiliate marketing programs

You probably already guess it; there are plenty of affiliate marketing programs. According to Mediakix, 80% of companies use affiliate marketing. There is no need to tell you that you will find one for yourself.

When starting, I made the one mistake was choosing only the high-paying affiliate programs. I suggest you start with something that will appeal to your audience instead.

Here are other things t look for when choosing your affiliate program:

Does the program have a great market reputation?Never work with an unknown affiliate marketing program. Suitable for your affiliate journey, networks like ShareASale and Clickbank vet programs and present reliable, profitable merchants you can work with.

Does the program have a good commission rate?The commission rate is one thing to look at. It's not the only thing but one major thing. Many affiliate programs pay you 10-20%, others 50% to 80% with more experience. Take your time to choose the rate that works for you.

Does it have a high earnings per click (EPC) rate?EPC means (Earning Per click); this is an industry-wide metric that shows the average affiliate earning per 100 clicks. Most affiliate programs show you the EPC, like ShareASale and Clickbank, on each merchant. for example, chees store has a 5% per sale rate and an EPC of $36.48, which means you can earn almost 40$ on every click.

It is critical for your affiliate marketing business to choose the right program. Some good examples of affiliate marketing technics like the True Crime Obsessed podcast. It's a podcast on the comedy niche about true crime documentaries.

You can learn a lot about this particular niche; they've garnered over 70 million downloads in one year.

You can find many different products and services in each episode. Plus, there is a dedicated promo code page related to the nice.

You can always ask your favorite brand if they have an ambassador or affiliate program.

You could be one of the first to promote, and you get to promote something you already enjoy doing.

An excellent place to start where you can find products and brands to work with, check these affiliate marketplaces:

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4. Start creating valuable content

The good thing about that is people, on average, spend 170 minutes online. Consume content online is normal, but be more valuable to your audience with quality content to stand out.

Blogs are example, Findstack reports that more than 65% of affiliate marketers generate traffic through blogging alone.

If you ever wonder if you need a website to do affiliate marketing> The answer is no! Statista reported that people all over the world spend on average 145 minutes on social media per day.

Promoting on social media is a free way to get your content into the hands of the people that might be interested. Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok are suitable platforms to advertise your affiliate offers.

Many affiliates only advertise on social media, like @amandacerny and many more, if you have built a blog, researched, and understand the principle of search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is another way to do affiliate marketing; bright edge reported that SEO drives more than 1,00% of traffic than organic social media. Remember that SEO does take some time but is crucial to reach your audience.

Another great way is Email Marketing. Keep in mind that this type of audience has to be already acquired by you, or you can look for solo ad networks.

Ressources from shopify:

5. Build your tribe of followers and fans

The first step of building an audience is to reach them first. Email marketing is an excellent way to get your target audience directly. Once they subscribe, you can send new content and new offers a day or every few days.

If your only focus is on social media, you can always tag influencers in your niche market. Always think about new ways to increase your traffic to that affiliate link.

After getting their attention, the battle is almost complete. You want to build trust with your audience to keep them coming back. One piece of advice you can follow from PageOneCoffee "Write on things that will create value for your audience and help them connect and make a better and more informed decision on their choices they have."

Don't try to sell them something first to your audience. The game's name is to have a genuine interest, and by doing so, they will trust you.

6. Follow FTC regulations

Unfortunately, we need some regulation due to some weird affiliate marketing practices. The goal of the FTC is to protect the public from scams and misleading information.

The FTC requires you to display or disclose any financial relationship or product you promote to prevent this. It is essential to inform your audience that they might be a financial benefice from promoting a specific product. Also, do not forget to let them know that there are clicking on an affiliate link. That is the best way to stay out of the FTC mirror.

Ressources:

The FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking
FTC Disclosure for Affiliates: The Definitive Guide

How to Earn passive income with affiliate marketing ?

Selecting the Right Niche

Choosing the right niche is crucial in affiliate marketing. Your niche should align with your interests and expertise. Research and select a niche that is profitable and has a demand in the market. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends to identify trending niches.

Select a niche you are passionate about, but also consider its profitability. Research keywords and competition to find the right balance.

Choosing Profitable Affiliate Programs Once you've decided on your niche, it's time to choose affiliate programs. Look for programs that offer competitive commissions, high-quality products or services, and good affiliate support.

Creating High-Quality Content Content is king in affiliate marketing. Create informative and engaging content that resonates with your audience. Your content can include product reviews, how-to guides, and comparisons. Ensure your content provides value and encourages readers to take action.

Implementing SEO Strategies

Search engine optimization (SEO) is vital for affiliate marketing success. Optimize your content with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and high-quality backlinks. This will help your content rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Affiliate marketing for beginners FAQ

FAQ 1: How do i start affiliate marketing as a beginner?

Decide on a Niche
Choose your platform.
Find relevant affiliate marketing programs.
Create valuable content.
Build an audience.
Follow FTC regulations.

FAQ 2: How much do beginner affiliate marketers make?

Beginner affiliate marketers can make between 30%-75% commission per sale, depending on the affiliate program.

FAQ 3: What are the best affiliate marketing opportunites for beginners?

Places to look for affiliate marketplaces like:

CJ Affiliate
ClickBank
FlexOffers
ShareAsale
Awin

FAQ 4: How do I choose the perfect niche for affiliate marketing?

Select a niche you are passionate about, but also consider its profitability. Research keywords and competition to find the right balance.

FAQ 5: Can I join multiple affiliate programs?

Yes, you can join multiple affiliate programs, but it's essential to manage them effectively. Focus on programs that align with your niche and audience.

Conclusion

I hope you're interested in getting into affiliate marketing, because it's a smart way to earn extra, even full-time, income online. If you put in the time and effort, you'll be rewarded in the long term, without breaking the bank and with little risk.

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