How Affiliate Marketing Works? ( FREE Beginners Course)

Affiliate Marketing is selling other people’s products or services for a commission. Lets learn how affiliate marketing works.

It is just being a salesman but a salesman online.

Does affiliate marketing actually work?

Yes it does. It requires consistent effort and a strategy. If done correctly it does not require a lot of website visits or lots of visits to your free pages to generate a decent income.

I have seen and heard of people making a lot of money using whatsapp. While this is good for them, I do not like how they are being unethical in promoting the links.

I will share how they are gaming the system. This is something I saw first hand and since then have been trying to educate people to be ethical in how they carry on this business.

I had mentioned this long back in this post.

How do you become an affiliate marketer?

Here is the 3 step process of Affiliate Marketing at its simplest form. There is more to affiliate marketing than just these 3 steps which we will cover later in this post.

How Affiliate Marketing Works? Decide on a niche you would work in. Find the best products and services you think will help this niche. Sign up as an affiliate for these programs. Promote these and generate a commission on sales.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy

This is the strategy which works. Just adapt the strategy based on whatever platform you are using to promote. The way it is implemented will change based on the platform ( such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest)

I spend a lot of time in this section. If you want to make money with Affiliate Marketing, you must learn how to find good topics to write about.

What is a good topic?

This topic has the potential to earn an income, eg: what is the best stroller for baby 6 months old?

This is a good topic to write about as it is long tailed ( has many words in the keyword) and has a question for a product.

If I can convince them why a stroller is good for their baby, my recommended product can generate a sale.

I have an entire article to help you find the best keyword research for blog posts and you can find it here.

Here are some low competition Blogging Ideas which you use Today.

If you want to get serious about blogging, sign up for the free blog plan by Suzi below. This is totally free and you can get an entire framework for a successful blogger.

The second step is to find the best products to recommend. Check out my Affiliate Programs for Bloggers to get a list of Affiliate Programs in your niche.

Find a product which is a match for the topic you are writing about.

If you are writing about the best garden tools, then find a company which has the tools you think are the best.

Sometimes you will have to research these companies on Google and find if they have affiliate programs.

Sometimes they do not, but you can suggest they setup a coupon for you. When someone uses your coupon, it will be linked to you and you can get a commision.

When you sign up as an affiliate you will get a unique url to promote them by. Usually it will be some random numbers like this ?ref=e7299b

Anything after the question mark is for you, the affiliate. In the above case my unique id is e7299b

That is how the company knows that it is my referral and then pays me money as a commission.

Share the Articles on Social Media, twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. The more people visit your web page and click on the link, the more chances you make a sale.

When someone clicks through your link and makes a purchase it is called a conversion.

I use Pinterest to share my posts. I used to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Now I Only use Pinterest. I have decided to focus on one platform only for marketing.

Remember the more you share the more the chances of making a sale.

You can check this free course on Pinterest images to help you make the perfect pin.

Affiliate Marketing Don’ts

Here are some ethical Don’ts for Affiliate Marketing.

Every program has its own rules. Read up the terms and conditions of these programs.

Amazon does not allow to promote via email, in digital downloads or on whatsapp.

You can only promote amazon products on your website. You cannot copy their images, you cannot use their testimonies, you cannot quote the price.

These can be found on their rules page. Just check them before you place their links anywhere.

It is okay to expect feedback for your product or service but here is something I am sure you wouldn’t like.

Many companies are recruiting staff whose job is to find people who are eager to get free products.

I return they are asked to leave a 5 star review on Amazon or Flipkart. Usually the process is something like this

• Buy my product on Amazon
• Write a 5 star review
• Send me the receipt of purchase
• Receive money back ( Only if we like the review)

Why is this wrong?

Let me tell you a story. I have a pet dog and cat. I was looking in Amazon for good shampoos and flea repellants for them.

Usually my process is to go for the best review and rating. The product amazon suggested had good reviews.

On a hunch I went to the 1 star reviews and was shocked…

So many pet owners had lost their pets due to these products.

I have since been very careful on what I purchase off amazon and don’t trust their reviews any more.

Imagine if it was a mother purchasing food or shampoo or medicine for their baby online. What if your wrong review caused harm to their baby?

Please do not play with the system. Be ethical. The next victim could be you.

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How much money can you make as an affiliate marketer?

How much money can be made depends on the niche, the strategy you have used and how you are promoting the affiliate products. Bloggers usually start making $200 to $1000 by the end of the first year. Top affiliates claim they make $30000 upwards per month.

Why is affiliate marketing so hard?

Personally there is this phase where you start promoting products, writing blog posts and see no results. That is when it feels so difficult. This method requires a lot of consistent work and faith that it will work. Initially when we do not see results, it is very difficult to have faith.

How can I start affiliate marketing with no money?

Lets make this clear, you do not require to pay money to be an affiliate for most programs. Some course owners do want you to purchase a product to be an affiliate. To start with no money, use the strategies mentioned in this article on Facebook, Instagram, Blogger. These are free platforms which allow affiliates to promote.
You need to be a part of some affiliate program or service and generate unique links in these platforms to generate income,
Again, check the course on how to do this.