Of all the many ideas and strategies that people are trying out to cope with the economy, affiliate marketing is one of the best to build a home business.
Please note: This is a really short guide to affiliate marketing. I have provide link to other more involved articles.
Now, of course, the type of home business you open matters tremendously. Perhaps affiliate marketing has captured your interest. If you’d like to learn more about it, keep reading as well as other articles in this site, Affiliate Marketing 100.
Don’t waste your precious time on every shinny objects that comes along. Most are either scams or they just want your money to get a worthless e-book.
Affiliate marketing has a relatively good reputation in general, but it sometimes gets a bad rap because there have been some actual scams.
Most of the scams in the affiliate marketing happen with affiliate marketing courses. While there are plenty of great affiliate marketing training courses and resources out there, there are lots — and I mean lots — of people who don’t know what they’re talking about trying to make a quick buck by selling “training.”
Don’t waste your time.
Look for comments like:
Get-Rich-Quick Offers
Get-rich-quick offers are everywhere. They promise you will make thousands of dollars overnight, or that you can just work 2 hours a day and have $5,000 in your bank account at the end of the week. Not real.
No Product or Service to Sell
Affiliate marketers make their money by promoting someone else’s product or services. If a company is promising you thousands of dollars in income, look closer. What is it that you’re actually selling? If there is no actual product or service, it’s nothing more than a scam.
Phony Training
Phony marketers set up courses which are usually offered through eBooks, DVDs, webinars, seminars and even live demonstrations.
Typically, these providers make tall claims that once you complete their awesomely amazing super course, you’re gonna be on your way to becoming filthy rich.
Watch For The Up-sells
When signing up for an affiliate marketing course, be very cautious about up-sells. This is a trick that is quite prevalent. The short of it is this…
You’ll usually get lured into a “training course” for a very low price, sometimes under $10. As soon as you enter your payment information, BAM! You’re hit with another sales pitch. For another $10, you’ll get VIP access to the biggest secret ever, but you have to act RIGHT NOW! These guys will take as much as they can from you once you’ve purchased the original course.
Don’t Trust Income Reports
Some income reports are legit, but until you know the real affiliate marketing players out there, you can’t be sure if those reports are doctored or not. Unfortunately, it is a very common scam to use photoshopped income reports, bank statements, etc.
Don’t Waste Your Time.
Here’s a tip to help
Love What You Are Doing
If you don’t love what you do, you can never become successful.
If you are just doing it for money, then there is no difference between you and a marketing company employee who is bored at his job and hates it.
Learn from Others
Build Good Relationships
Learn from people who know their stuff, see what they write about, how they train, and how they do things.
There are so many ways to learn:
You can either pay your professional affiliates to teach you skills, or join affiliate marketing related forums, Facebook groups, Skype groups, etc.
The best bet would be to become a member of a affiliate program where there will be someone to teach you. By doing this, you will be able to get their expertise, knowledge and many “How To’s.”
Have a Plan
Having a plan is always important.
When you start promoting an offer, think about it from the point of view of you being the product owner.
If you owned that offer, what you would do?
Have a plan on how your going to market your offers. A plan on who you will market to. A plan on what to do next.
Be Consistent
Never let failures get you down or hinder your path to success.
Failures are what makes you successful.
So instead of giving up, get up again and try figuring out where you went wrong and correct yourself.
If your marketing plans call for marketing via Blogs, produce 2-3 blog per week. If that is too much, produce 1 blog per week. What ever your marketing plans are…be consistent.
Know Your Product
Never promote a product you have no idea about. Chose a niche and stay with it.
One important thing that all affiliate marketers must do is to learn the product so that you are able to get others excited about it.
You should know everything there is to know and be willing to share this so that the product will sell with ease, and you will be able to answer any questions that come up.
Always do research, see what the product is about, what are its advantages and disadvantages. Who is the product ment for? Why would they purchase the product? What are the benefits of the product? Is this product better than the competition? Why would the buyer buy the product over the competition?
This will require WORK. But the better you know your product, the better you can inform your potential customers.
Know your market.
By this, I mean what product features are available, which are not available in competitor products.
Your Motivation
When starting a affiliate marketing strategy for your home business, you must figure out what your driving motivation is.
Is it how much money you want to make?
Is it something you’d like to buy?
Is it to pay off credit cards?
Is it money to travel?
Is it a new car?
Is it to quit your job?
Or is it ____________?
Maybe, your motivation is to help other.
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar.
Sometimes, helping others is the greatest benefit of all.
Reward Yourself
It’s important to reward yourself, as soon as you complete a key task or objective. Why? By rewarding yourself, your brain elicits positive emotions, leading to the realization that your efforts result in a positive reward. By doing this continuously, your brain will start to link pleasure to accomplishing the task or objective and move towards it in the future.
When you have accomplished a task, reward yourself. This could be nothing more than grabbing a donut or having a glass of wine or taking a 1/2 day off or something you feel you deserve.
If you have completed a major goal…reward yourself. If you made your first commission….definitely reward yourself on your accomplishment. Go out to dinner.
Set Goals For Yourself
I set goals, but I find that establishing a Plan has much more positive effects on my business.
What I mean by a Plan is that it is similar to a Road Map. A typical road map has cities, highways, streets and milage. For example, you want to take a trip from Chicago to LA. You chart your drive by drawing on the map using the most effective way of driving. You will be leaving on a established date, stopping along the way for rest and arriving by.
Your marketing plan is no different. Your goal is $1,000 (LA). You will start (establish date). Along the way, you will accomplish a given task (rest). If you need additional resources, along the way you go get it (Learning). You arrive at your destination $1,000 by (Date).
Establish a certain volume of income that you should reach on a monthly basis.
Keep a dairy of your performances and organize everything into your plan.
If you are not reaching your goals, ask yourself if there is something you are doing wrong. Remember to keep realistic goals in sight.
A Key To Affiliate Marketing Is To Have An Internet Presence
Your Internet presence does not have to be a custom design or expensive website, but a simple blog might be all that you need. Every business has a website these days; it adds legitimacy to a business.
If your affiliate marketing business does not have a website, make one now.
Any of these can be a great resource for you consideration.
Finally
My Top Advice If You Want To Become An Affiliate Marketing Success Story
Have patience! That is my #1 tip for those that want to become their own affiliate marketing success story. You have to be patient. This is a business just like any other businesses. Most small businesses take, what, a few years to truly start turning a profit? Affiliate marketing absolutely is a legitimate business that can earn you well into the 6 or even 7 figures, but you should not expect that to happen without months, if not years of hard work and consistent effort.
The vast majority of affiliate marketers never find success simply because they give up. Most people are very motivated in the first few weeks, but then life gets in the way, other things take priority, and affiliate marketing businesses become deserted and go nowhere.
Wealthy Affiliate is the secret sauce to your success. Learn the right way to affiliate marketing…avoid the costly mistakes and reduce the learning curve.
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Bill Fletcher is a long time marketer and coach. My goal is to help anyone who is interested in building a business through a systematic approach to success. Affiliate Marketing 100 will guide you with the help of some of the best articles and coaching program available anywhere. We train you in all categories of business building and success management.
a positive reward. By doing this continuously, your brain will start to link pleasure to accomplishing the task or objective and move towards it in the future.
