Since my last posting on affiliate marketing I have had readers email me with several questions. The two that I will address today are:
1. Why affiliate marketing
2. Where do I find affiliate products?
1. Why affiliate marketing?
Just like I think that blogging is the best way to get started in internet marketing because you learn the basics and build on from there, affiliate marketing in my view is the obvious next step if you are to build a blog income. What I like about affiliate marketing is that it is a “done for you” step, yet, there is enough new stuff to learn and apply if you want to do it right that it will definitely pack on some internet marketing smarts.
The done for you part is that you do not have to develop a product of your own – someone with a proven track record has already done that. Your job is to find products that are on the topic of your blog. For instance this blog is all about blogging and my current focus is on affiliate marketing, so the ad that you see on the left sidebar is on blogging and the one the right hand column is on affiliate marketing.
Now affiliate marketing is more than just putting up ads on your site. If you want to make money on your affiliates you have to learn how to market them. I will be touching on the basics of affiliate marketing on this blog in the future, but if you want to get your mits on some powerful, easy to follow instructions I highly recommend Ewen Chia’s Secret Affiliate Weapon – its not going to break the bank and will get you on the road to understanding affiliate marketing and how to profit from it.
2. Where do I find affiliates?
My last article on affiliate marketing focused on digital products. Today, lets talk about physical products. You can have a mix of both on your site. For example, if you have a site that has to do with dogs, an example of digital affiliates would be dog training, or an ebook on how to ensure a healthy and beautiful skin and coat for your dog. A physical product might be a special type of training collar or a pet balm that soothes and heals a dogs skin problems.
The big difference between digital and physical products is the commission. With digital you can make as much as 70% (50% is common), while as with physical products a 25% commission would be tops, more likely in the 15% range. That’s why I recommend a mix and match, you’ll be appealing to those who want informational products and those who want to buy a physical product.
If you haven’t already done so, Google Adsense should be given some of your valuable virtual billboard space. Google will place ads congruent with your topic, they could be digitial products or physical. You need not do anything with them. When visitors to your site click on the ads, Google will pay you a small commission. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, click on the ads yourself or have friends and family click them on for you. That is both unethical and contrary to your agreement with Google.
Now trust me, Adsense is not going to have the money truck
come up to your driveway, not even a Tonka! You need to start monetizing your site with substantial revenue sharing affiliate products.
There are plenty of ways to find affiliates in your niche market – Amazon sells more than just books. Just go to www.amazon.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a section there that says “make money with us”. Click on the Associates button.
Commission Junction www.commissionjunction.com is a good affiliate directory for physical goods. As with all affiliate directories you need to open an account. Linkshare www.linkshare.com and ShareASale www.shareasale.com are two others that you might want to look into.
Not all affiliate products are listed in directories. If yours is a niche product you can search for it by using your favorite search engine using the keyword for your niche and the word affiliate with it i.e., “pet ointment affiliates” and you will be taken to a page with lots of options for you to choose from.
This bears repeating – make sure that when you select an affiliate that it is trustworthy and delivers on its promise, a 100% satisfaction guarantee or money back is just a starter. I recommend that you do some due diligence before putting up a banner on your site and going the full 9 yards in promoting it – remember reputation is often judged by association.
Here’s to your profitable affiliate marketing!
Valentina
The cheese is in the affiliates
