In this post I’m going to reveal to you six simple basics that you should know if you’re going to start affiliate marketing.
Are you asking yourself…hey, you want to make some extra cash, and you’ve heard that affiliate marketing would be a really cool way to make some extra cash on the side, maybe a couple hundred dollars a day, maybe an extra grand a month?
But you don’t really know where to start and what it’s about. Then, stick around, because this is exactly what this post is about.
Let me give you six simple basics that I wish I had knew that will help you get started in this process.
Six simple basics you need as an affiliate marketer if you want to get started that every beginner should know. So what are they? Let’s get into it.
Number 1: What is Affiliate Marketing?
Number one is the definition of affiliate marketing itself.
I’m going to describe it to you in a story because I think some people don’t realize how powerful affiliate marketing is, and how you low-key are probably doing it right now and not taking advantage of it.
So let me share with you a story real quick that might help you bring it all together.
So, there’s a good friend of mine I know, let’s call her Jane.
Jane is the kind of lady that when you see her at work, at the workplace, she likes to talk. She likes to be social. She likes to get to know everybody.
Because of this, the one thing Jane has to have when she comes into work is her cup of coffee.
She’s a big fan of Starbucks. So you definitely know you can’t talk to Jane in the morning if she hasn’t had her cup of coffee at Starbucks.
In fact, Jane REALLY loves her Starbucks. She has to have it and she loves it so much.
So much so that she’s a huge fan of it and she’ll tell everybody about it. Like, oh, did you see this? Did you taste this new mocha mocha cappuccino they got at Starbucks? It’s so good, you got to have it, you’ve got to try it.
And she’s such a fan of Starbucks that she tells the story so well.
She shares her excitement about it with so much energy that more often than not, people want to get them a cup of coffee too.
Even people like myself who don’t really drink coffee, might be influenced by her and say you know what… I might try a cup!
So she gets people buying a cup of coffee every single time.
Why Affiliate Marketing works
Now, imagine this.
Imagine if every time someone went over to Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee, a frappa cappa cappa cappuccino or whatever it is, the reason they bought was because they went and talked to Jane.
After a conversation with Jane, she sent them over and they went and bought a cup of coffee.
Imagine that when they paid for their coffee, Starbucks took a portion of that payment, put it in their pocket, and then the other portion, they gave it to Jane.
You see, that my friend is affiliate marketing. And the funny thing is Jane probably doesn’t even know it.
She doesn’t even notice she can be getting paid for referring people to drink Starbucks coffee, which many are already going to do any way.
And she loves talking about coffee anyway. She probably doesn’t know that. Now you do. Because that’s essentially what affiliate marketing is.
Affiliate marketing is basically you partnering up with a company, a manufacturer, a business of any type that has a product or service.
Every time you send someone over to that company, to purchase a product, to use a service, whatever it may be, and a sale goes through, is transacted, that company is going to take a portion of it for themselves.
The other portion they will give to you in the form of a commission.
You are an affiliate. You are a partner. Every time you make a sale, every time you send someone over, and they buy, you are earning.
And I’m going to explain to you why in a later tip I will share why affiliate marketing is a win for everybody.
But essentially you make sales from just doing exactly that: promoting the things that you already like and you already use anyway, that people are going to use anyway, and getting paid for it. That is affiliate marketing.
Number 2: Affiliate Marketing is the SIMPLEST way to start making money online for beginners
The second simple basic tip for affiliate marketing beginners is this: affiliate marketing is generally, if you ask me, for most people the best way to start making money online now.
Why?
Because affiliate marketing, if you listen to the example I just gave with Jane, offers so many benefits.
- Number one, you don’t have to have a product or service to sell. Because that’s what the company, the manufacturer, the vendor does for you.
They create the product, they have the service.
- Number 2, you don’t have to worry about marketing material. They have the marketing tools and ad material.
- Number 3. You don’t have to worry about accounting. They do all the accounting.
- Number 4. You don’t have to worry about overhead.
- Number 5. You don’t have to worry about distribution of the product or fulfillment of the order to the customer. They handle all the customer service as well.
Your job is to find the right people, and promote the product or service to those people.
When people buy and purchase, you get paid. It’s as simple as that.
Truly, one of the simplest ways for any one person to start making money online on the internet right now.
Number 3: You Get Paid via Your Own Special Affiliate Link
The third simple basic you should understand about affiliate marketing for beginners is the affiliate link.
This is how you get paid.
When you partner up with a company, they’re going to say great, thanks for coming onboard. I’m going to give you this special link. It’s a special URL link.
Whenever someone clicks on this link, and they go on to make any purchase, then that sale will be associated to you.
The company’s going to take a portion of the sale for themselves and then the rest of it in the form of a commission is going to be handed to you automatically.
So think of the link as the way to keep track of who it is that they’re going to pay to.
Because otherwise, they don’t know the difference between you and James and all the other affiliates promoting. The only way they know the difference is by the link that is clicked on, the affiliate link.
You want to make sure that you have your link and promote it in different places, so when prospects click on it and make purchases, you get credit.
Number 4: You can get paid a variety of commission percentages
The fourth simple basic of affiliate marketing for beginners is the commissions.
How do you get paid?
So one of the interesting things about affiliate marketing is that pricing structure varies.
Every company is different. Because every company has different products and services, their affiliate program is going to be different.
Some programs will offer you a variety of commission ranges. It can be as low as five percent.
A lot of Amazon’s products tend to be low.
What that means is that when a customer makes a purchase through your affiliate link, Amazon in this case is going to keep 95 percent of that sale and then give you the remaining five percent.
So it’s not a whole lot. But there are other programs that will give you 10 percent, 15, 20, 30, 50 percent, even a hundred percent commissions.
So stay tuned. I have several videos that share with you some of the top best affiliate programs that you can get involved in and that will pay you the most.
But essentially, you want to look for ones that have a good payout ratio.
You’re looking for about 30 percent and up is pretty good.
Of course Amazon is always a good option anyway despite the low commission percentages.
Amazon has a lot of advantages that a lot of programs don’t have.
One of them is it’s really simple to get started.
And people recognize and trust the name which makes a big difference in your conversions and sales.
Number 5: Affiliate marketing works and has always worked because it’s a win-win-win for everyone.
The number five tip for the affiliate marketing beginners is to think about the fact that this is a win-win-win for everybody: You win, the company wins, the customer wins.
Why?
Well, the company is winning because they have a product and they have you selling it for them.
They’re making a profit.
Of course they have to give up some of that profit to you.
But that’s a customer that they would have never had if it had not been for you.
So they’re definitely happy. Most good companies now are really very happy to give up a chunk of their profit and give it to you… 30, 40 percent in exchange for a sale because they know that the lifetime value of that customer is not just from that one sale.
It can be from many, many, multiple sales into the future and it’s very much worth it for them to have you help them do that. So that’s why they want you to win and be successful.
In fact, you’ll notice that most good affiliate programs are doing everything they can to help you win. Because they want you to be successful.
The more sales you’re making, the more money you’re making, the more money they’re making. It’s a win-win relationship.
You win because once again, you don’t have to come up with the product.
You don’t have to come up with the idea.
You don’t have to be the one doing the distribution or handling all the traditional business challenges that come with having a traditional business.
Your only job is to show up, promote, and get paid. So that’s obviously a win for you.
And then who else is winning? The customer’s winning.
Because guess what?
If they see you and you’re promoting something that they didn’t know about before that you’re truly passionate about, something that is getting you results for you, then they’ll be happy to hear that.
You got something to share with them that could work.
We all do it all the time if you think about it. We’re always sharing good stuff that’s working.
And its especially effective if the people you are talking to trust you and your opinions.
For example, just the other day my boys were in daycare and I’m really loving the daycare they’re in.
I asked them, hey, you guys have an affiliate program?
Because I know a couple people who have kids who want to put their kids in day care.
This is a great program. I could just tell them about it, but hey, I want to find out if they have an affiliate program so that if my friends do get signed up, I get paid, right?
It just makes sense.
There is nothing wrong with promoting a product or service you believe in to others.
So they’re winning because they’re getting valuable product and service recommendations from you that they would otherwise would have not heard of.
You’re winning because you’re getting paid.
And the company is winning because they’re getting customers and making sales.
Win-win-win.
Number 6: How to Promote and Make Sales
And then the number six last but not least marketing best simple basic you should understand as an affiliate marketing beginner is that you got to promote.
That’s really all you’re doing now. You’re recommending products to people and you’re promoting.
Promoting
Now what does that mean, to promote?
First you got to decide, hey, who you are and what you want to do.
What do you want to talk about?
Are you like Jane, the coffee lady? She just loves her a cup of coffee. She’s a coffee guru. So if that’s the case, then you got to decide, hey, what kind of products can you sell?
So there’s a lot of different opportunities and one best place I already mentioned is Amazon. You can go on the Amazon website and go to their Amazon associates program.
Click and set up a free account, just like that.
Then you can quickly start finding products because Amazon has everything.
By the way, they’re more than a trillion dollar company. So they’re pretty massive and they have almost everything you could look for.
If you’re, for example, a coffee person, maybe you want to start selling coffee pots, coffee roasters, coffee beans, coffee makers, coffee cups and coffee mugs. All kinds of things you could sell if you’re the coffee guy or the coffee lady.
Once you decide, you could get links for all of those different products. When people click on them and make a purchase, you get paid.
And by the way, if people buy stuff, multiple things when they’re on Amazon after clicking on your link, you get paid for all of those things too. Nice little bonus.
Another option is ClickBank.
ClickBank is a digital marketplace with a ton of different products and services that you can choose from.
You find the ones that fit you, what you’re promoting and your style.
You can just sign up for that particular product and program. Get your link and then start promoting.
Well how do you promote?
Consider social media, blogs, podcasts, things like that. You’ll want to put your link out there. Put some content out there too because content is the best way to promote, and that’s helpful for people.
When people find your content, jive with you, and they like your energy, they will likely click on the link and start buying.
Before you know it, you start making money. A couple hundred dollars a day. A thousand dollars a month.
Hey, how awesome is that?
So I hope that was helpful. My six simple basics you as a beginner affiliate marketer definitely need to know. I hope it was helpful.
If you want to learn how you can begin affiliate marketing step by step and start making money, and learn how to do affiliate marketing and promote your marketing products effectively, then you might want to check out this program here.
It’s going to take you to my number one program for learning how to start an affiliate marketing business.
It will take you from beginner knowing nothing to being a marketing pro, making hundreds of dollars in your business every single day… if you put in the work.
See you on the other side, and stay hungry out there my friend!
Chris