by Thinking of starting online business, the type that makes money even when you sleep or work other jobs you may have, with only a few simple steps? Sound like everyone’s dream right? Great! In this article we guide you how to start affiliate marketing business.
Before we start affiliate marketing business, we need to understand affiliate marketing.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing entails earning a commission by recommending a merchant’s or advertiser’s product or service. It’s a monetization model in which you, as an affiliate partner, are compensated for delivering a specified result to a store of the advertiser. You as an affiliate partner, you make profit from every sale made from your affiliate link. All sales are tracked via affiliate’s unique links from one website to another, therefore, no one will make money using your affiliate link.
The end result is usually a sale. However, some companies will pay you for leads (Pay per lead), or website clicks (Pay per click).
You won’t have to worry about expensive initial charges because most affiliate networks are free to join. Some are usually beginner friendly and do not require a lot of information for approval, while some are very difficult to join. Therefore be patient, and join a few at a time. By garnering you a solid income, affiliate marketing can evolve from side hustle
to profitable online business idea.
How does Affiliate Marketing work?
- You as an affiliate, you join or signup on the merchant’s program of your choice, and it is during this process you are given a unique ID and URL(link) to use when promoting merchant’s product or service.
- An affiliate then promotes the product/services by sharing it on a blog, social media platform, podcast, or website. the promotion already uses your unique URL.
- The potential buyer comes across you affiliate link on any platforms you are promoting on, clicks on the affiliate link which in turn redirects them to the merchant’s website. A cookie identifying the affiliate is installed on the website visitor’s computer ensure that the affiliate is compensated for referral sales even if they happen days or weeks afterwards. There is usually a period after which the cookie will expire though.
- Customer makes a purchase of a product or service using your Affiliate link.
- The merchant records a purchase and checks for Affiliate link, and the affiliate is credited with the sale after verification.
- Affiliate get paid commission by the merchant at the end of each payment period.
Here’s a visual representation of the process:
Sounds simple right?
Why start affiliate marketing business?
- Easy to start
It is incredibly simple to start an affiliate marketing business. You can avoid several of the procedures required to start a traditional business by using Affiliate marketing. In this article, we’ll provide you some pointers to get you started. - Requires little to no capital
Affiliate marketing, unlike traditional businesses, requires extremely little capital to get started because you don’t need to buy or keep inventory. You can even start with no money at all; all you need is a stable internet connection to get started and advertise your links. It all depends on how you want to approach it. - Earn passive income
Unlike traditional businesses where you must be on duty to make money, affiliate marketing allows you to earn money while you sleep, spend time with your family, and socialize with friends. The options are limitless. You put in time at the beginning to get everything up, and this might be a profitable side hustle while you focus on other projects. - Work from anywhere
The possibilities are unlimited, whether it’s in coffee shops, on your phone, on planes, or from the comfort of your own home. These are some of the benefits of affiliate marketing, so if you don’t enjoy being confined to an office, affiliate marketing is a great option for you. - A large number of products or services to choose from
Right now, there are also plenty of affiliate marketplaces to choose from, and the number is expanding. Furthermore, new products and services are continuously introduced to internet marketing platforms. There will never be a shortage of products or services to promote and sell, and there will be no constraints. - Highly flexible
Work at your own speed, on your own terms, and decide when and where you work. You can quickly rearrange and reschedule activities without having to report to anyone or seek permission to do so. You can choose what to sell at any time; no lengthy presentations or meetings are required to make a simple decision. - Ease of Entry
There are no crazy prerequisites to become an affiliate marketer; almost anyone can do it. While it may be beneficial, you don’t need a university BA degree or anything like that; all you need is reliable internet, a device to manage your material, and a basic understanding of how Affiliate marketing works. - Work on your own schedule
You are free to work at any time of day, whether it is late at night while everyone is sleeping or early in the morning, and for as long as you like. There are no restrictions; the decision is entirely yours. - Reward yourself for good work
When it comes to incentives, few organizations will reward you for excellent performance; some will simply say “well done” and ignore the majority of your hard work. However, in the affiliate marketing business, if you produce high-quality material that benefits a large number of people, your efforts will quickly translate into revenue, which will provide you with recurring benefits. - Make money by assisting others
You advertise a product or service that someone needs using affiliate marketing, and if you help and guide them well and provide them solid reasons to acquire the product or service, chances are they will. And if they buy, you profit, but they benefit as well by making an informed decision thanks to your assistance.
You should now have a basic understanding of affiliate marketing and be prepared to get started.
The initial step is to figure out which market you’ll target (niche). If you have one, you can use it to find a specific region of interest.
You could also pick a topic about which you feel most at ease speaking. It’s absolutely your decision.
The following step is to select an affiliate marketing channel. Create a website or blog, a YouTube channel, or social media accounts. You can set up all of the above if you have the capacity and want to go all out. Checkout some affordable hosting services here for your website or blog.
Once you have chosen or medium, it is now time to get to work on creating quality useful content for your chosen niche and start promoting.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a great alternative for people who want to take control of their finances by choosing the type products or
services to promote and use them as their revenue streams. Anyone can start affiliate marketing business, even if you don’t have
any degree, I do however recommend that you take one or two free digital marketing course to help you understand how you can grow your business, checkout free digital marketing courses and some SEO fundamentals.
Which niche do you feel comfortable with and why?
