Whatever your reason for wanting a bit more cash, affiliate marketing might be for you.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
At it’s most basic you are promoting a product or service for a company and you earn a commission for sales that result for that. The best known would be Amazon, which has had an affiliate program for many years, and you’ve probably used it at least once as a customer. But have you ever been reading a review of a book or other product on a blog and clicked on a link that takes you to Amazon? In that case you’ve probably seen the affiliate system in action. If you bought the product then, part of the sale (about 4% in Amazon’s case) would go to the owner of the website you arrived from. Pretty simple, you’ve got the book you wanted, and you’ve supported the website that got you there.
On the other hand, what if you had a blog and wanted to earn some extra income (or “monetize” in business-speak), you could use display ads like Google’s Adsense or Bing’s AdCentre, but people are becoming better at ignoring ads (not to mention ad blockers being built into the latest generation of Apple iPhones). Well affiliates are a good option because they’re not really advertisements. A visitor to your site is reading about a product you’re talking about; then you provide a link to somewhere where they can buy it. Simple.
How do you get Started?
Now how do you get started? Well Pat Flynn, a well known internet marketer, has two simple rules:
[pullquote align=”normal” cite=”Pat Flynn”]I only recommend products as an affiliate that I’m extremely very familiar with – preferably products that I’ve used before and have helped me achieve something. If I’m not confident in the product and I don’t feel it will positively help people, I will not promote it…I never directly tell anyone to buy a product. I always recommend products based on my experience and in the context of what I’ve done or what I’m doing. [/pullquote]
I think that’s a pretty good strategy. Sure you could write up glorious reviews of any dodgy product, but pretty soon that’s going to hurt your credibility online. Most successful affiliate start with something they are passionate about, you’re going to have to be – the days of putting up a 1-2 page blog with some links are long gone, Google will simply ignore your page. Instead you need to be able to write regularly about a topic. Once you’ve got that, you should look into products or services you could write about, and ones out there that have some kind of an affiliate program.
Once that’s done, it’s usually just a case of signing up and the company (there are many, Amazon, Commission Junction, Frisky Deals, ShareASale just to name four) and they’ll provide a link that needs to go on your website. Most companies have content guidelines, so generally keep your sight family friendly.
One such affiliate is Frisky Deals, which specializes in local deals. They’re a bit different in that you don’t need a website, instead it’s social, you’re directing people to deals on Frisky’s website. They have deals on a range of products and services, especially local deal. This way you can tailor what you’re promoting – Pat’s first rule: on promote things you believe in! For instance, like a local dry-cleaner you go to every week, and you notice they’re running a deal though Frisky Deals? You can share a link to that deal – you’re helping support a local business and making a bit of extra money too. In this way you’re also potentially helping out Non-Profits, Local Communities, Businesses and Sports teams. All of which are always looking to get an extra source of income.
Becoming an Frisky Deals affiliate is simple, simply sign up and you’re ready to go. You can invite family and friends by using Frisky Deals’ share links and you’ll earn extra money for any deal that they purchase.
For more information, visit FriskyDeals.com
MaximumVenture is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This is an affiliate program which means we earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. However, this will not increase the prices you pay for products.
