Sardarjeo – Internet Marketing

The Money Making Path Of An Affiliate Blogger

There are many online business models out there, and being an affiliate blogger is just one of them. The simplest answer is that it’s an online business model. It’s a way that just about anyone (with the right knowledge) can implement to make money online.

So, exactly what does it entail? What kind of knowledge do you need to become an affiliate blogger? That’s what we’re going to cover in this little tutorial! By the time we’re done here you’ll know exactly what to do to start making money online as an affiliate blogger.

Let’s get started…

So, as the name implies an affiliate blogger is someone who has a blog where they blog about a certain topic and recommend things as an affiliate marketer and get paid for any sales of products that they make from their readers.

No matter what niche you’re in or have an interest in there are probably products in that niche that you can become an affiliate for. When you become an affiliate, you get a special link for the product and when someone clicks on that link and buys you make a percentage of the sale as your “commission”.

Search Google or your favorite search engine for “your topic/niche + affiliate program” and you’ll probably be presented with a lot of options. If not, then you may want to rethink following the affiliate blogger business model.

If you don’t have a blog yet or have any idea what niche you want to start in then that’s where your affiliate blogging journey will begin.

You first must decide on your niche/topic, and then (as I said above) search for products that you can promote as an affiliate that are related to your niche/topic. If you find a lot of products you can be an affiliate for then you’ve probably picked a good niche. Take note of these products and where you can become an affiliate for them, and then move on to the next step.

What’s the next step? Creating a blog!

Now there are many ways that you can create a blog, but my recommendation is that you get a domain name, hosting, and setup a blog using WordPress. I recommend WordPress because it’s the most used blog platform around and there are many plugins and themes that you can use with your blog to make it look good and do things you’ll want it to do that it doesn’t do “out of the box”.

Once you have your blog created then it’s time to add content! Your blog posts…

I recommend that you find one product that you can recommend to people interested in your topic/niche and then start creating content (to use as blog posts for your blog) that directs people to your affiliate link for the product.

You could write a post educating people about the topic of the product and then point them to the product. You could write a blog post reviewing the product and pointing people to it. Your options are unlimited when it comes to creating content, but just make sure that the blog post is in some way related to the product and points people to the product through your affiliate link, so that they click and buy it, and you make money.

Your next step will be posting the content to your blog.

But then what?

Then you have to get traffic to that content. If no one sees your content then no one can click on your affiliate link and buy the product, and you won’t make any money from your efforts.

Now this tutorial isn’t related to getting traffic, but I recommend you start doing some research on how to get traffic to your blog. Find one tactic and start using it to get traffic. Analyze your results. Are you getting traffic? Are you making sales? If yes keep doing what you’re doing. If not then maybe you need a new traffic tactic.

So there you go! That’s what being an affiliate blogger is all about. Creating content your audience wants and monetizing that content with your affiliate links for related products.

You create content related to a niche/topic, post it to your blog as a blog post, insert your affiliate links, drive traffic, and when people buy products through your links you make money.

Now although I have summed this up quickly each step of this takes skills, know how, and time. If we break this down into steps it would look like this…

Step 1: Find a niche

You can do this with a simple Google search or use one of the many software programs available that will help you find good profitable niches.

Step 2: Find products you can promote as an affiliate in that niche.

Again, you can search Google for these.

Step 3: Create content that is related to a product you’re going to be promoting as an affiliate. Alternatively, you can also pay others to create this content for you if you’re not great at creating content.

Step 4: Post the content to your blog with your affiliate links inserted.

Remember that not all content has to be written content and there are ways to direct people to your affiliate link if you use other content such as images and videos.

Step 5: Drive traffic.

There are so many ways to do this, but the important thing is to start with one tactic and get it working. Or, if you can’t get it to work bringing in a different traffic strategy.

If you take each of these steps, research the best way to do them (there are tons of online courses you can learn from and even mentors and coaches that can help you accomplish all of this), and implement them step-by-step you will find yourself as a very successful affiliate blogger.

If the affiliate blogger business model sounds like something you would like to implement to create an online business, I’ve laid everything out here for you to begin. All that’s left for you to do is go get started!

What Affiliate Programs Should Affiliate Bloggers Use To Make Money?

If you’re new to affiliate marketing and you don’t know where to find products to promote on your blog, I’m about to open your eyes to the best of the best affiliate programs. Joining the right affiliate programs is a HUGE key to your success. You need to make sure you’re using a good reliable program that will actually pay you and provide a good product or service to the person that you have referred.

You also need to understand all the ways you can get paid as an affiliate. Here are a few examples:

Pay per sale – This is where you get a percentage (commission) of the sale that you make.

Pay per click – This is where you get paid when someone clicks on your affiliate link. Usually a very small amount.

Pay per lead – This is where you get paid a certain amount of money for every “qualified” lead that you send to a company.

There are many more ways you can make money as an affiliate, but those are the main options.

One last thing before I give you some great resources for affiliate programs you can join.

Some affiliate programs are very picky. If you don’t already have a good blog that is full of content and some kind of traffic coming in, they won’t approve you for their network, so my advice is to start with filling your blog with good content and getting traffic before you apply to some of these.

Don’t worry though. If you want to start promoting products you can be an affiliate for there are affiliate programs that accept just about anyone. At least have your blog setup and a few pieces of content on it. They will ask you for the ULR (domain name) for your website.

Now that we’ve covered all of that, here are my biggest recommendations for affiliate programs to check out for new affiliate bloggers.

Disclaimer: These resources are current at the time of this resource being created. Do your research to make sure they are still available and what their requirements are to apply and be approved for their program.

Amazon Associate Program

This is my top recommendation for affiliate bloggers and especially for those of you who are new to affiliate marketing. Amazon has a great reputation, awesome tracking, and a ton of products all in one place for you to choose from. You also don’t have to have a big site with a lot of traffic to start using their program. While commissions aren’t the best it’s your best option if you’re just getting started because of the aforementioned.

ShareASale

ShareASale has been around for a long time and is a trusted network to work with. They run the affiliate programs for some of the biggest brands around so you will have a lot of options for products to promote with them.

CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction)

This is another affiliate network that has been around for a very long time and can be trusted. Like ShareASale they run affiliate programs for big brands and have a lot of different products you can promote.

Impact

Like ShareASale and CJ Affiliate, Impact is also an affiliate network who runs the affiliate program for many big brands. It’s also been around for a long time, and they are very reliable with their tracking.

Side Note: As you can see these are the big networks. Each network runs the affiliate program for different brands, so these networks are full of things you can promote as an affiliate. Each one has different brands and companies within it.

MaxBounty

If you’re looking for pay per lead or pay per action programs this is a great network to start with. MaxBounty is a CPA (cost per action) network where you can get paid as an affiliate for actions that your referrers take. Like signing up for an email list, filling out a form, etc. Just make sure you read all the documentation for any program and follow the rules very carefully.

Perform (formerly ClickBooth)

This is another network similar to MaxBounty. It’s harder to get approved with them, but they have more companies and offers than MaxBounty.

Side Note: Be very careful with CPA networks. You need to stick with trusted networks like the ones I’ve just mentioned. There are more bad networks out there than there are good ones, so make sure and do your research before going all in with one of these.

ClickBank

This is one of the biggest affiliate marketplaces for downloadable digital products such as ebooks, courses, software, and the like. I really like ClickBank because they process the payments for the vendors, and they are the ones that pay your affiliate commissions. Plus, since they are all digital products you’re going to make a bigger percentage of each sale.

With several niches supporting digital products, you should check it out and see if they have digital products that would be perfect for you niche.

JVZoo

This is a niche specific affiliate marketing place for digital products in the Internet marketing and make money online niches. Even though it’s very niche specific I wanted to mention it here because more and more people are entering these two niches year after year. Plus, you can get super high commissions here with some paying 100% commissions and paying you instantly to your PayPal account.

Adsense

This is a good option for those of you who have a new blog and you’re new to all of this affiliate marketing stuff. You can simply copy a code to certain places on your website and you’ll be paid (usually pennies) a click.

MediaVine

This network is a lot like Adsense, but much better paying. The only caveat is that you need to have a blog filled with content and already be getting some traffic. I do recommend it over Adsense if you already have an established blog.

I just gave you a ton of options with a ton of resources. The most important thing I can advise you on is to make sure you’ve got your blog already to go, you’ve got some content on it, and you’re getting some traffic before applying for any program of any type. As your blog grows and your traffic grows you can get involved with more networks with better options but remember we all have to start somewhere. I encourage you to research each of these resources yourself, find out the requirements, and decide what will be the best for your readers and for you to make the most money!