Affiliate Marketing as a Career

With the increase of the COVID 19 virus around the world, economies in almost every country are in very bad shape, resulting in millions of people losing their jobs. Those who have lost their jobs are looking for alternatives to earning money.  Though there are many ways to make additional money, one alternative which does not require a lot of investment is to start an affiliate marketing business.

What exactly is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when you promote other companies’ products on your website. You earn a commission when someone buys through your affiliate link. As an affiliate, you are a salesperson for the company and the company is “advertising” through your site. This is basically a three-way relationship between you, the advertiser, and the customer.

Publishers (website owners) find buyers/consumers through a variety of distribution models including affiliate marketing online courses, websites, social media, search, email, and mobile apps. Finding marketing affiliates is not an easy task for companies because are thousands of sites that offer products for affiliates. Studies have shown that more than 80% of advertisers have affiliate programs. According to Statista, business spending on affiliate marketing will hit $8.2 billion in the U.S by 2022.

There are many different affiliate types, from online casinos such as Kenyan casinos to online stores like Amazon and Walmart. There are also a few specialized affiliate platforms that allow bloggers to sign-up for multiple affiliate programs.

Why do Companies Pay Commissions?

Companies can expand their reach and increase sales without spending anything for advertising and only pay if a sale is made. This collaboration significantly expands an Advertiser’s audience and growth potential and enables website owners to monetize their efforts.

Affiliate marketing is a selling model that makes it possible for companies to partner with individuals (affiliates or publishers) to reach a bigger potential audience and to do so in an efficient, and cost-effective way.

How to get started

There are a few steps you will need to complete in order to start earning affiliate marketing commissions.  You will need to:

• Create a website or blog if you don’t already have one (take a look at “Learn How to Start a Blog That Earns over $400k a year“)
• Decide what topic or topics you will cover in your blog. Pick something that is flexible and allows you to select a wide range of advertisers.
• Make a list of affiliates or affiliate platforms.
• Sign up for affiliate programs.
• Create great content that will attract readers.

How much money can I make as an affiliate marketer?

Your success is only limited to you and how much time, effort, and research you invest in the process.  There is a wealth of information available on the Internet that will help you get started and help you maximize your earnings. Searching the following terms will help you find key information and guidance:

• Affiliate marketing for beginners
• Affiliate marketing companies
• How to make money promoting products
• What are the best affiliate marketing programs?

Drive traffic to your site

Leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO is the practice of optimizing content to be discovered through a search engine’s organic search results”. There are several basic steps you should follow if you want your site to rank well with Google.

• Create a list of keywords by researching what ranks high on Google (based on your site’s topic).
• Use simple URLs that reflect your article’s topic.
• Titles are key.  Ensure your titles describe the article content so that they draw clicks.
• Use images, but ensure they are optimized.
• Where possible, get backlinks to your site.