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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
Everyone has to admit, earning a passive income sounds great. In fact, that’s what attracts many people to affiliate marketing. Well, that and that opportunity to get rich.
But let the numbers speak for themselves. The stats collected by the meticulous website hosting reviewers over at the Hosting Tribunal estimate that the affiliate marketing industry is worth $12 billion. And anyone can become a part of it for free!
Now, hold your horses. Before you start pasting affiliate links, there are a couple of things you should know. The first is that you won’t make your fortune overnight. The second is that earning a passive income requires you to be very active. In fact, being a successful affiliate marketer probably takes as much time and effort as building any other online business.
But, if your heart is set on being an affiliate, we will tell you what you can expect when you start.
You have to build an online presence first. Unfortunately, just posting an affiliate link on social media won’t net you much income.
If you already have a website with a significant following, this is a bonus. You can just add affiliate links that relate to its topic. Otherwise, you need to pick your niche.
The niche is the topic of your website. Your best bet is to go with what you know. However, niches that are too broad get you more competition and make targeting a specific audience difficult. For instance, reviewing microwaves makes it easier to interest people than reviewing kitchen appliances in general. You should also be careful to not pick a niche that interests very few people.
Once you have your online presence, find an affiliate program. Do your research and pick one you can trust. Check their reviews and always read the terms of use. There are so many programs that you will definitely find something. If you can’t, though, Amazon lets you promote practically any of their physical goods.
Again, we should stress to promote what you know. It is easy to make a mistake and include an affiliate link to a bad product. This can ruin your reputation. Ideally, you should buy and test each product before promoting it.
Having done all this, you can start including affiliate links in your content. But this is not as simple as cramming a bunch of links into a blog post and waiting for your bank account statement.
A much more effective strategy is to build your reputation as an expert in your niche. Build your audience gradually and post honest reviews of products. Try starting out by promoting a couple of products and expand from there. You will grow your audience and they will be more likely to trust your judgment and click on your links. There are numerous affiliate marketing strategies, but this is at the essence of most of them.
Of course, there is much more to affiliate marketing, but these are some good starting steps.
To find out more about how affiliate marketing functions, its history and future trends,, the infographic below has all you need.
Infographic URL: https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/affiliate-marketing/