Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the first (and often one of the only) monetization methods that comes to mind when someone wants to start a business online. After all, what Internet user hasn't clicked on one of those links that scream, "Make Money from This Site" that appear all over the web?
Where most people struggle with affiliate marketing comes in overly optimistic expectations. Those "Make Money" links make it sound like all you need to do is stick a bunch of banners on a page and the money will come roaring into your bank account.
Ahem. There's a little more to it than that.
First, you need to get people to your site. That means you need something that will attract visitors, namely, good solid content that helps people find what they want.
And taking it even one more step back from that dreamed-of flood of sales, it means you need to find a topic that people are actively searching for information, answers, help—you name it—on. And you need to help them find partial answers to their questions.
You notice I said partial answers. You need to offer them enough of what they're looking for to establish that you have expertise in the field, that your opinion means something. Then for the answers that are too big or too involved or too tangible for visitors to reasonably expect you to solve on your site, you can refer them to sources that can deal with their specific need.
That means you refer them—as part of content—to sources that can provide exactly what they're looking for. And those sources will likely include affiliate programs that meet your visitors' needs.
In the case of monetizing a business with affiliate commissions (like I'm doing right now) I tell you to check out the two best resources I've found for taking you step-by-step through setting up an affiliate business: James Martell's Affiliate Marketer's Handbook and Michael Campbell's Clickin' It Rich. Both men have made millions in affiliate commissions with businesses in a wide range of fields. Either ebook can successfully walk you through the process of setting up your new affiliate business.
Am I being dishonest in referring you to them instead of simply telling you everything you need? Not at all. There's no way a blog entry can go into the level of detail they do in a complete ebook. Hey' Martell's ebook is over 200 pages and Campbell's is close to 100!
What you do in affiliate marketing is serve as an expert, giving visitors enough of what they're looking for to get them started and then guide them to where they can find more complete solutions.
"But can't I just stick up a bunch of banners on my site like the signup pages say?" I've never had much success with banners. Hey, do you surf around simply clicking on all the banners you see? No. And neither do other people.
You have to give people something more than just banners if you want to make affiliate income. My most successful affiliate products are in the areas where I have the greatest amount of experience. The more confidently I can recommend something from experience—complete with the results I've achieved—the more comfortable my readers are checking into it.
Overall, the affiliate business model is an easy one to start in. It requires the least amount of resources to set up. But you need to get beyond the quick-and-effortless illusion that many affiliate signup pages suggest.
Like with any business, you need to find a target audience that needs solutions, and you need to learn how to guide them to the solutions you've found.
Jeff
Affiliate marketing is one of the first (and often one of the only) monetization methods that comes to mind when someone wants to start a business online. After all, what Internet user hasn't clicked on one of those links that scream, "Make Money from This Site" that appear all over the web?
Where most people struggle with affiliate marketing comes in overly optimistic expectations. Those "Make Money" links make it sound like all you need to do is stick a bunch of banners on a page and the money will come roaring into your bank account.
Ahem. There's a little more to it than that.
First, you need to get people to your site. That means you need something that will attract visitors, namely, good solid content that helps people find what they want.
And taking it even one more step back from that dreamed-of flood of sales, it means you need to find a topic that people are actively searching for information, answers, help—you name it—on. And you need to help them find partial answers to their questions.
You notice I said partial answers. You need to offer them enough of what they're looking for to establish that you have expertise in the field, that your opinion means something. Then for the answers that are too big or too involved or too tangible for visitors to reasonably expect you to solve on your site, you can refer them to sources that can deal with their specific need.
That means you refer them—as part of content—to sources that can provide exactly what they're looking for. And those sources will likely include affiliate programs that meet your visitors' needs.
In the case of monetizing a business with affiliate commissions (like I'm doing right now) I tell you to check out the two best resources I've found for taking you step-by-step through setting up an affiliate business: James Martell's Affiliate Marketer's Handbook and Michael Campbell's Clickin' It Rich. Both men have made millions in affiliate commissions with businesses in a wide range of fields. Either ebook can successfully walk you through the process of setting up your new affiliate business.
Am I being dishonest in referring you to them instead of simply telling you everything you need? Not at all. There's no way a blog entry can go into the level of detail they do in a complete ebook. Hey' Martell's ebook is over 200 pages and Campbell's is close to 100!
What you do in affiliate marketing is serve as an expert, giving visitors enough of what they're looking for to get them started and then guide them to where they can find more complete solutions.
"But can't I just stick up a bunch of banners on my site like the signup pages say?" I've never had much success with banners. Hey, do you surf around simply clicking on all the banners you see? No. And neither do other people.
You have to give people something more than just banners if you want to make affiliate income. My most successful affiliate products are in the areas where I have the greatest amount of experience. The more confidently I can recommend something from experience—complete with the results I've achieved—the more comfortable my readers are checking into it.
Overall, the affiliate business model is an easy one to start in. It requires the least amount of resources to set up. But you need to get beyond the quick-and-effortless illusion that many affiliate signup pages suggest.
Like with any business, you need to find a target audience that needs solutions, and you need to learn how to guide them to the solutions you've found.
Jeff
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