Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online without having to invest any of your own money. In this article, we will teach you how affiliate marketing works and how you can get started with it today.
1. What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. The industry has four core players: the merchant (also known as ‘retailer’ or ‘brand’), the network (that contains offers for the affiliate to choose from and also takes care of the payments), the publisher (also known as ‘the affiliate’), and the customer. The market has grown in complexity to include a large range of players, including specialized third-party vendors, super-affiliates, and many others.
2. Picking a Niche
Many wannabe Affiliate Marketers get this far, get stuck, and never move on. Picking a niche is often touted as the KEY to success in Affiliate Marketing. And because of that, people overthink it and never make it past this stage. There are of course some great niches that you can choose to get into depending on your interest such as:
- Hobbies: travel, photography, golfing, outdoors
- Money: Bitcoin, personal finance, credit cards, investing
- Health: fitness, nutrition, vegan, weight loss, yoga
- Lifestyle: luxury, airlines, fashion, jewelry
- Home: baby products, dogs, plants, security
- Tech: web hosting, VPN, gaming, software
- Alternative: personal development, marijuana, and CBD, herbal remedies
And while this is one approach to picking a niche, there is a more PRACTICAL option…
Your Personal Brand!
If you decide that you yourself are the niche you are going to get into, this will allow you to pivot down the line if you need to. For example, if you started a website for Pet Products, it’s very hard to pivot that website to let’s say Gaming right?
But if your website is YOURNAME.com, you can focus on a given niche to get started with, but then pivot as and when you need to down the line. This actually increases the probability that you will stick with it when the going gets tough AND derisks your business as a whole without having to worry about losing the work you have put in to date.
So instead of worrying about what niche or what micro niche you want to get started in, why not start a Personal Brand Website instead?
3. How do I start Affiliate marketing with no money?
There are a few ways that you can start affiliate marketing without any money. One way is to join an affiliate network, such as Commission Junction or ShareASale, and find products to promote that way. Another way is to find products to promote on your own by researching affiliate programs that are offered by merchants directly.
But you’re still going to need to promote them right?
Well many Affiliate Marketing tutorials on how to start Affiliate Marketing with no Money, will simply differ the answer to this to “Use Social Media”
The problem with this advice is many people then attempt to bombard Social Channels by Spamming their links everywhere. And sure… you might get a few sales doing this, but it’s a lot more likely you are going to get reported and/or banned for doing so.
Instead, you should start focusing on a Value Add approach. You MUST provide value for free first. This enables you to build trust and establish YOU as an authority on a given topic.
So lets look at this strategy as an Example:
Instead of Spamming your Affiliate Link to Facebook Groups, why not START a Facebook Group on your niche topic!? – It’s FREE to do this!
Once you have a group setup, you can begin inviting people to it – FREE
And instead of Bombarding your own Group with Affiliate Links, why not Write some Medium Articles that Add REAL value – FREE
Then you can post your articles to your group, adding value to it… and your Affiliate Links can be part of your Medium Posts
ALL FOR FREE!
4. How to find a good affiliate program?
Not all affiliate programs are created equal. Some affiliate programs are better than others, and some will pay you more money per sale. When you are looking for an affiliate program to promote, make sure to do your research and find a program that is reputable and that will pay you a good commission.
Check out our list of Affiliate Programs that actually Payout Daily!
But don’t let this stage stop you either! I mean there are massive Affiliate Programs out there like Amazon Associates, that give you a MASSIVE range of products that you can talk about in almost ANY niche!
And while these don’t pay out huge percentages or anything, it’s a good place to get started and has the potential to build over time!
5. How to create a website or blog for your affiliate business?
If you want to be successful with affiliate marketing, you will need to have a website or blog where you can promote the products that you are promoting. You can either create your own website or blog, or you can use a free platform such as WordPress.com or Blogger.com.
6. How to drive traffic to your website or blog?
The key to success with affiliate marketing is to drive traffic to your website or blog. There are a number of ways to do this, such as through search engine optimization (SEO), social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and content marketing.
By following these steps, you can start Affiliate Marketing with no money. Just remember, it takes time and effort to be successful with affiliate marketing, but it is certainly possible to do so. So get started today and see for yourself!
7. How much money can you make with affiliate marketing?
The amount of money you can make with affiliate marketing will depend on a number of factors, such as the niche you are in, the products you are promoting, and the amount of traffic you are able to drive to your website or blog. However, it is possible to make a full-time income from affiliate marketing.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online without having to invest any of your own money. By following the steps in this article, you can start Affiliate Marketing with no money. Just remember, it takes time and effort to be successful with affiliate marketing, but it is certainly possible to do so. So get started today and see for yourself!
Interested in Learning More about Passive Ways to make Money? Check out our post on 62 Passive Income Ideas To Help You Retire Earlier
