I love affiliate marketing. I think that anyone who is just starting an online business should consider affiliate marketing. Let’s start with the actual definition in case you’re not familiar with it. The definition of affiliate marketing is when a business pays someone commission for referring traffic or a sale.
So what does that mean? Remember when you bought that new (laptop/television/smartphone) and you were so excited by it that you told all of your friends? Now imagine if someone paid you if any of your friends then went out and bought the item because of you. That is affiliate marketing.
The only difference is that to actually get the commission, instead of telling them on the phone or in person, you’d use a link. This is how your referrals are tracked. You give people your recommendations (via a link), and if they go to the website and buy that product, you’ll get paid a percentage of what they spend. What’s even better is as long as they use that link, you’ll get a commission on anything they buy, whether they buy that product or not.
Anyone Can be an Affiliate Marketer
That’s why I love this way of making money. It’s not only something that you’re already doing (minus the special link) but it’s something you’ve been doing since you could talk. I’m sure that when you were a little kid you told your friends about the toys you loved (and hated.) And I’d be willing to bet that some of them went home and told their parents that they just HAD to have that toy, and some of the parents then went out and bought it. You’ve been doing affiliate marketing your whole life. You just weren’t being paid for it. But now you can, and that makes affiliate marketing amazing.
You Don’t Need Special Knowledge to be an Affiliate Marketer
A lot of people want to start a business online, but have no idea what kind of business. You might not think you have any special knowledge that would be helpful to anyone else. You’re probably wrong, but that’s not the point here. Everyone buys products and services. No one needs any special knowledge in order to be an affiliate marketer. All they’re doing is telling people what they like and don’t like about products and services. It doesn’t matter what kind of schooling you had, how much you know about certain topics or anything else. It only matters that you can share what you like and don’t like about the products and services.
You Don’t Need to be Technical to be an Affiliate Marketer
Most people aren’t very technical. So the thought of starting an online business can be very daunting. There’s great news when becoming an affiliate marketer though. You don’t need to be technical to do this. You just have to learn how to get your links.
After you have a link, it’s a matter of where you want to share them. If you’re thinking about starting an online business, I’d have to assume that you’re technical enough to know how to send an email. If not, someone should be able to show you how to without a lot of trouble. A lot of people already use social media, so again, that isn’t too technical for most. Even if you want to start your own blog, that doesn’t have to be too technical as well. These days, once you get hosting and a domain name, they have “one-click” installs where you click a button, and a WordPress blog is created for you. Yes, you might want to get some help to make it look like you want it to, but posting is pretty simple.
That’s about as technical as it gets. And again, if starting a blog sounds way too difficult, for now you can get around it and use email and social media platforms to start your business. That’s another reason I think affiliate marketing is great. Anyone can do it.
You Don’t Need Any Special Equipment to be an Affiliate Marketer
With some businesses, there are things you’ll need to have in order to do the business. Whether it’s a car, an awesome microphone, or something else…you almost always need something. So what about affiliate marketing? Nope, there is no special equipment you need to get started. A computer or smartphone is needed, but if you don’t have your own, you could start out by using one at your local library. It will be a lot easier if you have your own computer or smartphone though. But let’s face it, most people these days at least have access to one of those!
You Don’t Need to Spend Any Money (if you Don’t Want to) to be an Affiliate Marketer
A lot of people worry when starting a new business that they’ll have to spend a lot of money to do so. Want to know how much money you’ll have to spend to get started as an affiliate marketer? Hold on to your hats. Nothing. You don’t HAVE to spend a single cent to get started.
Now, I say it like that because I think that having your own blog is a great way to get started, and that isn’t free. You’ll need to pay for hosting (which usually comes with a free domain for your first year.) There are companies out there such as A2 Hosting and Bluehost that I recommend and you can get started for under $6 per month. But even that isn’t necessary at first if you don’t want to spend that much.
Why not? Well, you can use social media for free to post. You can also use a company like Aweber (they’re who I use and recommend) to build your list so you can email people. You can have a free account until you have 500 people on your list, and at that point you should be making money.
And let me put this out there just in case. No company should be asking you for money to promote them and be an affiliate marketer. They pay you. You do not pay them.
So to start as an affiliate marketer, you don’t need to spend any money at all, except for a web hosting if you want to start your own blog.
It’s Easier to Sell Their Products and Services
If you’re just starting your own online business, you’re probably not well known online yet. Most likely people wouldn’t recognize your name (or your picture) if they came across you online. So it might not be that easy to convince someone to buy something that you created. But, as an affiliate marketer, you have a lot easier of a job. You are convincing them to buy something that someone else created. It might be from a big company that the person already likes and trusts. It could even be from someone else online that has a bigger presence online, and is already known. Either way, it’s an easier sell. You won’t have to overcome as many objections to get someone to buy something. Plus, often when you someone to an affiliate link, it’s to a sales page. In other words, the person or company is “selling” to the person as well, so even if you’re a beginner at selling, someone else is there to “close the deal”.
It’s a Great Way to Become Known
Again, at the moment you’re not known well online. But if you start posting on social media, sending out emails, and eventually start your own blog, you’ll become known. One day you’ll be able to do whatever else you’d like online, and grow you business. It’ll be a lot easier too as you’ll be more known by the people who saw what you’ve been talking about as an affiliate marketer.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to get started with an online business. I also think it’s the easiest way to start, and it’s also the quickest possible path to earning an income online. You don’t need to create anything of your own, instead you talk about the things you like and you don’t like. You don’t need any special knowledge, technical skills, cash or anything else. Anyone can start right away, and I think it’s something everyone should be doing.
Enjoy,
