So you want to make some extra money online by being an Affiliate Marketer. Affiliate marketing is fun and you've got lots of choices for what you can promote PLUS lots of places to advertise at no cost or low cost. I don't have to even tell you what to market, you have so many choices. Companies want people to become an Affiliate and market their product online and pay you a commission for doing so. A great gig for anyone who wants to work from home.
Amazon may be one of the largest companies familiar to you that offers an Affiliate program. Clickbank is another very familiar name, allowing you to promote thousands of digital products and earn a commission for your efforts. It's free to get started so you can sign up for a free account and learn more about how affiliate marketing works without making an investment.
If you are new to online marketing, here are five essentials you need to know so you can maximize what you earn as an Affiliate.
1. For those serious about building an online business and who want to market a number of programs, product, services or opportunities, you will want to start with a home base for your activities. The best way to do this is by booking your own domain name. This will cost you as little as $10 a year and establishes a permanent, reputable home for your business. If you are doing affiliate marketing on the side from your full time occupation (like so many do), it will also help your activities separate. Having your own domain name makes you and your business look more solid, accountable and professional. Your domain name can be your name, a business name, a catch-all name for your online activities that includes a few key words. You can book a domain name with any domain registrar, do a search at Google or Bing to find an option that works best for you.
2. In my role as a consultant to small and home business owners, I also recommend a system for organizing your business. A pen and paper will work initially. Over time you will come to recognize that as an online marketer time, and the saving of time, is critical to being able to market often and efficiently. You see, most websites that offer advertising require you to sign up for Membership account, and that means multiple user name and passwords at what could eventually be dozens and dozens of sites. So I recommend, a Password Manager program called Roboform. As your online business grows and you start to lose your sanity keeping track of all your user names and passwords you will come to realize the incredible organization value of a program like Roboform. It will make your logins or form filling, much faster and that means less time trying to recall or find passwords and more time for doing what makes you money - promotion.
3. If you are new to online marketing you need to understand that it is not enough to promote. You need a reliable method for tracking your ad results. In other words, if you post an ad, you want to know how many clicks you got on your ad. If you don't know what kind of hit rate you are getting you have no idea of the effectiveness of your ad, or the advertising source. These programs that allow you to do this are called Ad Tracker Software or Ad Analysis software. Most are free or very low cost. You can get started with a free Webmaster Tools account from Google. Some of the companies you advertise with may also offer you an ad tracking tool within their member area
4. I talk to many new online marketers, and they will tell me they have some amazing product that will sell itself it is so good. This is absolute nonsense. ALL products, no matter how good they are, need to be promoted to sell. If you want to make online sales you need to promote constantly. Understand that PROMOTION is what drives sales - it is so important that 80 - 90% of your time in building your online business should be devoted to promotion. I don't mean surfing, researching, or face booking and tweeting with your friends. I mean time spent actually posting ads online at classified ad sites, forums, blogs, safelists, traffic exchanges, pay per click, joint ventures, ad swaps, and email marketing. If you want to make money online as an affiliate marketer know that constant, consistent promotion is critical. Some see this as a very boring part of being an online marketer, get over it, promotion is what you have to do to earn money.
5. Don't do this alone. Affiliate marketing can be very frustrating if you don't know what you are doing and not seeing any results for your efforts. If you are determined to make money online, then invest in yourself, take a course, download eBooks, participate in a webinar, find a coach, training program or otherwise so you can learn the best methods. My company offers online training, software, advertising and resources for people who want to learn how to earn at home. Get a free Associate membership and get on your way to learning what works so you can join the growing ranks of people working from home and benefiting from affiliate marketing.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter has been an online marketer for nearly 20 years. Sandi and her team at Worldprofit Inc., provide a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more.
Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate (Affiliate) Membership today. Be sure to ask for a free copy of Sandi's new book, "Internet Marketing for NEWBIES: The definitive guide to promoting your product or service online - get it here."
Republished with author's permission by Vaurn James
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