Affiliate Marketing F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions about Affiliate Marketing and Online Entrepreneurship
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Affiliate Marketing
What is Affiliate Marketing
To put it simple, affiliate is a win-win marketing method in which a merchant offers a share of their profit to the publisher who has referred a paying customer. The share of the profit (commission) can vary between 1% and about 75% depending on the type of product / service. The commission can be paid per sale, can be recurring or a combination of the two.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to build up a semi-passive or a passive online income: it is simple, easy to learn and the earning potential is uncapped.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to build up a semi-passive or a passive online income: it is simple, easy to learn and the earning potential is uncapped.
Best Way To Learn Affiliate Marketing – Earn While You Learn
Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Yes, affiliate marketing is a common form of online marketing that is leveraged by big brands and small enterprises alike. Affiliate marketing is becoming more and more popular and is one of the best ways for online entrepreneurs to earn an income from the comfort of their home. If you’d like to read about why affiliate marketing works, follow the link here: Affiliate Marketing – Does It Work?
Where can you learn Affiliate Marketing for free?
The internet is full of free resources. YouTube is one of the greatest resources you can learn affiliate marketing from; however, it is really hard to find videos that actually help you taking action. There is also a lot of ‘distraction’ on YouTube that only holds you back, rather than helping you start affiliate marketing.
You can find the free affiliate marketing training courses&resources that I recommend (ie. personally tried and I liked them) in this article, or if you click on ‘Resources‘
You can find the free affiliate marketing training courses&resources that I recommend (ie. personally tried and I liked them) in this article, or if you click on ‘Resources‘
What is the best affiliate marketing course for beginners?
You are looking for what is best for YOU. First, you need to understand the basics, how affiliate marketing works and how diverse it can be. Secondly, you need a training course that makes you take action straight away. You learn the most if you start implementing every little step along the way. The best affiliate marketing training course that does just that is Wealthy Affiliate’s Online Entrepreneur Certification Course. It has a free version as well. I must warn you, that you probably will go for the paid version over time, as you’ll see how quickly and effortlessly the free version teaches you the basics – and there are 9 more step-by-step courses and an entire library of other training material created by affiliate marketers. You can find more of the best affiliate marketing training courses for beginners in this article.
How to become a successful affiliate marketer?
Despite how simple the concept of affiliate marketing is, it is not easy to become successful in it. In my experience (and based on what other, more experienced affiliate marketers say) the key to success is to be patient, committed and consistent in producing high quality content. You can find more info in this post: How To Get On Google Page One – Create Content That Ranks
How to succeed in affiliate marketing quick?
You must learn the basics, and it helps a lot if you find a step-by-step training that you follow through and implement everything that you learn right away. It may sound strange, but if you’d like to succeed quick in affiliate marketing, you must ‘take it slow’. There is just simply too much information that you need to digest.
Then you pick ONE method that you master. Depending on your personality, the two most common platforms are YouTube and WordPress (a.k.a. blogging).
You start creating helpful content either by yourself or by hiring freelance writers (if you have picked blogging).
You start promoting your content right away by paid advertising and free methods (such as social shares).
Keep re-investing in creating more content, and begin publishing in other niches too.
Other methods may promise you a ‘quick win’ but they very rarely deliver on the promise, and the only thing you learn is that you should not fall for these ‘get rich quick’ promises next time.
This method is the quickest sustainable business model that you can turn into a semi-passive or passive income source after a few years.
If you’d like to learn affiliate marketing, I have outlined a few decent training courses in this post: What Is the Best Affiliate Marketing Course for Beginners?
Then you pick ONE method that you master. Depending on your personality, the two most common platforms are YouTube and WordPress (a.k.a. blogging).
You start creating helpful content either by yourself or by hiring freelance writers (if you have picked blogging).
You start promoting your content right away by paid advertising and free methods (such as social shares).
Keep re-investing in creating more content, and begin publishing in other niches too.
Other methods may promise you a ‘quick win’ but they very rarely deliver on the promise, and the only thing you learn is that you should not fall for these ‘get rich quick’ promises next time.
This method is the quickest sustainable business model that you can turn into a semi-passive or passive income source after a few years.
If you’d like to learn affiliate marketing, I have outlined a few decent training courses in this post: What Is the Best Affiliate Marketing Course for Beginners?
How much does it cost to start affiliate marketing?
The great thing about affiliate marketing is that it costs very little to start. In fact, you can start it for as little as $1.25 a month, that includes the cost of your very own website and your very own ‘.com’ domain. If you think about investing into a decent training as well, than the monthly cost will increase, however, the results will come sooner as well. You can find more info and calculation on how much does it cost to start affiliate marketing in this article.
How much can you realistically earn in your first year of affiliate marketing?
Depending on the niche, the commission structure and the amount of work you put in, you can expect to earn a few hundred dollars in the first year of affiliate marketing. However, if you have followed a proven method to build a solid foundation of your affiliate marketing business, the earnings will continue to increase exponentially in the second year and beyond to a 5 or 6 figure income.
Building an online business – just like building any business – is a long-term game. You won’t see the results of your hard work for months, if not years, which needs a really different mindset and high level of motivation.
If you’d like to see realistic calculations, follow this link here: How Much Can You Earn in Your First Year of Affiliate Marketing? (Real-life Example)
Why Affiliate Marketing is The Best For Beginners
Affiliate marketing is ideal for beginners because it is simple, easy to understand and with a good step-by-step training ANYONE can get the ball rolling within a couple of days. The money you need to invest to begin affiliate marketing is literally nothing (a few dollars maximum), and it only depends on YOU (and the work and effort you are willing to commit to) how successful you become in affiliate marketing. You can find more info on how to start affiliate marketing here:Best Way To Learn Affiliate Marketing – Earn While You Learn and here: Where can you learn affiliate marketing for free?.
What are the best Affiliate Programs for Beginners
The best place to where you can find products to promote are Amazon Associates (Amazon Affiliate Program) and eBay Partner Program. I prefer the latter, however in some niches Amazon works much better. You can find more ideas on which affiliate program you can join and start earning money as a beginner in this article: The Best Affiliate Programs and Networks (These Worked for Me)
Is Clickbank For Beginners?
Clickbank is not for those who have no knowledge about online marketing, SEO, keyword research and PPC advertising. However, if you are still a beginner but you already have a website with some good-quality content, Clickbank can be great for you. It is super-easy to use and you simply direct people to a high-converting sales funnel, written by professional copywriters. You can read more about ClickBank in this post here: Is Clickbank For Beginners?
Creating a Website
What is the best platform for affiliate marketing
Although there are different platforms for every type of business, in general, the best platform to start you affiliate marketing business on is WordPress.
40% of all websites on the internet are built on WordPress. It is highly customisable to suit every need, relatively easy to learn and does 90% of Search Engine Optimisation (according to Google). There are other platforms too for building a website that may be just as good as WordPress (such as Wix or Squarespace), depending on the topic and the design of your website.
Social Media, Pinterest or YouTube are great platforms too and they do have certain benefits over websites (such as difficulty to be found by visitors), but if you are planning a long-term business you must bear in mind that the content you create on these platforms are not yours (Ie Facebook, YouTube can suspend your account overnight and then your business is gone – as opposed to your own website, and your own domain name.)
40% of all websites on the internet are built on WordPress. It is highly customisable to suit every need, relatively easy to learn and does 90% of Search Engine Optimisation (according to Google). There are other platforms too for building a website that may be just as good as WordPress (such as Wix or Squarespace), depending on the topic and the design of your website.
Social Media, Pinterest or YouTube are great platforms too and they do have certain benefits over websites (such as difficulty to be found by visitors), but if you are planning a long-term business you must bear in mind that the content you create on these platforms are not yours (Ie Facebook, YouTube can suspend your account overnight and then your business is gone – as opposed to your own website, and your own domain name.)
How to write content to increase traffic?
First of all, your content must be GREAT. And what great means is that it must be helpful, easy to read and understand and must focus on the topic. It also helps if you target a keyword and do your keyword research to better understand what your audience exactly looks for, and what the competition is like. If you have found the keyword, you must follow the basic principles of on-site SEO to help Google find and rank your content. If you’d like to learn more about keyword research, on-site SEO and content mix, I have outline everything in this article: How To Get On Google Page One – Create Content That Ranks
Can I use a sub-domain like mywebsite.siterubix.com?
You can, however ‘domain authority’ is considered to be a ranking factor by Google. It means that it may be more difficult to gain authority with a website on a sub-domain. People (your visitors) may trust websites on a free domain less, than the ones with a ‘mybusiness.com’ domain name. When buying a domain name costs as little as $1 and a few pence a month, there is really no reason for not having you own domain. Having said that, it is not impossible to rank with a sub-domain.
Passive Income Online
How can I make passive income with no money
One of the easiest way to make passive income with little or no money is by creating a niche website. With commitment and hard work you can learn how to create quality content that ranks in search engines such as Google or Bing, how to attract visitors and build up an audience.
Once your website attract some visitors, there are plenty of different ways to monetise it, including advertisement, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing etc. that will earn you a passive income. It does take time and a lot of work though, so instead of investing money, you invest your time and energy to learn the techniques of creating a passive income website. You can find out how much does it cost to start a website that you can monetise, if you follow the link to my article on this topic How Much Does It Cost To Start Affiliate Marketing?
Once your website attract some visitors, there are plenty of different ways to monetise it, including advertisement, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing etc. that will earn you a passive income. It does take time and a lot of work though, so instead of investing money, you invest your time and energy to learn the techniques of creating a passive income website. You can find out how much does it cost to start a website that you can monetise, if you follow the link to my article on this topic How Much Does It Cost To Start Affiliate Marketing?
How can I generate income online
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How can a beginner make passive income
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Search Engine Optimisation
Do I need a website to sign up for an affiliate program?
Technically, you don’t, but you can take your affiliate marketing business to the next level if you have an established website. Having an own website is an absolute must if you’d like to collect email addresses and grow an engaged audience.
You may argue that having a YouTube channel or a Facebook Group etc. does exactly the same, but the difference is that you don’t own your YouTube channel: anyone could file a copyright claim against you and have your channel suspended. Even if it’s for a while, it can seriously hurt or end your business.
You may argue that having a YouTube channel or a Facebook Group etc. does exactly the same, but the difference is that you don’t own your YouTube channel: anyone could file a copyright claim against you and have your channel suspended. Even if it’s for a while, it can seriously hurt or end your business.
How to Get on Google (How to get your site indexed)
Google will find your website automatically. This can take anywhere between 4 days to 4 weeks, typically around 2 weeks. Although Google crawls the internet all the time, it may take 4-5 days for Google to index a new blogpost.
You can accelerate the process by creating a free Google account, and then create a Google Analytics and a Google Search Console account. You can then let Google know of you website and any new posts much sooner: as soon as you proved to Google that you own the site, indexing is done. Afterwards, every time you publish a new piece of content, you can submit it manually through Google Search Console for Google to index it.
How long does it take for a blog to show up and rank on Google?
It depends on a lot of factor. A new blogpost published on an established website can show up and rank on Google in a matter of hours. For new websites, it can take days or weeks for Google to take notice of the new content; but it may take weeks or months to rank for any keyword. It is absolutely normal to have blogposts that will never perform well on Google. If you’d like to know more you can follow this link where I explained it in more detail: How Long Does It Take for a Blog to Show Up and Rank on Google?
Where to find more keywords for blogging?
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Why people don’t visit your website?
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How to get more visitors to your website?
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How to improve organic CTR
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