Is this the best way to start Affiliate Marketing?

by WillST
14 replies
Hi guys,

I'm about to dip my toe in the water with affiliate marketing and wanted a little advice on the best approach.

PPC is out the window as I dont have the cash to test tweak and measure.

So I was thinking of choosing a niche, find good products to promote (at least $100 commission), building a robust review site (30+ pages), and then continue adding blog articles weekly on that subject.

Then do SEO to rank naturally for a list of 10-15 keywords with decent traffic.

Does this sound sensible? Or completely off the mark?

I know there are a lot of peeps earning good money with Affiliate Marketing, so was curious as the best way to start...
#affiliate #marketing #start
  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    Building your list in affiliate marketing is necessary just like Tube and Tyre. Run your affiliate site without opt in page/autoresponder is like moving on a deflated tyre, ofcourse you can move but not on top gear.

    Remember the money is in the list, miss that part and you throw away a large chunk of your sales.
    Signature
    Grow your social media account, Spotify Streams, YT Views & IG Followers & More
    Software & Mobile APP Developer
    Buy Spotify, Facebook Bot & IG M/S Method
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6470631].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WillST
    Is it worth focusing on building a list if the product is something random like high end construction machinery (for example...)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6470783].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WillST
    Does anybody else have any pearls of wisdom? Would be very grateful B-)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471075].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author D3fiantMark3ting
    Originally Posted by JSTEF View Post

    Hi guys,

    I'm about to dip my toe in the water with affiliate marketing and wanted a little advice on the best approach.

    PPC is out the window as I dont have the cash to test tweak and measure.

    So I was thinking of choosing a niche, find good products to promote (at least $100 commission), building a robust review site (30+ pages), and then continue adding blog articles weekly on that subject.

    Then do SEO to rank naturally for a list of 10-15 keywords with decent traffic.

    Does this sound sensible? Or completely off the mark?

    I know there are a lot of peeps earning good money with Affiliate Marketing, so was curious as the best way to start...
    I think you have a good approach going. Problem being is that can take a little while to get going but is definitely a good strategy is you actually plan to stick with it...

    Also, just as johnnybenn1444 said, you should start building a list. Eventually, this will be your push button profits that we all hope for.

    In the mean time, try doing some forum marketing. Placing links in your signature and making VALUABLE posts on different IM forums. Do not go and spam every forum you find as nobody likes that and it will more than likely get you banned pretty quickly. Do this for an hour or so each day and you'd be surprised at the outcome.

    Hope this helps.

    Have a great day!
    Thanks,
    Daniel
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471185].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author buttonlife
      Start off with a good squeeze page with a valuable freebie. Something that is in the same market as whatever you are planning on offering your list later on, that will genuinely help and give the reader something that will benefit them. This is how you build your list, which is definitely the key to affiliate marketing.

      Hope this helps.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471296].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author matt78
      You has one good plan there..but for someone who's new to affiliate marketing, don't target $100+ commission products straight away.

      Expensive items are harder to sell and you might get frustrated if you didn't make any sale after 1-2 months.

      Start small by promoting cheaper products first. Even if the commissions are small, it would give you a motivation boost to keep working and make money with affiliate marketing.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471336].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Laura B
    Sounds like a reasonable approach to me. But if the earnings are slower than you'd like at first, I'd encourage you to stick with it (assuming you haven't chosen a ridiculously competitive niche or one with no demand at all). Keep working on that one site until it profits, rather than putting it on the back burner and trying another niche and another.
    Signature
    Free ebook: Affiliate Marketing: Just the FAQs
    Affiliate marketing for brand spankin' newbies
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471327].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author multiplecloud
    Decent traffic do not enough. How much your conversion rate?
    Signature

    SafePBN - PBN on different shared hosting company
    █ 100% no bad neighborhood | host pbn at safest
    MultipleCloud - Multiple location hosting provider
    █ 200+ worldwide location | different server | different ip owner | best for pbn

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471442].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author WillST
      I haven't started on this little journey yet, so don't have conversion rates for the site.

      Not to open another can of worms - but what is the usual click through rate for review-type sites? Anyone know of any figures?

      Originally Posted by multiplecloud View Post

      Decent traffic do not enough. How much your conversion rate?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471510].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author larry1113
    Sounds sensible but just so you know, SEO is not exactly "free" because it take a long time and also you're probably going to invest in syndication, article marketing software, blog networks, etc.

    That can add up to a couple hundred dollars a month + the time you take to write articles reviews and what not.

    The thing about review sites is that you're not really offering any real value to the market place. You're basically just 'gaming' Google's system so that you're reviews rank higher than other people's reviews.

    Personally, I don't think that's such a great business model/business to get into. You're income will be built on sand if you get what I mean.

    If you're set on SEO though and creating a big site I would go and get the book "Launch" and work on building a true authority site that offers real value to the marketplace.

    P.S. You should always be building your email list!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471667].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author AmitabhB
      That is just one of the best models that you chosen. If you can do this well, it can be very profitable model. But in this, you need to have some patience. You will have to work on it. You only target will be to get in the first page of Google.

      Just few of the cautions I would like to add up:

      1. Make sure you get into a good niche. The more obsessed and desperate the market is, the better for you. Recently I got an WSO about earning good money from the Embarrassing markets like the sexual problems, health issues or painful issues. Thats a very great idea and I am going after that now. I would suggest you give a thought into that. Niche selection is one of the most important steps you should be careful about.

      2. The most important and this can make or break your business. Keywords. Do a thorough keyword research. Spent some good time into it as these will be your backbone. Few factor you should look for in your keywords are:
      • Low competition. One of the best ways to check this out is going to Google and searching your keywords in quotes, i.e. "your long tail keyword" and search. Target keywords with results less than 50,000 and you should be able to rank them pretty easily.
      • Good search volume: Go to Google Adwords tool and feed your keywords in there. Do an 'Exact' search and look out search volume more than 500 per month. Less than that is not worth targeting.
      • Look out for the "Buyers Intent" (a phrase I learn from Mark Ling) in your keyword. This means that whether a person typing that particular phrase is willing to invest money or not. For example any keyword phrase with the word free in it is probably not good to target because the buyer's intent is too low as he is searching for free contents. Product name or brand name are the best converting keywords.
      After you get your list of good keywords, try to get a domain name with that exact keyword phrase. As close you will be to your main keyword, that good you will do.

      With this points in mind, you can do pretty well with this model of business.


      If you want to invest in a course for this, the best I can recommend to you is Mark Ling's AffiloBlueprint. I have used this course and this is just awesome. You do not need anything else. Just follow Mark's words and you will do great. (Do not worry, I am not giving my affiliate link in here so I do not earn a penny out of it. Its really good. Thats it! ).

      If you just want a free course, you can look out for "The Challenge". This is an awesome course you can find online that will guide you through every step of it.

      Thats all! I hope that gives you some value..
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471927].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author AmitabhB
        BTW...
        List building is always a good idea, whatever market you may be in. It gives you the highest ROI from each visitor that you bring to your site. Always build a list. A list is the biggest asset you can have in this industry!

        Thanks
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6471968].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author elyshemer
    Originally Posted by JSTEF View Post

    Hi guys,

    I'm about to dip my toe in the water with affiliate marketing and wanted a little advice on the best approach.

    PPC is out the window as I dont have the cash to test tweak and measure.

    So I was thinking of choosing a niche, find good products to promote (at least $100 commission), building a robust review site (30+ pages), and then continue adding blog articles weekly on that subject.

    Then do SEO to rank naturally for a list of 10-15 keywords with decent traffic.

    Does this sound sensible? Or completely off the mark?

    I know there are a lot of peeps earning good money with Affiliate Marketing, so was curious as the best way to start...
    The basic formula is simple: a good offer + targeted traffic + conversion = money. You can not omit any part of the formula or it will fail altogether.

    The offer can be an affiliate offer - so you are good there Just remember to have an offer that solves a real problem for your potential customers.

    The traffic should be targeted (meaning people who have the problem your offer can solve for them) and it can come from any source. SEO is one way of going about it. Just bear in mind it being a long slow process. Speaking of SEO - please do not use spamy methods. And do not wait with it till the site is fully grown - start your marketing efforts at the very first moment the site goes live.

    Conversion is an important part of the formula which you can not ignore. Several people already told you you should include list building somewhere in your funnel. I wanted to get you thinking about this: it may be a lot easier to convert visitors to subscribers (with a free offer) then converting them into customers, right then and there, on the site. Once they are subscribers, you can get them to know, like and trust you - which will make it a lot easier for you to then turn them into customers.

    I hope that helps a bit
    Ely
    Signature
    "One can not learn when one thinks they already know" [Epictetus]
    http://recommendedtoolsformarketers.com/

    I'm also active on - Twitter - Facebook
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6472868].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Chri5123
    Originally Posted by JSTEF View Post

    Hi guys,

    I'm about to dip my toe in the water with affiliate marketing and wanted a little advice on the best approach.

    PPC is out the window as I dont have the cash to test tweak and measure.

    So I was thinking of choosing a niche, find good products to promote (at least $100 commission), building a robust review site (30+ pages), and then continue adding blog articles weekly on that subject.

    Then do SEO to rank naturally for a list of 10-15 keywords with decent traffic.

    Does this sound sensible? Or completely off the mark?

    I know there are a lot of peeps earning good money with Affiliate Marketing, so was curious as the best way to start...
    If you do that ^ and actually keep it up depending on the niche, as long as your sales copy is half decent it is a perfect way to start!

    At least it worked for me and still does!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6472878].message }}

Trending Topics