Since a lot of people have asked me about how to create local affiliate opportunities from scratch lately, I decided to post a quick tutorial that should help marketers, web builders and writers alike. This is just a generic example of what I would do in 14 total steps.

1) Buy a domain, preferably “<county name><industry>.com” and have someone build me a basic Wordpress site.

2) Research the industry from authority sites and learn everything I can about it. This is by far the most important step, because you have to know the business inside and out to be able to anticipate who your ideal customers are and how to attract them.

3) Create a page for every possible industry service, then create sub-pages that go into even more detail.

4) Create a page for every local town within the area.

5) Create a YouTube page and make about a dozen 1 minute videos on how to fix common problems within that niche.

6) Write a FAQ page talking about all the most common issues, how to fix them, and then imbed the videos as walk-thrus.

7) Start a daily blog talking about this county…about 60% of the posts will be about the industry, the other 40% will be about the area in general.

8) Make a Facebook page and share the blogs, with links pointing back to this website. Place a “Follow us on Facebook for a 100% Free…” button on the homepage to capture emails and get fans. This offer will be something that’s generally free in the industry already, like an inspection or an appraisal.

9) Start a backlink campaign. This includes writing for authority sites within the niche, driving in as many local links as I can and reaching out to other local businesses.

10) Write a few press releases about the local community and how weather/season has created a need for workers within this industry.

11) I’m going to get a google local account and register a business within that niche, then I’m going to get 15-25 recommendations from my former clients in other niches.

12) Put a call to action on every page of my site explaining that I work with the best in the industry and always offer same-day estimates and inspections.

13) Contact about a dozen industry professionals, tell them you have lots of jobs, and interview them to see who is the most reliable with a great work ethic. Then pick the top three and keep them busy year-round.

14) Call each lead as they appear in your inbox, qualify it, and then give 2-3 pros a chance to go meet with the customer that same day. Then call the lead back in 24-48 hours, ask if all their questions were answered, and inquire about the pricing arrangement so you know what the commission should be. If the customer says something different than the affiliate, that person never gets another lead from me again. (In that case, return to step 13 to find a replacement).

Now, steps 1-14 are quite a bit of work…which is why I always tell everyone that affiliate marketing isn’t easy. So understand this- I’m not talking about easy money here. This is real work and something you have to stay on top of 24/7. And there will always be a need for more content, additional videos, questions to answer, etc. In fact,success will completely hinge on your professionalism to speak with clients, treating workers well and staying motivated to work hard while this site produces income and grows.

Anyway- that’s local affiliate marketing in a nutshell.