Biggest mistakes of new affiliate marketers!

Here's another mistake new affiliate marketers make and this is a big one.....

They market low ticket products that can range from $7 to $25.

You can't build a business like this. If you are promoting these types of commissions based products that are bringing you low commissions, stop it.

Top affiliates work with products that have multiple commissions in the "funnel".

Your customer decides to buy what ever you are selling/recommending and you earn, let's say $7.

Now that they just bought the product, they are offered more related products on the back end.

Now instead of just getting a $7 commission, you can now potentially earn $50, $200, $1,000+ from that same customer.

If you are getting a ONE time commission of an ebook transaction of $7, you can't do much as an affiliate marketer and you will go broke fast.

So anything you promote, it has to have multiple upsell products that can bank you up to $1,000 or more. Even if it's up to $200, that's still good too.

Not only that, but a major mistake that newbies are making is not
learning the fundamentals. Now they do not even want to spend
any time reading or learning, they want the money to just fall into
their lazy laps like it's manna from heaven. They seem to think
that more experienced people are going to drop knowledge that
took them years to learn, like what is a profitable niche where the
real money is at. Newbies should know things like where affiliate
links originated and by whom. After that, the most important thing
to know is how to code a hyperlink. Even if you can afford to hire
professionals to develop your sites for you, you still need to know
these things. Otherwise you might end up hosting a site that has
somebody else's links embedded in it and wondering why you
aren't making any money.

This might be a mistake, but it does work to some extent. The truth is though, if you want to build a sustainable online business, then this isn't the way to go.

Sure you'll be able to make money in the beginning, but it doesn't last. If you want to build a business that stands the test of time online, then taking your time to build it as you recommend is how you do so.

It's all a matter of short term profits versus long term profits. Most don't think about the long term, they just think I want to make money and I want to make it now!

It's a real business like any other business. Treat as such and you'll do well.

Thanks also for the advice.

@talfighel; how many of the $1000 products have you sold? If you are new affiliate marketer, selling low dollar tickets is a challenge in itself; selling $1000 products requires experience and skill; that's a tall order to win when you are just learning the ropes of internet/affiliate marketing.

What rubbish! You all are trying to tell new affiliates that only rich people can start affiliate marketing but those who don't have money beforehand can't make anything because they are looking for free options initially. Dear friends, I don't know who are your Gurus but be sure, if you ever your business goes down and all you are left with is experience and no money then you will never be able to make to again. Those who stay persistent patiently with their efforts in the right directions even with free resources and even if the initial wait takes them years when they start earning, they will by the time, already how to make money from nothing and they'll end up learning how to always win the game.

When some one is not earning from their efforts, it's easy for anyone to guide or misguide them to any direction because the new people, in any field, always keep thinking already that "we are definitely doing something wrong that's why we are not getting the desired results".

Message to new Affiliates- Guys, for example, when you learn driving, experts suggest, either you go to a driving school(Spend money) or learn from someone you know(free option) if you choose the second option where you don't pay to learn then use a second hand/ used car initially instead of a new car, same-way you should opt for the free option initially and once you know the track well go for paid better options with more features.

Please remember to win the race, like Blogging in affiliate marketing also you need to pay attention to the content because even in the marketing world- "Content is still the King". No matter whatever business you start online, your first and foremost attention must be on the writing unique and Viral content, like amazing new slogans, tag lines(content that attracts) on your sales pages or on the squeeze page but that doesn't mean you start boasting, be honest, then only you will win the audience or leads.

I totally agree with you, it needs an investment to start a profitable business. But you have to know what you are doing on the platforms you invest it. If you want to go a fast results, then learn how to invest on paid networks to get customers, if you are with free traffic it takes time.

Br sure, to servebtye many to get thr income. Selling a good offee is the best thing you can do for the audience.

Keep delivering the right info and follow up with your subscribers.

I am agree with this but are many people in in midle and poor countries that cannot afford this things
for example website 10$ per month
autoresponder 20$ per month
funnel builder 100$ per month
So its almost 150$ per month and many people cannot afford this money as some people work half of the month for this money .Also when you start this business it takes time until you see good results ,months or even 1 year .So it think in the beginning if you cannot afford that work hard as hell then when you get some income then start upgrading to a real business

Diving without proper knowledge and tools will make them drown to the bottom of failure.

Find a mentor you resonate with and then mirror them.

There is a lot of noise and overwhelm for beginners in this industry so finding an awesome mentor is very important.

After that it's understanding how everything goes together to get your first result/sale and then duplicating it.

Learning all the components such as building landing pages, building your list, communication and conversion.

Do your research before buying a program that leaves you hanging and still not understanding what steps goes first.

Financing and funding to any business is also the part of a Business Plan. So YES I think that money is necessary to start affiliate business.


On the other hand if anyone is poor and still have a dream to start affiliate busines, that person should start with a job first. And start online business as part time, once he/she get some money and experience then can quit job and focus on business full time.

I agree with all the OP has shared great job but I could easily say the opposite and we would both still be correct.

Thousands know how to make money with no money. I was one. Not for the love it hahaha had no choice.

A lot of old school marketers started out with Bum Marketing.

Some people are doing it now over at Medium and other places.

But if you want to build an Empire yes you have to think bigger and smarter and use leverage. That is why this is a great thread.

If 2 people started today and one had recurring and big ticket, and funnels in his promotions I would say one is going to fair better than the other.

Go to McDonald's today and just order a Quarter Pounder, see if they ask if you would like Fries with that?

Go to most post offices and good clerks are trained to ask at the closing of the sale, do you need any stamps?

Go to Amazon and see the bottom, others also bought.

Suggestive upsells work that is why you see others using it.

you're right.... you need at least hosting and a domain name to have a website. I've never made money without investing so far.

At the same time there are so many influencers on social media that became famous for a stupid video they've made... so technically you can make money without investing money....

*Another mistake that I see affiliate marketers do is not wanting to learn about marketing.

*Choosing a low ticket product should be avoided. That was my number one mistake when I started years ago.

*Not niching down and having random products.

As a former affiliate marketer, I might argue the biggest mistake they make is becoming an affiliate, when the time and money you refer to, could be used to create their own products.

Just saying, if it takes the money to make the money, then CHOOSE carefully before you commit to whatever it is. I believe the #1 reason why they choose the affiliate route is low cost of entry...so if money were available, they might go a different route???

GordonJ

Making money with no money is very much possible; one most important thing to remember is having an idea, making a decision and not giving it up until you see it through. A vert doable example I can give you.
1) start a blog at blogspot ( free cost)
2) Put your written content on at least 10 platforms ( Twitter, facebook, youtube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, vimeo, wordpress, taggit)
3) sign up for adsense/ad networks for earning money
4) sign up for mailchimp for sending emails to your new subscribers ( free for 1st 1000 subscribers)

Yes absolutely right. You need to spend money to earn money!

Little bit agree with you but disagree with you these points.

"1.free website
2. Free funnel builder
3. Free autoresponder

And start marketing for free by spamming forums, blogs, and other places and get any good results."

For a good startup, every marketer needs to start with these.

You're kinda right, but you're also kinda wrong.


Yes affiliate marketing is a real business and people should treat it as such, however that doesn't mean that they have to invest time AND money to start.


This is the beauty of this business model and the online world that you can start completely for free.


I'm not saying that it is easy, and I personally also preferred to invest into training, systems and tools but this is because I have the money.


Now let's say someone is completely broke and wants to start with affiliate marketing:


They have the entire internet and tons of information available, they can go to youtube and watch and learn everything, they can find forums like this one and get marketing information, they can find websites/blogs to learn information.


Once they have these information and once they have developed a success mindset (->which is the most important part to succeed - you can also learn about this for free on youtube) they can start to open free accounts on twitter, facebook, youtube etc.



All they need to do now is register a free affiliate account on jvzoo, warriorplus, clickbank or somewhere else and market their chosen product to their audience the RIGHT way.


Of course you will fail when you just spam on social media your link, but when you provide value and when you position yourself as an authority and a helpful person, people will come to YOU and ask what you can offer them in order to solve their problem and boom you start making money. Because you developed a relationship with your potential customers. They don't care if you have an own domain name or a paid autoresponder subscription.


It's all about marketing.


Let's say you are clever and promote a good funnel leading to high ticket sales (btw I completely agree with your second part regarding this topic) and earn your first $1000 - Now you can invest into additional tools and scale from there.



Look for example I saw someone here in this forum promoting his opportunity with a free google document in his signature instead of a 'normal' landing page. (If you read this: Hi ) - is it perfect? No. But who cares, if he provides value to people and if he can position himself the right way - People will buy.


Consequently please don't say that it is not possible.


I would totaly agree with you when you say that it is very hard to learn all the right things on your own and that the possibility to get distracted and to feel overwhelmed is very high when you can not invest into a mentor or a blueprint to follow step by step.


Because of this it's a matter of fact that people can achieve their goal probably much faster when investing into tools etc but if you can not do that, then it only means that you have to invest more time to reach your goal and that you need a strong mindset.
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"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."

― Henry Ford

Here is another and this is BIG.

TRACKING

You throw money on different ads in different places and you spend hundreds of dollars.

Maybe a few sales come in and you probably made a small profit or broke even.

Then you are sitting there and thinking to yourself this:

Where did these sales come from and from which place?

Tracking should be a huge part of your marketing. If it is not, how will you know where to scale and where to kill your ads?

I complete agree that it takes money to make money. You have to be willing to invest in your business.

One of the other big mistakes I see people making is thinking that this is a get rich quick scheme. It takes time, effort, and commitment. You can't just jump in without taking some time to learn the fundamentals and then build a solid business from the ground up.

One of the biggest mistake newbies made is to promote affiliate products thru low quality traffic sites.

Sites like safelists and traffic exchanges, and promoting there using the affiliate raw links, which lowers vendors conversions.

Also they start jumping from one product to another without sticking to one and without mastering any type of traffic source.

The biggest mistake I have seen is new marketers involved on any type of marketing is 'not allocating enough of their personal time' to build a solid business foundation be it affiliate marketing, product creation, etc.

People that already have a job usually do not have enough time to allocate additional work be it creating a website, autoresponder and a host of other tasks.

There are also people that:

• Do not have a job and want to get involved in marketing as a source of permanent income.
• There are people that have a job and just want the so called "sidegig" wherein they earn additional income to supplement their main source of income.
• The List goes on.

In many of those situations people are already involved with "life choices" that take up a large portion of their personal time and they simply cannot dedicate enough personal time to learn and operate a new source of income:

• Taking care of their family from the elderly to young children.
• Taking care of their own health.
• The List goes on.

In any event, given restraints, we have to decide on a business wherein we can allocate 'enough of our personal time' to the business. Here is the good part of it all - The business we decide to get into is a "Life Choice" meaning we decide on how we live our life.

It all starts with "Time Management" be it one hour a day or eight hours a day. Personally, I have my own way of managing my time which means my own way is not everyone's way. Different business's require more time than others and via versa.

It is all about you at this stage in terms of allocate 'enough of our personal time' to the business, the family etc.

Another mistake "some" new affiliate marketers make is joining an established affiliate group's forum "after" a public launch and expecting to get "involved" in terms of plan, goal etc.

The forum Admin does in fact maintain a sticky thread that explains there is a start date and a cutoff date for discussion of the initial plan, goal etc. as well as all events in the "timeline."

"Some" new affiliate marketers do not read the stickys and ask questions about the plan and goal etc. which causes one of two actions by the Affiliate Manager:

1. Point the member to the sticky thread with a reminder that the member may apply for the next product launch.
2. Suspend the member until the launch is complete if the member complains and disrupts the forum.

It is important for new affiliates to understand that said forums are "established working group of affiliates" that are typically adhering to scheduled launches and it is best to "only" get involved in the planning and goal stages of future products.

There is a lot more to it than that, so just know that not everyone can join a private forum and if you did apply and were accepted.. remember that you are not in sole control.

Not Utilizing Evergreen Content. Evergreen content is a search-optimized content that is always relevant and stays "fresh" for a long period of time.

Well said, everything in a world requires time and money, if you don't have time and money then its better to do nothing.

Aren't those things fine for beginners, though? I was fortunate enough to have built a great site and following before doing affiliate marketing. However, for others, they are just stretching their wings and testing the waters. Let them make those mistakes and learn from them

Along with this, not investing the proper amount of time into the business is just as harmful. Affiliate marketing is full of products and courses that say "work one hour a day" without taking into account how many weeks and months of unpaid work it takes to get to that point.

Besides those, I guess biggest mistakes of new affiliate marketers are:
1) Ignoring video marketing
2) Ignoring FB marketing
Step onto these my friends and you will register faster success.

Starting out when you are building the foundation of your business you have to use time as your most valuable tool in order to generate money. Once you earn some money you can invest in proper funnels, marketing, content, branding, tools that will free up time spent with money spent. Use the tools you have and as you progress with success you will acquire superior strategic tools. The most important thing to success is to take action.

Your post is so true, but the biggest mistake a newbie can make in internet marketing is going into too many niches at once. That was the mistake i made when i got started years ago. You need to focus on one niche at a time and learn it well.

I think the biggest mistake that new affiliate marketers make is not getting proper education. I know you need some investment before starting, but before that, you must know ins and outs of what you are doing.

Biggest mistake by newbie affiliate marketers: being afraid to test and expecting someone more experienced to tell them which product to promote. You can't grow if you aren't willing to test new offers and promotion methods.

I really enjoyed reading all the comments, took a few notes. My 10cents, not utilising different engagement plattforms. Most "gurus" still talk about email list building. None really look at Whatsapp business API, FB messenging, Wechat etc. Far higher engagement and click through rates for the same amount of work

Thank you so much for this advice! I have always thought about it that a business needs money to grow and without funding it, there's no way forward. I'm planning currently to upgrade my WordPress theme and buy some important tools I'd need for my affiliate marketing business.

Not testing MORE affiliate programs. Some are duds, others convert like gangbusters.

Totally agree with you!

There are too many newbies are looking for an easy method to make free money online

that's why there are too many people are suffering

wondering why they could never make a sale.

It's a real business, you don't have to have a lot of money to start

But you do need money to get going.

One of the biggest mistakes that they can make is not researching the product they want to market beforehand. This can act as a major problem for their affiliate marketing career not just a brand but also as a trustworthy individual.

There is no need to spend thousands of dollars but you have to at least invest a few hundred dollars.

I will give you a few suggestions on how to get started:

1.Free website - OK but you have to get your own domain and hosting.

2. Free funnel builder - OK but you have to have your own autoresponder service.

3. Free autoresponder - NO. You need to sign up for some kind of autoresponder. It can be free for a while but eventually you will have to pay for it. (unless you are programmer)

4. Free marketing tools - NO. You will need to invest some money into marketing tools to market your business.

If you are just starting out, please take my advice and don't go out and start spamming forums, blogs, and other places with your affiliate link.

You will just be wasting your time, energy, and money.

Biggest mistake is to start spending money on advertising from day 1 when they don't have an idea of CTRs, conversion rates as to how many clicks are needed to get a sale.

Understand the basic metrics first! and which channels converts best for your offers and bring quality customers.

No selecting the right affiliate vertical or right product and services to promote.

New affiliate should look at commission rates on offer, are they paying recurrent commissions? Also take into account average basket value and lifetime value. Most importantly is the legality of affiliate programs in a given country, affiliates should check if the products that they are marketing can be promoted in these countries

A good affiliate program pays high commissions over 30% for life and the lifetime value of the customer is high. Affiliate programs offering these advantages are SaaS, Dating, Software and tech programs.

Well said. Especially where you mentioned those who promote low ticket products. That's one of the biggest mistakes new affiliate marketers make when starting out.

From our many surveys building out clients' funnels and marketing systems, I've come to realize that it takes the same effort used to sell a $10 product to sell a $100 product. And the same effort used to sell a $100 product to sell a $1000 product, and so on. The only difference is in positioning.

Some newbie affiliates tend to go for the same old merchants where competition is very high and the chances of getting organic traffic are very low.

My advice is to research new and upcoming product verticals, for example, SaaS affiliate programs where these programs not only pay high commissions but also recurrent for the lifetime of the customer, so if we send just a couple of customers at the beggining thats ok you are still making good commissions.

Good luck!

The common mistake of new affiliate marketers is thinking affiliate marketing is easy, and a get-rich-quick scheme.

Affiliate marketing is a business just like any other business.

It takes consistent work on a daily basis to build up your momentum and your business.

If your blogging produce high-quality content that people actually find valuable and want to read and learn basic SEO skills to get your high-quality content to rank in the search engines for free organic traffic.

2. Build your email list this should always be your main priority

3. Put an effective email marketing funnel in place with a low ticket product as the tripwire mixed with recurring income and high ticket products to maximize your earnings.

4, Re-invest a good majority of your profits to build your business and grow.

5. Find a good traffic source and master it.

Rinse, wash, and repeat.