A Genuine Model For Making Money As An Affiliate

Very recently (probably about an hour ago) I posted a thread on the ClickBank section of the Digital Point forum. The idea behind the thread was to promote my newly launched weight loss guide by providing information about my product as well as a proven affiliate marketing model that I use on a regular basis. Publishers are announcing their products on a regular basis over there which is why I tried to provide some value in order to stand out from the crowd.

The model which I outline is aimed at helping affiliates promote my product but the truth is that it can be applied to just about any niche. Anyway, here is the half of the post that is allowed here.

*Note: I do make references to my product in this post. Remember that this process can be used for any niche and any product.

Proven Model For Making Money As An Affiliate

Step 1

The first thing that you will need to do is either purchase a domain or if you don't feel like spending money creating a free Blogger blog.

When choosing your domain name you need to make sure to include a profitable keyword in the domain. I see many affiliates getting domains related to the product name which is completely fine if you are creating a thing site. However, in my opinion it is best to create an entire niche site rather than creating a new site every time a new product launches.

This is exactly how I have gone about making money in the weight loss niche. I bought a keyword rich domain and then installed WordPress on that site. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself though so I'll end this step right here.

Just remember to do some keyword research and then buy a domain based on that keyword or do the same thing for a blogger blog.

Step 2

The next thing that you will need to do is to either install WordPress on your own domain. In my opinion WordPress is one of the best platforms to create a niche site with. There is tons of flexibility as well as thousands of themes for you to use.

Whether you plan on building a long term authority niche site or just a set and forget type site you need to make sure of one thing. You need to make sure that your site looks at least half decent.

There are tons of free themes around for WordPress that look great but if you want something that stands out and look professional then I highly recommend you check out Elegant Themes. This is by far the best premium WordPress service out there. The best part is that it is dirt cheap at only $20 a year.

If you have decided to go the free route by using Blogger just remember to find a half decent theme. Remember, it is very important to make your site look legitimate and pleasing to the eye if you want to gain the trust of your visitors and prospective buyers.

Step 3

Now that you have a basic niche site set in place you will need to start filling it with content. However, just as it is important to make sure that your site looks presentable it is also important to write your content in a way that makes you seem knowledgeable in the area of weight loss.

This is another area where many affiliates struggle. They blindly promote products without the slightest clue as to what they are about. This doesn't mean that you have to research for hours it just means that you need to spend 15 minutes or so getting a quick understanding of what you will be writing about.

Thankfully for you, this is something that is incredibly easy in the weight loss niche. Getting good content is as easy as heading on over to WebMd and then taking what you learn to write your own content.

With all of that said, there is something to keep in mind when writing content. There are two types of content for your niche. There is what I like to call "filler" content and then there are your pillar articles.

Basically, your filler content is going to be content that you write up without really thinking. It is really only meant to feed the search engines and to increase the fresh content of your site. Yes, it still should be fairly well written. I am in no way telling you to spam. It is just that these articles don't really need to include mind blowing information. This type of content should be easy for you to create in maybe 10 minutes from what you already know on the subject of weight loss.

In contrast, your pillar articles are going to be the articles which offer a lot of unique content and ones that you put more effort into. Naturally, these articles are going to be longer.

Step 4

After filling your site with some content you will want to create a review around my product. The point of putting some content on your niche site before you create a review is to make your site seem trustworthy. If someone comes along to your site and only sees one bare bones article basically saying "Buy This Product It Is The Best" they most likely won't trust your intentions.

But, if your site has a few somewhat helpful articles as well as a well written review then someone will be more likely to listen to your advice. Now, when it comes to creating a product review you have two options. You could either create a review of just my product or you could compare to other similar products.

Both review models have worked very well for me so it is basically whichever model you prefer. Just remember to provide useful information about my product, highlight its benefits, and to not sound too over promotional. Basically, just express your thoughts naturally and give your honest opinion.

Step 5

Good job you made it to the end. This is the final step! This is also the most important step. This is the step where you make money by driving traffic. Because as will all know, traffic is what ultimately makes you money.

Here are some of the best free ways to drive traffic to your review:

Post Articles On:

EZA
Buzzle
GoArticles
Click here for a list of the top 50 directories.

In my opinion EZA and Buzzle are the best for traffic however the others are great for backlinks. Wherever you post make sure to include anchor text in your links which includes the keywords you want to rank for. Also, make sure that the article directory is dofollow before writing content for them.

Answer Questions On:

Yahoo Answers

Social Bookmark Your Content Using:

Social Marker

This is a great free tool that allows you to submit your links to the best social bookmarking sites very quickly. It also allows you to only submit to dofollow sites if you want to.

Ping You Content Using:

Pingler

This is a free pinging service that allows you to ping your specified url to over 92 services in just a minute or two. This is great for getting your content indexed fast.

Submit Content To:

Squidoo
HubPages

Both of these rank very well in Google as well as offer high PR backlinks to your niche site.

Submit Your Blog To:

The Best Blog Directories

Here you'll find a list of some of the best blog directories to submit your site to. While this won't provide you with a lot of traffic it will help your SEO as well as help your site get indexed.

=========================================

I hope that I could provide some insight for you with this post. If you have any questions or just want to give some feedback please feel free to post.

Thanks.