Am I on the right track (Affiliate Marketing)

by inxie
9 replies
I have been researching this for a few days now and just need to confirm I have the right idea here...

1) Choose a niche (avoid high competition)
2) Create a blog or website
3) write articles relating to the niche (or pay for them)
4) post at least 1 article a day on your blog
5) drive traffic to your blog/website using marketing techniques
6) occasionally throw in an affiliate link with an article (recommending the product)

In a nutshell, is this correct?
#affiliate #marketing #track
  • Profile picture of the author KristofferIM
    No inxie, I'm sorry to tell you that's not correct

    1. Choose a market (competition is a good thing, means there's money in that market)
    Ex. the fitness market
    2. Choose a niche in your market
    Ex. the weight loss niche
    3. Choose a hyper target niche within your niche
    Ex. Loose weight before your weeding
    4. Choose a way to communicate with your market. I'd go with e-mail if I where you. Your blog is just a traffic source.
    5. Give your subscribers value via e-mail
    6. Recommend a product when you have given value to your audience and established a relationship with them.

    Think "trusted advisor".

    Good luck man!
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    • Profile picture of the author inxie
      Originally Posted by KristofferIM View Post

      No inxie, I'm sorry to tell you that's not correct

      1. Choose a market (competition is a good thing, means there's money in that market)
      Ex. the fitness market
      2. Choose a niche in your market
      Ex. the weight loss niche
      3. Choose a hyper target niche within your niche
      Ex. Loose weight before your weeding
      4. Choose a way to communicate with your market. I'd go with e-mail if I where you. Your blog is just a traffic source.
      5. Give your subscribers value via e-mail
      6. Recommend a product when you have given value to your audience and established a relationship with them.

      Think "trusted advisor".

      Good luck man!

      Thank you for the reply. One thing I am curious about is what is the advantage of building an email list to send affiliate links VS supplying a link on the blog post itself?

      It seems to me as if a direct blog link will have much more exposure.

      Also, do niches really have to be so defined? I mean using your example how would I find products in relationship to "weight loss before a wedding" on a regular basis?
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      • Profile picture of the author KristofferIM
        Originally Posted by inxie View Post

        Thank you for the reply. One thing I am curious about is what is the advantage of building an email list to send affiliate links VS supplying a link on the blog post itself?

        It seems to me as if a direct blog link will have much more exposure.

        Also, do niches really have to be so defined? I mean using your example how would I find products in relationship to "weight loss before a wedding" on a regular basis?
        When you build an email list you get a group of potential customers who you can establish a relationship with and sell to again and again. You build yourself an asset that's much more worth than a blog.

        If you're blog get's traffic, your link will get more exposure. But this is affiliate marketing. You get paid for sales, not exposure.

        If you have people on a list, build a relationship with them and position yourself as their trusted advisor. You'll have a conversion rate that your blog can never compete with.

        You have your own targeted traffic source on demand instead of relying on Google that could stop sending you traffic any day.

        Niches doesn't have to be hyper focused. But you'll see a heck of a more result if they are. Choose a very specific group of people, talk to them directly and ignore the rest.

        Thing is inxie, I've been where you are now and people told me what I'm telling you know. I still ignored it.

        I didn't just want to target "weight loss for brides". I wanted EVERYONE who wants to loose weight to buy from me.

        Affiliate marketing has become VERY crowded and that's why going too mass market just won't work for the little guy. You'll be competing with the big guys who have much deeper pockets than you and a ton of more experience.

        It's a race you can't win.

        But if you don't see the value in building email instead of a blog and going hyper targeted instead of mass market. You might just have to experience it yourself first.

        However you do. I wish you all the luck!

        Regards,

        -Kris
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    • Profile picture of the author kaisoft
      I got to disagree here when you sat that inxie is wrong

      You are not wrong either they are just different markets to target

      there are plenty of people make lots of money and plenty failing with both approached

      and hey inxie build an email list will give you people you can market to as you see fit
      and not relying an the more random flow of other methods of getting website visitors

      Originally Posted by KristofferIM View Post

      No inxie, I'm sorry to tell you that's not correct

      1. Choose a market (competition is a good thing, means there's money in that market)
      Ex. the fitness market
      2. Choose a niche in your market
      Ex. the weight loss niche
      3. Choose a hyper target niche within your niche
      Ex. Loose weight before your weeding
      4. Choose a way to communicate with your market. I'd go with e-mail if I where you. Your blog is just a traffic source.
      5. Give your subscribers value via e-mail
      6. Recommend a product when you have given value to your audience and established a relationship with them.

      Think "trusted advisor".

      Good luck man!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7244523].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author inxie
        Originally Posted by kaisoft View Post

        I got to disagree here when you sat that inxie is wrong

        You are not wrong either they are just different markets to target

        there are plenty of people make lots of money and plenty failing with both approached

        and hey inxie build an email list will give you people you can market to as you see fit
        and not relying an the more random flow of other methods of getting website visitors
        Thank you.

        I'l be completely honest with you, I am 20 years old, and at the age of 12 I began buying and selling on ebay. From then on I knew that making my own fortune was my passion. With every attempt at a new market, countless websites I have devoted myself to develop and market, boasting to my family and friends how "this was the one", I just kept failing.

        I have now decided to delve into the world of affiliate marketing, the most appealing aspect is the unlimited amount of potential earnings and none of my previous business attempts could produce that result.

        My question to you is, and I ask this because I am so tired of trying so passionately to make a success of myself, you say that plenty fail with both approaches and this worries me, mainly because it confirms that although you may be following all the steps appropriately (as I feel I have with many of my ventures) there is still an important X factor that determines success.

        So, what is that X factor? why does the same system fail from person to person?
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  • Profile picture of the author kaisoft
    Hi inxie
    Looks like a plan
    There are many may way to make money online
    and success is influenced by many factors

    I did not start out as an affiliate marketer but in hind site
    I now believe it is most probably the best place to start

    Here my best advice for the moment
    stick to you plan and avoid distraction

    shiny object syndrome has always slowed me down
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  • Profile picture of the author inxie
    Really hoping for an opinion on this... thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      You've missed out the part that actually produces the income.

      The part where you build the list, and establish relationships with your subscribers based on credibility and trust.

      There are a few hundred threads in this forum with titles like "What's The One Thing You'd Do Differently If You Were Starting Again Tomorrow?". Take a look through a small sample of them. Seriously - it's one of the most helpful things you can do. You'll find that one of the things they all have in common is that they're full of replies from long-established, successful Warriors all of whom give the same answer: the thing they'd do differently, with what they know now but didn't know when they started, is to "start to build a list on day one". There are reasons for that, and they're good and valid reasons, and they apply to you, too, not just to "all those other people".

      And maybe this thread can help you: What are the essential things to know about list building?
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  • Profile picture of the author preets
    Originally Posted by inxie View Post

    I have been researching this for a few days now and just need to confirm I have the right idea here...

    1) Choose a niche (avoid high competition)
    2) Create a blog or website
    3) write articles relating to the niche (or pay for them)
    4) post at least 1 article a day on your blog
    5) drive traffic to your blog/website using marketing techniques
    6) occasionally throw in an affiliate link with an article (recommending the product)

    In a nutshell, is this correct?
    Yes , the hardest part is driving traffic to your blog/website.
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