New To The Scene - Direction Needed

27 replies
Hey Guys,

I have been doing some reading lately on how to get started in the affiliate marketing career. All I can say is wow, a lot of information and ways to start.

Quick update about me - I have been doing the internet since 1998. All started from online gaming (Half-Life). Ever since then I have been hooked on the pc. I have built multiple gaming communities and spent countless hours on the computer. It has all been a hobby. With the exception when I started to do web designing. I have been doing that off and on since 2001. The market in that field has become a joke so now I only help people I know. Wish I knew about all this back then, I would probably be sitting nice right now.

Anyways, my point was to let you know that I do know my way around pretty good in most aspects of websites. So I came across an article on foxnews about clickbank a couple weeks ago. I said what the heck, I still spend countless hours on the computer and I basically waste my time. Why not actually try this affiliate marketing that I have been hearing/reading about for years. Thing is (after all the reading) where is a good place to start?? Do I find a niche on clickbank and just test it out from there? Or is there a better place to start? From my readings this market changes so much from trend to trend so I guess my main question is, whats popular now? What do you suggest I do to start this interest of mine?

Thanks in advance
#direction #needed #scene
  • Profile picture of the author zoldusta
    clickbank is a good place to start. i recommend you read some ebooks on how to promote clickbank products.

    there are many FREE WSO REPORTS that will guide you how to get started. below are 2 links to help you get started.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ube-proof.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...one-month.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...u-can-too.html

    do a lot of research on this forum you'll find lot's of resources that'll help you get started
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    • Profile picture of the author mossmanpete
      It comes down to what you are most comfortable doing that will return a profit to you. As you've seen, there are a million +1 things you could be doing to make money online. Its all about how you do it. If you have money to burn, learn PPC and get some good keyword research going on. Its kind of like speculating.

      If you've got time and don't want to take the risk of losing money on ads, build up a niche website with relevant content & affiliate products. Get an email list going ASAP, that is your client contact sheet - don't lose your clients to your affiliate offers! There are also a number of ways to promote CPA offers other than through PPC advertising - craigslist, backpage, etc. You could also create an information product to get started, market it through clickbank and get the army of affiliates with experience and resources selling for you.

      To your success!
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  • Profile picture of the author cwindham
    Thanks for the links and the information.

    Yeh with all the research I have been doing the last two weeks from multiple sources, The Warrior Forum came up a few times. I got a really good feeling the 10 bux is really going to be worth it. My goal is to find more direct information and I think I will succeed here on my research for sure
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  • Profile picture of the author lanew
    Zoldusta gave some great links. I agree. Read up on affiliate marketing from free reports and you will get a long way. Use the forums to get questions answered. There are many friendly people here. Just stay out of chasing "shiny WSO" syndrome and you'll do great.
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  • Profile picture of the author cwindham
    Thats something I want to get done soon. That being, opening up a site. I guess my problem now is targeting a niche. The ones on clickbank just seem a bit dull if you will. I want to target something I have interest in or some interest. But the ones with high grav. are off the wall niche. But I know I need to think outside the box a bit here bc the goal is not to target my interest but others.

    I have generated a list so maybe I can narrow it down to one real soon and just start it up. But I want to do a little more research before I get started. From what I gather, starting off with a blog on a particular niche is a popular starting point for new comers. Only thing is, I hate to write..lol

    I was going to start with the Amazon affiliate program but unfortunately they have banned my state from making earnings due to a tax issue (I live in north carolina). So that was a bust from the start.
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    • Profile picture of the author italiangrecko
      Having a low grav does not mean that the niche or the product is not good. It just means that the particular product has not been getting the sales...maybe because people are not selling it. Instead of looking at gravity on clickbank...select a niche and see the demand and competition of the "buying keyword"

      (Like you, I too am a novice so maybe I am wrong here..but seeing the meaning of gravity on clickbank..what I said does make sense)
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    • Profile picture of the author mossmanpete
      You could get some more ideas from looking through some offers on the affiliate networks other than clickbank. There are some searchable directories (you could always use google site:X attribute to search through them faster) at:
      Affiliate Programs Directory - Many Affiliate Marketing Programs Listed
      Affiliate Marketing - Find the Best Affiliate Programs and CPA Offers from OfferVault
      Find Affiliate Offers, Real Network Reviews And Expert Affiliate Marketing Training | oDigger
      ClickBank Marketplace Product Analytics - CBENGINE (all click bank)


      Originally Posted by cwindham View Post

      Thats something I want to get done soon. That being, opening up a site. I guess my problem now is targeting a niche. The ones on clickbank just seem a bit dull if you will. I want to target something I have interest in or some interest. But the ones with high grav. are off the wall niche. But I know I need to think outside the box a bit here bc the goal is not to target my interest but others.

      I have generated a list so maybe I can narrow it down to one real soon and just start it up. But I want to do a little more research before I get started. From what I gather, starting off with a blog on a particular niche is a popular starting point for new comers. Only thing is, I hate to write..lol

      I was going to start with the Amazon affiliate program but unfortunately they have banned my state from making earnings due to a tax issue (I live in north carolina). So that was a bust from the start.
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  • Profile picture of the author dengkane
    You can take a simple route,

    build a simple squeeze page
    signup an auto responder account
    find a free report to give away
    add several e-mail messages in the auto responder account

    Then be focused on promoting the squeeze page.

    There are many traffic generation ways, I suggest video marketing and writing blogs.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    I think you should create your own information product and sell it on your own website. With each sale that you make, you get the customer info so that you can sell more products to them and make even MORE money on the backend marketing side of things.
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  • Profile picture of the author CharlieDewitte
    There's tons of directions you can take.

    You say you've been designing websites but that the market is a 'joke' - This is weird to me because myself and several other people I know are still raking in $1000s/month selling website design to local businesses.

    Explore your options and see what feels right, there's tons of opportunities out there that don't require a lot of knowledge or skills to make big money
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    • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
      What ever niche you choose, start building a list first. Don't just send people to affiliate websites. Get their email first.
      Signature
      Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
      All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
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  • Profile picture of the author samithpich
    I really like DengKanes post

    You can take a simple route,

    build a simple squeeze page
    signup an auto responder account
    find a free report to give away
    add several e-mail messages in the auto responder account

    Then be focused on promoting the squeeze page.

    There are many traffic generation ways, I suggest video marketing and writing blogs.

    Good luck!
    It's easy, simple enough (all the 'how to's are accessible here in the warrior forum or just by searching google' and it's very low cost.

    Good luck Cwindham!
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  • Profile picture of the author Deeje
    Clickbank is a great place to start but as mentioned above your end goal is not just to make money but build a list. Use free traffic techniques such as youtube, forums, blog posts, articles to drive people to your site and offer lots of free stuff and capture their emails so you can sell to them over again with products from sites like clickbank.
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  • Profile picture of the author sleblanc
    First - I think that you're making 'picking a niche' way too difficult! Think about some of the things you said in your original post.. you played Half-Life for a long time, you love computers, web design, etc. I like hockey, golf, Netflix, etc. etc.

    These are all niches that you can market to and sell to!

    I guarantee you type any of those words into Google followed by "Affiliate Program" and you'll find a gold mine of things for you to sell or promote. You have to keep in mind that EVERY interest and business has a corresponding affiliate program these days - from casinos, to Nike, to the porn industry, to health and beauty companies, fitness, etc. etc.

    Just go on Amazon and look up the millions (it seems like) products they have. Just because you can't advertise Amazon in your state - doesn't mean you can't find products you're interested in and related affiliate programs other than Amazon to promote!

    Okay so you have a niche? You have an idea of products you want to promote? How are you going to market them?

    Build a blog and do product reviews / give away free information and then point "Buy Now" links to your affiliate? Get a squeeze page and collect email addresses by giving away a free product/ebook, etc. and then blasting your email list with things to buy? Obviously you've read and have noticed in this thread alone that there are many, many ways you can start marketing your website or blog or product.

    My suggestion is pick a niche, pick a way to do it and START DOING IT! I started a blog last year and then forgot about it. And then moved it to a new host/domain this past summer, so I've really only worked on it for a few months. I have 2 sales and I think about 15-20 posts/pages up. The most encouraging thing about my blog is that I can see the number of "Unique hits" on my affiliate links (directing potential customers to "buy now" pages) increasing every month. That means I'm slowly starting to gain more traffic and hopefully more sales will follow. I wouldn't be able to get excited about my slow 'scaling up' if I didn't start somewhere
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    "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -that's why we recommend it daily." - Zig Ziglar

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  • Profile picture of the author cwindham
    I completely agree with the niche block. I know I am thinking about this way too much. I just need to pick one and roll with it. Just so I can start getting the feel of the business (get my feet wet). So basically the best way to start is by going the blog route or creating a squeeze page.

    So I am guessing that word press is probably the most popular platform for blogging? See when I start this I want to go the path where it is my site. Not using others like blogger.com etc.

    I will definitely start establish a list once I have a site up and running.

    Thanks for all the help guys.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Learn keyword research, and SEO and the rest will fall into place. If you start buying up wso's or how to make money courses, you will just confuse yourself..
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    But I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. "

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    • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
      Originally Posted by Alex Blades View Post

      Learn keyword research, and SEO and the rest will fall into place.
      For Google dependency, do the above. To control your own business, learn how to drive traffic and monetize it. Leave Google for the suckers.
      Signature
      Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
      All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
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  • Profile picture of the author cwindham
    Yeh I heard people can get too caught up with WSO and end up at a dead end bc they are doing multiple tactics in earning money online and not getting good at a specific one. My goal right now is to find a niche and use one method. Master that method and go from there. I dont want to get caught up in the circle routine and never finding a way out.

    As it stands right now I do not have a product of my own to sell. That is why I am leaning towards promoting someone else product (need to find the right niche/product). But I am struggling in picking one out bc the ones I have some interest (from doing the google tactics) they are overwhelming popular so it will be a struggle to get ranked.

    I have thought about coming up with a tactic to promote products from big sites such as Amazon, eBay, and others. The idea would be to stay on top of new products and latest sales. As someone mentioned above, I thought about creating a signup page first. Promote that page and in the meantime I would be creating my blog and getting it operational. But the idea was shot bc I found out that Amazon has banned my state from making earnings due to a tax lawsuit my dumb state tried to put on them.
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    • Profile picture of the author mossmanpete
      Amazon is great - don't get me wrong - everyone knows and trusts them. But there are MANY other online shops and concepts selling real things at decent prices (you will have to do the research and judge this yourself)... And you will have plenty of opportunities with the cultural compulsion to spend money on other people this time of year.

      Go surf some highly-rated affiliate networks to see who they are working with, that's where you can get more ideas from this point. Here's my top 4 high-rated networks anyone can join & start looking through affiliate programs.
      CJ - Your Performance Marketing Partner
      ShareASale
      Affiliate Programs - LinkShare
      Green Affiliate Network for Green affiliate programs

      Or any of those search listings I mentioned before will give you a broader perspective.
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  • Profile picture of the author mossmanpete
    And then there's the warrior's own - Affiliate Program Database
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  • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
    I would recommend that you actually purchase whatever you are thinking about promoting from cllickbank. I have 'heard' that recently they are getting a bad name for less than stellar products. I have not had much luck with them, but many other people have.

    Just my opinion. Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author paul nicholls
    Clickbank is a good a place than any other to start

    The key at your stage is to take action and not worry about making mistakes

    Just get stuck in, build some affiliate sites, make some videos

    you will learn tonnes more by actually "doing it"

    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Figure out what you want to do. That's the first step.

    Options: List Building, Blogging, Videos, etc.

    Find something you want to be good at, and then get trucking.

    Also, don't buy too many WSO's, spend time doing things and less time studying.

    (Yeah, I'll get hatemail for that one).

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  • Profile picture of the author Sushiman1111
    Paul Nicholls had some very good advice above. Just do it!

    I will add my two cents: Even if you don't like to write, you should still seriously consider selling your own product. Affiliate stuff is fine, but what happens when the person pulls the product off the market? Boom, end of income (for that product). With your own product you (a) get to keep all the money and (b) have complete control over it. Need a boost in sales? Just update it and roll it out again. And you can get affiliates to sell for you, rather than the other way around.

    The writing part can easily be outsourced. Just make a list of the key points, or talk to someone on Skype to give them your idea and let them write it up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Beven
    If there's one tip I can give you it's:

    Provide value for free, build a list and finally promote products non-aggressively after gaining your followers trust :-) Good luck working online man!

    Beven
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  • Profile picture of the author cwindham
    All the information has been greatly appreciated guys. I will be sure to take it all in and hope I can decide on a beginning path. Soon I hope I can show you what I have

    By all means though, keep posting your thoughts. Cant have enough
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