This is a guest post submission by Divine of Ladies Make Money. Her brand new blog is already earning money online through affiliate marketing and she's sharing her best tips with you right here.
I started Ladies Make Money Online as a way to create a side hustle for myself and for my growing family. I also wanted to be able to teach other female entrepreneurs the best way to grow and monetize their own online business.
My main goals for the blog were to monetize the blog by utilizing affiliate marketing, create my own products to sell, and use ads one day as a way to get income.
My first step was to really get into affiliate marketing as I have read over and over how some bloggers were making up to $10,000 per month in just affiliate sales. All I wanted was to make at least $5,000 from my blog by using this type of passive income.
Read how 19 bloggers made their first affiliate sale.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is when you promote a product or service and get paid commission for every purchase made through your unique affiliate link. The amazing thing about affiliate marketing is that it does not require you to spend any money to get started. It’s also quicker to monetize your site through affiliate marketing than it is to generate income through advertisements.
Can you really make money with affiliate marketing?
The answer is yes!
I created a blog series about the different ways to boost affiliate sales featuring 6 amazing bloggers who are making money with affiliate marketing and their best tips to you. You can jump into the blog series right here.
How can you become great & make money with affiliate marketing?
1. Start by learning everything you can on the topic
Affiliate Marketing is more than just slapping a few links up on your site and hoping to achieve results. If you can, we highly recommend taking a course, following a webinar or purchasing books on affiliate marketing.
#AffiliateMarketing is more than just slapping a few links across your blog
Check out the review on the ecourse Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, created by Affiliate Marketing Expert Michelle from Making Sense of Cents.
2. Apply for affiliate programs for products or services that you have tried and tested
Simply asking someone to sign up for a product or service isn't enough and it's certainly not an effective strategy. You need to show proof, results and, really make your case on why they should use what you recommend.
For example, you could say something like, "I used this hair dresser from ABC Hair Parlor and look at these amazing results even after 6 months". And don't forget to add photos or videos to properly document your experience. Your readers are more likely to make a purchase when they see that you've used it and enjoyed it.
3. Apply for affiliate programs that match your niche and audience
Don’t recommend food products if your blog is a fashion blog. Think about your readers and why they come to your blog. If you are looking to make quick money from an affiliate that pays out a lot but it is not in your niche, then you will fail and might lose readers in the long run.
Here is a quick and easy process to follow to find and apply for the best affiliate programs:
- Identify your niche and your target audience
- Figure out what problems your target audience has
- What products/services do you know, trust, and love that could help solve some of those problems that your target audience has? Make a list of them.
- Search for affiliate programs for those products/services & apply for them.
Most affiliate programs will show up in a simple Google search. But if they don't, and you're not sure whether a company has an affiliate program, reach out to customer support and ask.
4. Pick affiliate programs that are worth it and reflect your brand and work.
If you are a high-end food blogger, you shouldn’t recommend cheap services or products. You will be judged on this. If you are a budget friendly blogger don’t ask people to spend $300 on a product just because it works. No one will invest in your recommended products or trust your word.
#AffiliateMarketing tips - Know your audience. Understand their needs & problems.
Know your audience. Understand their needs and their problems. Recommend products and services that help make their lives easier.
5. Don’t forget to disclose to your readers that the product you are recommending is part of an affiliate and that you will make a commission.
You are required by law to let your readers know that your links are affiliate links. Follow the rules and avoid trouble!
If you're looking for an easy way to add an affiliate disclosure to all of your blog posts, try installing a free WordPress plugin to get the job done.
6. Posts that focus on tutorials/demonstrations, reviews and interviews generally do well when it comes to increasing affiliate sales
Typically, these types of blog posts are more in depth and detailed. The more people know about a service or product you recommend, the more likely they are to purchase it through your link.
Make sure your reviews are honest. Even if you love a product/service and highly recommend it, remember that nothing is perfect. Don't be afraid to share the truth with your readers. If there's something that the product doesn't provide, explain that to your readers. Give them all the information!
7. Don’t forget SEO and marketing are huge components of a successful affiliate marketing strategy
You want to ensure your blog ranks for popular keywords that are related to the products and services you promote. Before you write your blog post, research related keywords to ensure that your topic can perform well in search results. Don’t forget to implement SEO best practices on Pinterest, as well. Once you have your blog crafted up and ready to publish, promote it multiple times a day every day until it gains traction.
Not sure how to add affiliate links on Pinterest? Learn more here.
#AffiliateMarketing tips - #SEO is an important component of your #affmarketing startegy
8. Keep an eye out on the affiliate programs that are doing well for you
If something is not working, don’t push it. It just means your audience may not be interested. The best affiliate marketers are the ones who realize that everything they do should be for their readers. Provide value to your readers and be sure you are giving them what they want and what they need. If your readers aren’t interested in a product or service that you love, then it’s time to stop promoting it and look elsewhere.
9. Conduct audits to ensure everything is working properly
Check your links frequently to ensure there are no broken links. If you have a broken link in a blog post, this could mean that you are missing out on losing a lot of money through that link. Also, a broken link doesn’t represent your blog very well.
Conclusion
Those are our tips to you. If you want to jump into affiliate marketing, make sure you take a course on it. It’s not an overnight success and it takes a lot of effort on your part, especially when it comes to promotion. The more engaged your audience is, the more sales you are likely to make.
Female entrepreneurs around the world hire Divine to assist them with producing hire quality brands in order to monetize their online business. Ladies Make Money online helps increase income through the power of great content. You can learn more about Divine and her work at www.ladiesmakemoney.com. If you are looking for a FREE detailed list of affiliate programs to join, you can find it here.
