Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs
Myths About Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs
The myths about Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs being a SCAM is NOT TRUE. There’s a lot of misinformation about affiliate marketing for as long as I can remember. I am sure you heard this: “Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs” are an MLM Pyramid Scheme.”
Did you know that William J. Tobin created the first Affiliate Marketing Program PC Flowers Inc. in 1989? Then Amazon launched its Associate’s Program back in 1996 and still alive.
Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs have been labeled with a bad reputation in the past and still is. It is entirely understandable given some of its shadier histories. When it first came out and for a while after, affiliate programs experienced pain and fraud due to the popularity of brand-jacking, link-farms, spam, etc.
So let me put it to you this way. As a Realtor selling a property to a client or selling a client’s property am I entitled to a commission? I sure hope so! Well, Affiliate Marketing works the same way. It is is a performance-based marketing program, where an external partner (you) is rewarded with a commission for delivering a particular result to a merchant or advertiser.
5 Most Popular Myths:
1- Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs are Very Easy, All I need is a Website and some Affiliate Links:
It cannot be more WRONG. You are setting yourself up for a pitfall! Being an Affiliate Marketer is just like any other business you need to work very hard and invest a lot of time for it to work. Success does not happen overnight trust me! Your biggest challenge will be to build a website with relevant KEYWORDS to attract the right audience!
2- Lots of Traffic = Lots of $$$
Yes, this is true, but it is not only all about heavy traffic. You need to attract a high-quality audience that will engage.
3- Are All Affiliate Marketing Merely Myths?
No, The High-Earning Affiliate is Alive and Well And You Could Become One
Affiliate Marketing is stronger than ever! It is just changing and the trend today is a lot different than when it was first established back in 1989 by William J Tobin founder of PC Flowers Inc.
A study conducted by Forrester Consulting is showing a compound annual growth rate of 10% through 2020 at $4.2 billion in 2015 and expected to reach $6.8 billion in 2020. So Affiliate Marketing is far from being dead!
4- Your Social Media Posts Will Automatically Get A Lot of Likes and Shares
You must write a post that is engaging for your audience to like and share; you must attract them.
5- Only a few niches Are Profitable
ALL niches are profitable but how you write your content and promote your business is the key to your success!
What is Internet Marketing Affiliate Programs Online?
It is a channel where a business offers products. When you refer a customer to any of their products, and they buy from the affiliate, you receive a commission. It is by far the most lucrative way to earn money online.
Relevant Affiliate Programs are everywhere. There are affiliate programs out there for pretty much anything you can imagine; however, most people do not know how to find them efficiently.
There are MANY affiliate programs out there (and some of the best ones) that are independent, meaning they don’t have to stay with any particular affiliate network.
For example, Wealthy Affiliate is an independent affiliate program meaning they manage everything from the tracking to the stats, to the affiliate program resources/tools, to the affiliate payments. In 9 years, they have never been late with a payment, and they have paid out MILLIONS of dollars to affiliates.
Don’t limit yourself with network affiliates. Reach out for independent affiliate programs for your niche.
=>Click here to learn more about Wealthy Affiliate Scam or Legit<=
Why Do Most Affiliate Marketers Struggle To Earn?
Yes, it’s true that a small number of affiliates are making some abundant incomes. And a larger minority, do make lower-but-still-substantial amounts.
But the truth remains… the vast majority of affiliates are struggling to earn.
So What’s the Problem?
Affiliates struggle due to one or more of the following four problems. All four are avoidable/beatable, with the appropriate strategies and tools.
Problem #1 – Failure To Prepare
Most people fail at anything because they jump the gun and FIRE, rather than invest some time to get READY and then AIM.
Yes, it feels “unproductive” to prepare and set up a system… But it’s how the successful succeed.
The solution: Upfront thinking and planning…
- Develop the best site concept/theme
- Research most profitable keyword topics
- Select best-related affiliate programs
Problem #2 – Dependency on Merchants
Not only is it easy to choose the wrong programs, but it’s also easy to struggle with the right ones. Even great companies with terrific products often don’t have the time to teach their affiliates.
- No startup manual.
- No creative new ideas in a weekly newsletter… “Here are our banners. Please put them up on your site.”
- No tools to help you do your job.
The solution: Successful affiliates do their due diligence to select the best companies. They also diversify into other, monetization models.
Problem #3 – No Site or Poor Site
Some folks attempt to market through social media and forums they frequent. Others try to build sites that may have one or more of the following problems…
- amateurish look and feel
- content that does not hold a visitor’s attention and respect
- poor site structure and organization
- have little to no traffic
No Site or Poor Site = No Success
The solution: Take what you know, what you love, and turn it into a Theme-Based Content Site! Attract highly targeted, interested “PREcustomers,” provide high value through content, then refer them to your affiliate merchants. Create trust!
Problem #4 – Little or No Traffic
Now for a tremendous challenge… building traffic.
In the offline retail world, the old saying goes that “location, location, location” are the three most important factors for success. If you put your offline store on the right street corner, you’re 90% of the way home.
Why?
Pass-by traffic. But…
When was the last time you saw someone casually stroll past a website? Never, right?
Why?
The reason is that people choose to go to websites. They click on links or type in URLs. They make the decision. They have power.
And many affiliates never figure out how to work with that power to attract tens of thousands of interested, motivated visitors every day.
The solution? Know how you can put yourself in their click path.
- Make the content of your web pages “attractive” to Search Engines
- Track how each page performs on the major Search Engines, from submission, through spidering, indexing and finally to how each page ranks
- Develop more than one way to drive traffic
- Analyze Click IN and Click Through patterns meticulously, as if their businesses depended on it (because it does)
- Follow key traffic stats from a good log file analyzer
How To Find an Affiliate Marketing Niche
Let say that your niche is fitness equipment. So you will type this in the google search box:
fitness equipment + affiliate program
Google found you all the Fitness Equipment Affiliate Programs! So you could sign up with any of those affiliates and start promoting them. The greatest part is that you don’t need to buy any product and resale them. There is no limit on how much you can earn…the sky is the limit!
That sounds great but how do I promote an Affiliate Program?
When you sign up with an Affiliate you will get a marketing link, grab your affiliate links from the respective affiliate program so that you can use the link to sell the products.
How to add a text link to your website.
You will always want to highlight the text in which you want to link and then click the link button.
Then this will pop-up (see image below) the Insert/Edit link pop-up in which you will add your respective affiliate link
DO NOT FORGET to click update!
How Affiliate Marketing Work
This affiliate model is straightforward, but most people tend to overcomplicate things. Affiliate marketing allows you (AFFILIATE) to promote products or services online for companies (MERCHANTS). Your website is the starting point for your affiliate promotions. When someone is on your site, and then click your “affiliate link,” you will get full credit for the sale if this person goes on to buy something.
So, for just referring traffic as an affiliate to a site where people can purchase the product, you earn a good deal of money. It can be done within absolutely EVERY NICHE imaginable. There is an affiliate program for everything!
Krystye Kearney
This is a great article, I am still very new at affiliate marketing and the way you laid out the problems was very helpful. My struggle is writing content, not that I don’t like to but with my 9-5 I have a hard time finding time.