You’ve build a great site with wonderful content that people love. It’s full of great information and receives lots of traffic. People are viewing you as a trusted expert. I know you’re doing it all for the love of it, but wouldn’t it be nice if it could also pay some bills? Maybe some mad money? Maybe even a second income! I’m not going to promise you that you are going to retire to a private island (though some affiliate marketers certainly have done that). What I am saying is that affiliate marketers can realistically make a few or even tens of thousands of dollars a year- just by doing what you are doing right now but adding just one more element to it - affiliate marketing ads and links for select merchants.
How does affiliate marketing work?
- 1) You place a text link or banner on your website which links to a merchant’s site. (The link contains a special code unique to you.)
- 2) One of your visitors clicks on the banner/link.
- 3) That visitor buys something from that site (at that moment or in the future).
- 4) This is the best part… you get a paid a commission - typically a percentage of the sale.
Where do I get banners? Links? My own code?
Go to a merchant’s website that you and your visitors would appreciate. Look around for a link to their affiliate program. If they have a program, an “Affiliate Program” link will often be at the bottom of the page which will take you to their sign up / join page. When you join their program, you’ll be signing up directly with the merchant or with an affiliate network that the merchant is running the program through. (Read this article to learn more about affiliate networks.) Signing up is free and you have no obligation to do any amount of promotion.
Sometimes you get lucky and receive an invitation from the merchant’s affiliate manager to join their program. This is probably one of the highest compliments someone can pay your web site. That manager has looked at your site and thinks it’s of high quality that’ll reflect well on the merchant. He or she also believes that YOUR VISITORS will truly appreciate the merchant’s products or services.
Once you sign up and join the program, you’ll be able to sign into your affiliate account. There you can choose from all the marketing materials (banners, links, promotions, etc) that merchant has for you to place on your website or in emails. This is also the same place you can check your statistics (hits, sales and ka-ching… commissions).
Expert Tip: Links are best.
Let’s face it, most of the time people ignore banners. That probably happens on your site too. Banners are easy to “throw” up on to your site and are certainly better than not promoting at all, but they produce the least results. One of the best things you can do is place text links (which include your affiliate code) to the merchant in relevant places in your copy throughout your web site. Or make a special recommendation that your visitor check out the merchant when shopping. How ever you weave them in, using links you’ll see much higher sales and commissions coming your way.
Don’t change what you love doing.
What’s most important is that you keep doing what you love. Whatever your website is, keep building and nurturing it. Because that’s what your visitors love. It’s that what makes you an expert. And what’s better than to make some money while doing what you love and helping others find great stuff?
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