The easiest explanation for the question, "what is affiliate marketing" is that it's getting paid for telling people about a service or product that they were most likely going to use anyway. That's the explanation I use when talking to friends and family.
If they don't get it, then I tell them about the time I got paid for mentioning a specific company when they needed a product or services. (yes, I do promote to friends and family sometimes.)
The more detailed and harder to understand answer is, affiliate marketing is a business model whereas freelance marketers get paid in commissions to promote goods on behave of a company or serval companies.
Affiliate's get paid in serval different ways depending on the structure of the company's affiliate program.
How To Become An Affiliate
Becoming an affiliate is as simple as signing up for an affiliate program, however, I highly suggest you wait to sign up for an affiliate program until you choose a niche (a specific category that can be broken down into sub-categories or specialty categories, also known as sub-niches).
There are three Evergreen niches ( everlasting and highly profitable niches.)
Wealth
Health
Self Help
Each of these can be broken down into a more specific and specialized niche to increase the chances of making commissions.
Wealth → Make Money Online → E-Business → Digital Marketing →Affiliate Marketing
Health →Personal Fitness →Weight Loss →Diets →Male/ Female →Keto Diet
Self Help →Relationships →Romance →Male/Female →How To Attract The Opposite Sex
Those are just one path of many possible paths for each of the three evergreen niches.
But, before you choose one of these just because they're the most profitable, ask yourself these questions:
Is this something I like to talk about
Is this something I would like to learn more about
Is this something I'm passionate about
If the answer is no, then I suggest that you look at what you do like to talk about, or you want to learn more about or something you are passionate about because you will most likely promote for months without making any money at all. Especially if you're not planning on getting some training or a mentorship.
Once you pick your niche, it's time to pick a product or services you want to promote.
I know this is a very unpopular stance to take, but I suggest that you actually buy and test out the products before you promote them. One of the most important thing for affiliate marketers to be able to do is to build and maintain trust. If you promote a crappy product, then you will lose that trust and you'll get a bad rep through word of mouth.
For instance, I'm friends with someone on Fb who is really good with cryptocurrency. Right now, she's showing people a conversation with one of the higher-ups of one of the platforms she uses that doesn't look very good. This is going to hurt the company and the person she's talking to name, but in doing so, she's ensuring that other people don't wind up like her. This helps to build trust among her followers.
Now that you're here, you have two different possible steps you could take.
Take a break from here, we have much to go on with. Take 5 minutes.
The Road With Two Paths: Let's Talk Traffic
Now that you have your niche and your product it's time to start talking about traffic.
Actually, let's sidebar right quick. There's this thing that happens to a lot of new affiliate marketers. In our world, it's called the shiny shiny effect. That's when new affiliates join one affiliate marketing program and then join another before they even master selling the first one. Learn how to bring in consistent traffic with one product before you move onto another.
Now, let's talk traffic. There are two different types of traffic. There are two different types of traffic: Paid Traffic and Free Traffic. Both of these sources of traffic have pros and cons and both will cost you in a different way.
Paid Traffic:
Of course, this method takes money, this is the upfront cost, and there are several different ways to use paid traffic. I don't want to get too far in-depth with this method because that could become a whole post by itself.
The different types of paid traffic are solo ads, Ad campaign, native ads, buying ad space on high traffic websites, and much more. This is the route you want to eventually end up on because while using free traffic is a good way to start, it takes a lot of your time and you won't be able to make another source of income.
Yes, I want you to be able to have multiple sources of income. This will be advantageous to you and your family if you have one or start one in the future. Plus, traveling the world has been an amazing experience for me and I want to help as many people as I possible to do the same.
Free Traffic
Again, I don't want to go too in-depth with this, but if you're just starting out and you have little to no money, then this is a good place to start. With free traffic, you will become a content creator and it will be your job to put out consistent content every day and as much as possible.
If you take a look through my Quora profile, you will see a crap ton of content, most of them packed to the bone with value about affiliate marketing and how to get started.
As a content creator, you need to put out information that people will want to see, read, or watch. On Facebook, IG, and Twitter, you can put out a mixture of motivational quotes and an inside look of your life.
Remember, people are fascinated by people who are doing or have completed what they want to do.
However, in the case of free traffic, the cost you must pay is your time.
If you want to write a blog, do podcasts, or create a Youtube channel, then you need to do a lot of keyword research and learn some SEO skills.
My Secret: How To Develop A Strong Mindset & Way You Need It
This is something that not too many people talk about, but it's really, REALLY important and that's having a strong mindset. You see, deep down, entrepreneurs need to have a strong mindset in order to succeed.
What I've noticed is that every successful entrepreneur is a freak in some shape form or fashion. We, by no means, are normal people. But this lifestyle can get hard at times. You need to know how to cope with it and keep yourself heading in the right direction.
For me, that means meditation and watching funny Youtube videos.
Meditation isn't for everyone and that's ok. For those who can't get the hang of meditation, I suggest finding something that will make you laugh. There's a whole bunch of psychology to this that includes the stimulation of Gamma Brain Waves, but I know you're not here for that.
Know, if you want to learn some more advanced method or you would like more in-depth information then contact me to get mentorship or try taking or