Those affiliate marketers who have been facing hard times, and those who’ve just started their careers, here is a list of top 10 tips gathered by collecting thoughts of affiliate marketing pros of different industries. I’m sure you’re going to not only like it but implement some of these tips in your routine.
Here is our list of Top 10 Tips For Affiliate Marketing.
1. Be Passionate About It
Topping the list of Tips For Affiliate Marketing is your love for what you’re doing.
That’s what pros have been keeping as Numero Uno.
A mother’s life revolves around her kids. Her approach is quite simple – love kids and do what’s best for them. She loves to try different things to keep them happy and healthy.
The same goes for affiliate marketing or any field of interest you’re related to. If you want a successful career, start loving your profession. Then you’ll be more creative and enthusiastic about your plans and their implementations.
The irony is, most people do it for money and they’re just the same as an employee in the marketing company who works for compensation rather than to fulfill his passion.
So, if you have a mindset that affiliate marketing is just a passive income source to help you meet your monthly expenses, you wouldn’t be able to explore its real potential.
Affiliate marketing, like traditional marketing, requires an innovative and creative approach. If you keep promoting products on set templates rather than bringing in a different marketing angle, visitors and customers will take you as ‘Just another Salesperson’ with no real appeal.
2. Learn to Take Small Steps
Is earning $5000 in the first month really possible for a new affiliate? It’s rather doubtful.
Because it seems impossible, it’s better to back up if you have such a wish in mind. Perhaps some magic software or click button formula pushed you into the World of Impossibilities, but we recommend you should stay away from such tricks, especially when you’re starting out.
Take baby steps instead – one at a time. To get to that jaw-dropping figure, you have to earn $1, which is tough at this moment. Then convert it to $10, and it goes like that…
These small and careful steps will help you learn each and every aspect of the game we call “Affiliate Marketing”. Of course, it’s a science, based on the philosophy of customers – how they behave and make purchase decisions.
Depending on your ability to observe and grasp, it can take you from weeks to months to completely understand this science.
3. Learn from the Pros
Since we say affiliate marketing is a science, you have to learn it from the pros. There will be people who know the entire stuff – people like your seniors. So, stalk them and see:
- What things they write about
- Where they write – whether they have their own blog or they write as guest bloggers.
- How they do all the stuff
Another way is to hire senior affiliates to learn their skills. You can also join relevant forums where they talk about affiliate marketing. There are Facebook groups, skype groups where you can learn from the pros.
Hiring a pro is always great because they’ll come prepared, have all the stuff organized and divided into hour-long sessions. Most importantly, they’ll give you proper attention.
Since these pros have the precious time they’ll charge you in between $1k to $10k. If that’s costly, get 4-5 other affiliates to join the coaching session. You can also ask your affiliate network to get you the best coach.
4. Know the Affiliate Product
That’s the simplest tip ever. Don’t promote a product that you don’t know about. It’s easier said than done because you can easily fall for something that’s generating high revenues for other affiliates.
Before going after a product, always do your research. It should be substantial enough to give you an idea:
- What exactly the product is about
- Whom it is meant for
- What benefits it offers
- What cons it has
The product must have competition. So, it is also important to know the differential advantage your affiliate product has over its competitors.
With complete SWOT analysis around the product, you can answer these basic questions:
- Who is it better from other similar products?
- Why should customers buy it, especially when cheaper options are available?
5. Don’t Be Afraid Of Failures
Be consistent with what you do. Be prepared for failures because they’re bound to happen. So, instead of losing interest due to failures, try to learn from them. Figure out what went wrong, where you missed the opportunity.
Failures pave the way to success. All you need to do is walk steadily and strongly. It will be better if you’re left alone to face the music. It depends upon you whether you go on to correct your mistakes or let those failures pull you back and throw you out of the track.
Failure is also a test of your passion for your work. If you love that product, you’ll be able to find some kind of solution to get things back on track.
6. Create a Plan
At number 7 on our list of Tips For Affiliate Marketing, we have “planning”.
What is the first thing you do when you’re shifting your stuff to another city?
Obviously, you’re going to create a list of things first, then verify with your list whether you have all the stuff packed or there’s anything left.
Next question is, why do you do it – making a list and ticking boxes, etc.?
Before you say, “Because I don’t want to miss anything back” add, “These are all MY THINGS!”
Ownership brings out a sense of security and responsibility. That’s what most of the affiliates tend to miss out while creating a product promotion plan, or any plan related to it.
Planning skills are not always inherited or God-gifted, they can be learned too. If you start writing plans for small stuff – like your next morning stuff, weekend party, even your next trip to Disney, pretty soon, you’ll realize that each and every event you planned gave you the ability to foresee and predict logically.
Planning is all about thinking proactively. You’ll be able to see the aspects beforehand and get prepared for them. This media buying guide will help you in your affiliate marketing strategy. You can see how each and every step is explained and how problems are solved.
7. Build Up Your Reputation In Your Niche
Years have gone and things have changed, and so does affiliate marketing. It’s not a funny business of picking a product and support it with fake reviews and fool the crowd.
We’re living in the age of millennials – the internet-savvy species that can make or break any brand.
Today when we talk about Affiliate Marketing, we talk about and advanced, a seriously profitable and sophisticated niche where building just a few liner campaigns won’t payback.
You need to build sales funnels, offer problem-specific solutions, assets, and other things.
At the same time, stay within one niche and gain authority by mastering it.
As I said, the rules of the games have changed. It’s not about trying a handful of products from different niches, create separate pages for each with old-fashioned content. You have to be consistent in delivering what you do.
Keep learning and keep sharing information to build your trust and content around the product you promote, as well as the niche you stick with.
8. Build Your Team
With time, affiliate marketing has transformed from one-man operation to small business operation. It becomes harder for a single person to take care of all aspects of the niche. There are quite a few reasons for having a team.
- Get honest customer reviews,
- Validate the information
- Search for competitors’ products and what they offer
- Keep track of prices, discounts, coupons, etc.
- Share comparative analysis,
- Share value-added content, like How-to articles, FAQ’s, things like that
- Promote the product on social networks,
These are all time-consuming activities and one person cannot manage all of them. With all that, one of the best reason is, your team liberates you from doing all these things so you can enjoy your life with your family.
9. It’s Never Too Late to Try New Techniques and Technologies
This is Number 9 on our list of Tips For Affiliate Marketing
Some people still argue, “Affiliate marketing doesn’t exist anymore”. But, you can see that more and more people are opting for it. It simply didn’t work out for those who failed.
Similarly, PPC networks are perceived as a dead traffic source, yet it has worked out for many affiliates who tried them.
In short, affiliate marketing is alive but it wouldn’t work in your favor if you use shortcuts and shady tactics.
Affiliate marketing has always been profitable. It had the potential when it started, but it has become much stronger and more powerful than ever before.
On your part, you have to learn new technologies, and find ways to target your audience, get in touch with them, attract them to your page and motivate them to make purchases.
10. Stay Active
Finally, stay healthy, so that you can face new challenges and be successful. To achieve your goals, staying active is the key. Daily workout, jogging, a long walk, or any sport that you like will keep you in good health.
But more importantly, you will have a fresh mind, so that you can think creatively. Plus fresh and active mind yields high productivity and efficiency.
Conclusion
I strongly believe that anyone can do affiliate marketing. However, its easier said than done. The ingredients you need to become a successful affiliate marketer are time, effort, the right approach – and all this with a big topping of “patience”.
Do you think you have that in you? If you need help, leave your comments below! Or if you’re looking for inspiration – read Chris’ story!
Until next time…