How To Start Affiliate Marketing - 4 Easy Steps To Success

Affiliate Marketing is hands down the easiest form of online marketing to get started with. Not only is it the easiest, it can be one of the most profitable, and low maintenance as well. It's these two facts which make it such a popular practice, hence the intense levels of competition in almost every market. Luckily, as far as the general standard of affiliate marketers goes, it's very poor. Not many people understand the true basics of running successful affiliate marketing business. If you are just starting out, there's a simple 4 Step procedure to follow.

Step 1: Sign up to an Affiliate Network

Your affiliate network is the place you'll go to find products to promote and subsequently make money from. The most popular affiliate network at the moment in ClickBank. Clickbank deals primarily with digital products such as E-Books or online services. There is a huge variety of products available to promote at clickbank, all of which sell well and can make some serious money for the affiliate.

Step 2: Find a Niche and Product

It's vital to find both a Niche (market) and Product you're going to feel comfortable operating with. I always say it's best to start with something you have an interest in, because it's going to be much easier for you to write about (which you will be doing a lot of for a start). For instance, if you're interested in guitars, pick a product about learning the guitar and promote that, then when it comes to promotion, you're going to know what to say about it, as opposed to promoting something completely alien to you.

Step 3: Create a Money making Platform

Your Money making platform is the key to all your affiliate sales. For most people,a website is their choice of platform, however for someone starting out it's often easier to use a free method such as a Blog or Squidoo page. Both of these methods are still effective, and can bring in good amounts of money. If you have the money to spend however, it's better to go with a website, as you're investing in YOUR business. When you create a Squidoo for example, it's still someone else's website. On whatever platform you choose, you're going to have to find a way to link to your affiliate product with YOUR affiliate link. It's a popular method to use Reviews of the product you're promoting, and offer your affiliate link at the end. This way you gain the readers trust, and they're more inclined to buy from your link.

Step 4: Promotion

This step is VITAL. Without visitors, you're website or Blog is going to make no sales whatsoever. Getting traffic to an internet site isn't as hard as people make out. All you need to do is set out a specific plan, and stick to it every day. For example if you have the money, paying for traffic with Google AdWords is a VERY effective method of promotion. It does carry its fair share o risk though, so it'd be unwise to dive into that without due consideration. Writing articles is another popular way of gaining traffic. An article a day can be hugely beneficial to traffic numbers. There are plenty of promotional strategies available, it's essential to research and choose those best suited to you.

By: Justin Keown

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