More and more people are becoming intrigued with the idea of making money right from their home. Generating an additional income flow to their household would certainly be a huge help in paying off those bills that been hanging over our heads. Sound familiar?
One way that some are using to accomplish this goal is to become an online affiliate. An affiliate can be simply defined as someone who markets or promotes a product that belongs to someone else and then receives a commission when a buyer purchases this product. Interested in learning how to become an online affiliate? Keep reading!
How To Become An Online Affiliate: Step By Step
This process is not a complicated one, but it will take some initial planning on your part. There are a number of things you must have in place which I have listed below. Here are some details to consider:
- Research (Product)
- A platform to display your product or service
- A vendor that will approve you as an affiliate
- Marketing (Traffic)
Research
This, without question, is the important step in finding success as an online affiliate. So what type of research am I talking about here? As an affiliate you must decide on which type of product that you plan to promote to earn commissions. In researching a product, you should consider finding answers to the foloowing questions:
- Competition – Is the product you are considering to promote have a market? If so, how many other individuals are promoting the same product? Is the commission you will receive from the sale of the product worth your time and effort in promoting this product?
- Platform – After researching and deciding on a product to promote, what next? You are going to have to establish a platform in which to provide information and promote your product. A blog website is a great place to do just this, where you will have complete control on how you choose to promote your product.
Offer your readers an honest review of your product, pointing out the pros and cons as well as mentioning where the product can be purchased, cost, and other important facts that you feel your readers should be aware of.
- Vendor – In order to become an online affiliate, you first much receive approval from business or company (vendor) that will allow you to promote
one of their products. These companies will have a set of guidelines and rules put in place that you must agree to before gaining acceptance.
Some vendors will ask to see your website before approving you as an affiliate. They like to see a website that has been properly set-up and one that is receiving some traffic to your site. If, for some reason you are denied acceptance you can always try again later or look for another vendor.
Once you have been approved, you will be given an affiliate link that is unique to only you. This is the link that you should always use when promoting your product. Without it, any sale you make will not be credited to you.
- Marketing – Before you ever start an online business, you must devise some sort of a marketing plan in order to maximize your level of success. How are you planning on getting potential customers to your site? How are you going to advertise?
There are a number of ways to gather online traffic but he best way to do so is by creating great content and by providing value to your readers. With work, you will be seen as someone that is trustworthy which will pay huge dividends in the future.
Using social media is a great source to display and promote your product. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are just a few of the social media platforms that are available to you.
Pros
1.) Free To Join Affiliate Programs
Many individuals, especially those new to the making money online concept, have a limited budget and just aren’t capable of investing a large sum of money into a new venture. As an online affiliate, there are plenty of vendors out there who will allow you to join their affiliate program at no cost to you. Zero start up cost!
2.) Work From Anywhere
How would you like to work as an online affiliate on the beach? Your favorite coffee shop? On a plane? Anywhere you have internet service can be considered a working place for you. The freedom associated with serving as an online affiliate should not be underestimated.
3.) Thousands of products to promote
Finding a product to market and sell should not be a problem, as there are quite a few vendors out there that will allow you to promote their product. I would recommend that you choose a product that you have actually used yourself or at least one you are familiar with.
4.) Unlimited Number Of Customers
Look at it this way: Let’s say you own a small candy store in a rural area. On a good day, you might get 15 to 25 customers that walk through that door. As an online affiliate you now have potential to reach hundreds if not thousands of potential buyers a day.
The number of potential buyers to your site requires a great deal of work on your part including a great marketing plan, but with time, it is doable. Supply great content, grow your brand, and provide value to your readers. Customers will come to your site!
5.) Multiple Streams of income
Another plus to becoming an online affiliate is the possibility of producing 
multiple income streams by promoting a number of products within your chosen niche. Let me give you an example: As an affiliate, let’s say you are promoting and trying to generate money by selling sunglasses.
Ask yourself this question: What other product may someone have interest in who are looking to purchase sunglasses? What about sunblock? Lip Gloss? Hats? See the connection here? By choosing to promote these items along with the sunglasses, you know have an opportunity to produce multiple streams of income.
6.) Customer Service – No Worries
Good news here! As an online affiliate, you won’t need to concern yourself with such things as shipping, stock or customer complaints. All of these issues are handled directly by the vendor who has given you permission to promote their products online.
7. Low Risk/High Reward
Most of the vendors you find out there will not ask for a fee to sell their products. This is especially beneficial to those looking to break into the area of affiliate marketing but have a limited budget to get started.
8.) Flexible Work Schedule
As an online affiliate, you decide how many hours you are willing to put into your online business. Like anything else you do, the more effort and committment you put forth will determine the degree of success you can obtain. Twenty hours a week? Two hours a day? These are questions only you can answer.
Cons
1. Competition
In any business, there will always be a certain level of competition. This is no different for those in the online business. The more popular the product, the more competition you will find with individuals attempting to promote and make sales. Let me give you an example of this by entering ‘weight loss products’ in a Google search. Here is what you get:
Over 14 million results! Can you imagine as an online affiliate how tough the competition would be in this catagory? This is not to say that you won’t be able to make some sales in this area, I am only suggesting that you need to narrow down your product search. Perhaps something like, ‘ weight loss products for the elderly,’ or ‘weight loss products for children.’ This is why research is so vital as an online affiliate.
2.) Will Take Work
The degree of success with being an online affiliate will be directly related to the work you put in. Building an online business takes work and a gfreat deal of time. It’s a marathon and not a sprint! For those thinking a couple of hours a week will bring financial freedom will be in for a huge disappointment.
3.) Low Commissions
The commissions you receive from most vendors is nothing to get real excited about. Let me give you an example of what Amazon pays out on commissions (fees) in a number of products they offer to online affiliates:
As you can see from the table above, the commission sturcture is not designed to make you wealthy overnight. This is just one of many vendors out there but this will give you a better idea of what to expect when you start to apply as an affiliate.
4.) No Control Of Affiliate Programs
These affiliate programs are pretty strict in enforcing guidelines and rules that you must follow as an affiliate. You have no control over this! They can at any time remove you from their affiliate program with little to no explanation. Make sure to read the program’s guidelines and follow them in good faith.
Finding A Platform To Promote Your Products
Okay, you have completed your research, designed a marketing plan, found a product to promote, received approval from one of the affiliate programs, now what? Well, in order to inform prospective buyers about your product you are going to need a platform to do so.
One great resource to consider is through a blog. A blog website, as mentioned earlier, will give you complete control in the manner in which you promote your product. Don’t have any idea on how to build a blog website? Neither did I until I actually found a platform that would do this for me.
This program, known as Wealthy Affiliate, will actually build you a website at no cost to you! This is accomplished throgh complete automation on their part in less than 30 seconds which enables you to get your blog up and running in a very short time. All that is required from you is to enter a few details as shown below:
Nothing difficult about this at all, a third grader could do this! All is required on your part is to enter your product name a title for your blog website. That’s it! Once you have your website built, you are on your way to becoming an online affiliate.
Conclusion
By now, you should have a better understanding on how to become an online affiliate. Building a website and startting a blog has never been easier with the help of Wealthy Affiliate. I hope the information that I have provided above will be beneficial to you and assist you as you move forward.
For further clarity, I have left a diagram below that perfectly illustrates the process of an online affiliate. It truly is a rinse and repeat type process and one that you can use with multiple products and niches. Stay focused in your research, devise an effective marketing plan and use the methods I discussed earlier to drive traffic to your site!
For Those Looking To Build A Website And to Get Started With Your Blog Today, Simply Click On The Banner Below And Join Wealthy Affiliate As A Free Member!
