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There are two primary business models that prospective affiliate marketers choose between. The first is a resource site, and the second is a review site. Which model you choose will depend on your familiarity with the products or services you advertise. Resource sites typically embed a merchant partner's website in an affiliate link or banner advertisement within how-to articles and posts. This business model requires frequent updates and fresh content to ensure that customers return to the marketer's website on a regular basis. Review sites feature reviews of products/services that the marketer has tried and can attest for. Each product/service review includes a link or banner ad that will take customers to the merchant partner's website. The advantage of review sites is that they require less frequent updates. Marketers simply have to make minor tweaks to their websites to ensure that search engines continue to list the website in their search results. In order to work as an affiliate marketer, you'll need your own platform (a personal website or blog) on which to post links and advertise for your chosen products or services. If you already have a website or blog, you can use that platform to begin earning additional income as an affiliate marketer. If you do not yet have a website or blog, you will need to create one. The advantage of a blog, such as Blogger, is that it's free to operate, whereas some websites require a fee to operate. However, sites like GoDaddy.com and Hostgator offer website services that are relatively inexpensive to operate, and may look more professional than a personal blog. Consider joining up with an affiliated marketing company. One easy way to enter the field of affiliate marketing is to join a company that specializes in online marketing. Though you'll ultimately work independently, companies like MoreNiche allow aspiring affiliate marketers to join for free to have a platform for advertising products/services. Some websites allow you to engage in pay-per-click affiliate marketing without running your own website or blog. Direct links through outside merchant websites allow you to create and make money off of ads without having to post them to your own website. For instance, you might make an ad for a dating website and advertise on Facebook; when someone clicks on your ad, they go straight to the dating site, instead of a website or landing page you have created. Some affiliate networks that specialize in direct linking include Associate Programs, Affiliates Directory, E-commerce Guide, and Link Share. Most affiliate marketers choose a niche, or area of specialization. Before you begin marketing products or services, you'll need to find an area you can easily work within to advertise. Your niche doesn't necessarily need to be an area you're already an expert in. You can also choose a specialized area which you're enthusiastic or interested in learning more about.Think of Oprah, she doesn't market herself as an expert, but she frequently brings other experts on her show. You can do the same in your niche, by giving other experts a platform to promote themselves in exchange for content creation. The initial startup work can be very intensive, so it's important to choose a niche in which you won't mind working for prolonged periods. This can help set you up for success as you get your new career off the ground. Once you've chosen a niche in which to work, you're ready to start finding products and services to promote on your platform. The products/services you choose to promote, as well as how much work you'll have to put in, will vary depending on your chosen niche. A company like Commission Junction is ideal for marketers who want to promote more traditional products/services. Commission Junction is involved in a diverse range of potential advertising opportunities, which may be ideal for newcomers to the field who haven't narrowed down their niche yet. Marketers interested in digital content, like e-books and software, may enjoy working with companies like Amazon, Clickbank, E-junkie, and PayDotCom. Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing models like Google AdSense may appeal to some marketers. PPC models pay considerably less than other marketing models, but the advantage is that they require less active work of the marketer. The marketer's pay is determined by how much web traffic is directed to the target site. Affiliates will help grow your business and help you tap into web traffic. There are many ways to meet and engage with affiliates, but the best way to access desirable affiliates is by building a reputation for yourself. You can do this by developing a popular blog or otherwise earning a large online following, or by becoming a published author of a book or article. There are other ways of meeting affiliates, of course, and each method will vary in its success and required effort. Generally speaking, the basic course of action for acquiring affiliates typically involves one of the following methods: Emailing or otherwise contacting other bloggers and online marketers who share a common niche and asking them to either promote your product, or engaging in a mutually-beneficial cross-promotion wherein both you and the other blogger promote one another's products Finding successful affiliates online, either through forums, mutual contacts, or affiliate networks (such as Clickbank or Commission Junction) that you can join online Once you've built a popular platform and secured affiliates to work with, you'll need to drive traffic to your affiliate program. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but one of the easiest and most successful methods involves writing a blog post or web article and using your email newsletter to invite your subscribers to join the affiliate program of your choosing. Other methods include: Giving away free content to other websites (which may drive traffic to your links) Using viral marketing, like a link at the end of newsletters that allows readers to pass the newsletter on to other readers quickly and easily Securing free links on websites that already drive a lot of traffic
Decide on a business model. Create a website. Select a niche. Choose products and services. Find and work with affiliates. Drive traffic to your affiliate program.