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Affiliate

Marketing in

2021: FREE

Guide for

Beginners

Leanne Regalla 145

Comments

Updated: Nov 9, 2021

In This Guide: What is

Affiliate Marketing? |

How to Start Affiliate

Marketing in 4 Steps | 4

Types of Affiliate

Products to Promote |

The Bottom Line on

Affiliate Marketing

If you’d like to make passive

income with affiliate

marketing, this post is going to

become your go-to guide.

Not only am I going to teach

you the basics of how to

become an affiliate marketer,

but we’ll also dive into some

real examples from

professional affiliate marketers

who are making thousands or

even millions of dollars per

year without spending money

on PPC or any of that

nonsense.

We’ll cover promoting

products on Amazon, creating

SEO-optimized content that

ranks well on Google, email list

promotion strategies, and how

to choose the best affiliate

program for you.

We’ll also provide a step-by-

step guide to the whole

process, so you’ll be earning

affiliate commissions in no

time.

Let’s dive in.

We’ll start with a (somewhat

long-winded) definition:

What is Affiliate

Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the

practice of promoting the

products or services of another

person or company in

exchange for a commission on

the resulting sale. Affiliate

marketers join affiliate

programs, find reputable

affiliate products to promote,

and then share those products

with their audiences.

Basically, it’s a modern

interpretation of a very old

idea — getting a commission

on a sale.

If you’ve been listening to us

for long, you’ve learned

that bloggers make money by

building an audience who

trusts them, and then by

offering products or services

that will genuinely help that

audience.

Affiliate marketing is really just

a quick way to offer products

and services without having to

create your own products and

services.

For bloggers, that means you

find a product or service that

you like, promote it to your

readers, and earn part of the

profit on each sale that you

make.

How Does Affiliate

Marketing Work?

Affiliate marketing can get

pretty technical, even for those

well-versed in digital

marketing. Fortunately, you

don’t need to know all the

details to get started.

Download our

Affiliate Marketing

Guide(a handy, free PDF

packed with info)

The actual mechanics run in

the background, thanks to the

merchant’s affiliate software.

But here’s a quick look behind

the scenes:

1. When an affiliate joins the

merchant’s program, he or

she is given a unique ID

and a specific URL to use

when promoting the

company’s product.

2. The affiliate includes the

link in their blog post and/

or via their email marketing

efforts and invites readers

to click it to find out more.

3. When a potential buyer

clicks on the link to visit

the affiliate partner’s site, a

cookie identifying the

affiliate is placed on the

website visitor’s computer.

The cookie ensures that the

publisher is credited with

the referral sale even if it

occurs days or even weeks

later.

4. Whenever a buyer

completes the sale

process, the merchant

checks the sales record for

a cookie identifying the

source of the referral.

5. If the merchant finds a

cookie with an affiliate ID,

the affiliate is credited with

the sale.

6. The merchant makes

reports available so that the

affiliate can see their

referrals (clicks) and sales.

7. The merchant pays the

affiliate commission at the

end of each payment period

(i.e. revenue sharing).

Here’s a graphical overview to

help you visualize the process:

The flow is pretty

straightforward once you

understand it, and it works the

same no matter what kind of

product you’re promoting or

how established you are as an

affiliate marketer.

So let’s look at the typical

progression for a blogger

who’s serious about making

affiliate marketing a major

source of income.

Back to Top

How to Start Affiliate

Marketing in 4 Steps

Here’s the key point you need

to understand if you want to

become an affiliate marketer:

You’re earning a

commission in

exchange for giving

readers valuable

insights on products or

services they were

already thinking about

purchasing.

In other words, your readers

are already buying things. They

are already going to make a

purchase whether or not you

give them any advice.

The question is, could you help

them make a smarter decision

than they could alone?

Because that’s where you add

value. You earn a commission

in exchange for being an

influencer and helping people

make smarter decisions, and

you use your blog and the

Internet to systemize that

process, providing valuable

advice to thousands of people.

Here’s a step-by-step process

for doing exactly that:

Step 1: Choose a

Product to Promote as

an Affiliate

As ethical content creators,

we’re constrained in the

products we choose to

represent in one of two ways:

Either we’re limited

by our experience to

products that we’ve

used and liked, that

have affiliate

programs and that

are a good fit for our

audience, or

We’re constrained by

the products we can

get access to in order

to evaluate them,

either by buying them

outright or getting a

free sample or trial.

No matter which approach you

take, expect to have to invest

time and money into

researching the best products

for your audience.

Here are your two main

options (with your best option

listed first).

OPTION #1: PROMOTE

PRODUCTS YOU ALREADY

KNOW AND LOVE

This is the most common way

to get started with affiliate

offers.

You become an affiliate for

something that you’ve used

yourself, had a good

experience with, thoroughly

tested and feel good

recommending. You should be

fairly confident that others will

get the same results you did

(or better), as long as they do

the work.

If you’ve found great success

from a course, mastermind, or

ebook that your readers could

also benefit from, it only

makes sense for you to spread

the word and share your

results.

Do an inventory of the

products, services, and

courses you already have

experience with. You might

have a list of a dozen or more.

Which of these would you be

thrilled to promote? Cross out

any that don’t fit the bill.

Now simply check to see if the

merchant has an affiliate

program (some won’t but

you’ll probably be surprised at

how many do).

Using a search engine like

Google, search for “affiliate

program” + [product name], or

simply email the merchant and

ask.

Then run your remaining

options through this Good

Affiliate Product checklist:

You’ve previewed the

product so you know

its quality (given, in

this case).

They have a solid

refund policy that you

trust they’ll honor.

They provide good

customer support

(and you’ve tested it).

You have a good

story to share about

your experience with

the product.

The offer fits your

audience’s needs and

won’t abuse the trust

you’ve built with

them.

The products that tick all the

checkboxes are your best

opportunities for affiliate

revenue. As time goes on, add

as many of these products to

your mix as you like.

You’ve found your first product!

Apply using the merchant’s

process and start promoting.

If you’re just dipping your toe

in the affiliate marketing

industry, this first option may

be enough to get you started.

However, most bloggers will

want to try the next one, too.

(And you’ll have to explore the

second option if you don’t

have an existing product you

love that is also a great match

for your audience and offers an

affiliate program.)

Option #2: Find Products Via

an Affiliate Network

If you don’t have any direct

experience with or knowledge

of products in your niche that

could help your readers, you

can often find good affiliate

products on affiliate

networks (← our detailed

guide).

But be careful — this approach

requires that you invest time

into research and money into

purchasing products to try out,

more so than the first option.

That’s because there’s less

trust and prior knowledge

involved from the outset. You

have to do your due diligence

to protect your reputation and

the credibility you’ve built with

your readers.

When you work through a

network, you typically won’t

know the merchant ahead of

time and usually won’t build a

relationship with them (your

business relationship is with

the network).

The list of popular and reliable

affiliate networks includes

ClickBank , CJ Affiliate , the

eBay Partner Network ,

ShareASale , CJ Affiliate (aka

Commission Junction), and the

Amazon Associates program .

Some networks will even

assign you an affiliate manager

to lend a hand and show you

the ropes.

Amazon products, in particular,

are an easy way to get started.

Many newbies begin by

becoming an Amazon affiliate

and then scaling to other types

of more profitable affiliate

offers.

Step 2: Get Yourself Set

Up as an Affiliate

Whether you work directly with

affiliate merchants or through

a network, you’ll have to apply,

be approved, and provide

certain information so that you

can be paid.

At a minimum you’ll need to

provide:

Your personal/

business contact

information for tax

and reporting

purposes.

Your bank account

where commissions

will be sent.

In turn, the merchant must

provide you with:

An affiliate link.

Whenever you post

about the product,

you’ll use this

trackable link. It will

have a long tag at

the end of each link

that includes your

affiliate ID.

Here’s what some typical

affiliate text links look like: