Bringing Home The Bacon With Affiliate Marketing
When you find the next must-have product or incredible deal, it's only natural to want to share it with the world. If you love being the go-to source for product recommendations, consider capitalizing on your passion by becoming an affiliate marketer. As an affiliate, you invest your time and effort into promoting only the best products. For each sale that can be directly attributed to your efforts, you earn a commission -- usually anywhere from five to 15 percent. Sound interesting? Here are a few things to consider:
The most successful affiliate marketers are also the most honest and transparent. When you are truly passionate about something, it shows in the way you discuss, present and highlight it to others. It's much easier to earn commissions by selling something that you consider yourself an expert on. This allows you to answer potential buyers' most pressing questions, and to present yourself as a credible authority on the matter. If your interests are widely varied, becoming an Amazon affiliate might work well for you. You can earn impressive commissions on nearly any product, including books, electronics, personal care items and DVDs. If you would like to focus on a single product, there are opportunities to partner with companies like GoPro, iTunes, Marriott and Adobe.
If you are passionate about products from multiple vendors, there is no reason why you should not participate in more than one affiliate program. Before you commit, assess each opportunity to determine whether you can fulfill your obligations to both programs without cannibalizing your efforts with another. If you choose to take this route, however, you must first verify that neither requires an exclusivity clause forbidding you to participate in another program. Otherwise, the choice is yours and yours alone.
A successful affiliate must have a part of the Internet to call his or her own. This can be a personal or professional blog, but you may see more results from a unique website. Either way, you must choose a name that is relevant and appealing to your target market. Avoid using your own name in the domain or blog URL; the product -- not you, the seller -- is the focus here. It is still a good idea to devote a small section of the website to introduce yourself to visitors. Many online shoppers appreciate the ability to connect a name with a face; it eases concerns and seems more personal.
Sometimes the best products on the market are the ones that consumers are always finding new uses for. For example, websites like Pinterest showcase millions of mini-epiphanies about different ways to use household products, discarded items and other surprising materials. If you can keep up with this type of user-centric innovation, you can use it to your advantage when marketing that product for commissions.
Affiliate marketing is the perfect way for passionate consumers to bring in extra income simply by promoting the products and services they love. Your earnings potential is limited only by your time investment, making it possible to bring in a steady stream of income as a full-time or second job. Use the ideas above to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
