In the last few years, the term ‘affiliate marketing’ has been thrown around the internet a lot. Especially since the pandemic and thousands of people have been going online to earn an income, the world of affiliate marketing has exploded.
But what is Affiliate Marketing anyway?
If you have ever had a fantastic shopping experience at a particular store, or had a great meal at a restaurant, used a product that you absolutely couldn’t do without, and wanted to tell everyone you could about your experiences, then you have already been a part of the affliate marketing process.
Affiliate marketing has to do with promoting another company’s product or service and in return, you get a commission. It is a way of getting other people to market or advertise a brand, product or service for a small reward in return.
Online, the easiest way to do this is through blogposts on a website. A simple yet effective blogpost with text, pictures and hyperlinks can cause people reading about a certain product or niche and end up clicking on links which take them to the product or service and then when they purchase, you make a commission.
SO HOW DOES aFFILIATE MARETING WORK?
Here is a step-by-step process to give you a start into the world of affiliate marketing.
Apply to be an Affiliate
This sounds a little obvious, but in order to become an affiliate for a company, for them to pay you, you must ask them permission first. Many online stores have an affiliate program. All you need to do is to do a search for a particular brand or store, and add the word ‘affiliate program’ afterwards (eg, Walmart affiliate program).
If that company has an affiliate program, you will find it on its website. All you then have to do is go through the process of applying, completing all required information and then waiting for acceptance.
Most companies with affiliate programs require you to have a website already, on which you will either post blogposts or pages that you can promote their items.
DONT HAVE A WEBSITE?
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Get An Affiliate Code
Once you have been accepted into the affiliate program for that company you have an interest and passion about (this is the only way you will continue to write posts and promote their products in the long term), you will be given an AFFILIATE CODE. These codes vary from company to company.
I am affiliate for GOLI GUMMIES and here is my link: go.goli.com/cwrhiggs
I am also an affiliate for Green Geeks Webhosting – the link is: https://www.greengeeks.com/track/cwrhiggs
I am also an affiliate for Elementor – the link is: https://be.elementor.com/visit/?bta=19217&nci=5383
Any web design or text editor you use will have the ability to create a HYPERLINK. Once you highlight text and choose the hyperlink option, all you have to do is paste the affiliate code in the hyperlink and you are ready to go.
Once people click on the hyperlink, it will take them to the company’s website with the tracking link embedded. Once you check out, the company already knows that link sent you there, and they keep track of all sales that came to them from you.
The Big Affiliate Marking company
One of the biggest affiliate programs around is AMAZON. Because Amazon has a global following and millions of products, it makes it easy to promote. Once you sign up for the Amazon Associates Program, you go through the process and wait to be approved. Again you must have your own website to promote their products on. CLICK HERE if you need a domain name or website to get started first.
Once approved, you will have a portal on Amazon’s website that you can click ANY product and grab the html code and paste it into a website or text editor.
The affiliate marketing code for a product for example can look like this:
Affiliate Marketing Takes Time
Of course, you will not be able to post one article and retire in a week. This is something that will take time. But as you continue to regularly post articles, the algorithm for google will know that you are a real website and start to gain a following over time. You can also use paid advertising to promote your blog posts.
With determination and a little creativity, you can use affiliate marketing to earn you additional income for several companies and bring in commissions on a monthly basis, all by promoting other companies products.
What a win-win.
Check out some of the articles with embedded links to affiliate products:
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