Can you make a full-time living with affiliate marketing?
Yes, you can make a full-time living with affiliate marketing. It’s a business like any other, just that you don’t need to create your own products or services.
However, affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes time, dedication, and strategy to succeed. In this article, I will briefly explain how you can start making a full-time living with affiliate marketing.
But know going in…this does not happen overnight. The online “gurus” who tell you it’s simple as pie have either never done it, or are not being honest. This process takes time, work, and consistency.
But the payoff is absolutely huge, and can provide a lifestyle and freedom that 99% of people never achieve. So it’s well worth the effort, and the process is incredibly rewarding (and a bit of fun)!
How to Make a Full-Time Living With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves some heavy lifting upfront in the initial stages. It’s easy because you don’t need a lot of investment capital. But you do need to invest time and effort. Here are some tips to get started:
Choose The Right Niche
A niche is a market or audience you intend to target in your affiliate marketing efforts. You can choose anything from travel, health & wellness, finance, fashion, and more. Your preferred niche should have plenty of content to write about and related products to promote.
As someone who has been in the affiliate business for a while, I can tell you to pick a niche that converts. Affiliate marketing is business, and profits lie in conversions. High demand and low supply will make it easier for you to convert.
Pro Tip: I recommend to try finding a sub-niche of your niche. For instance, instead of building a website about food in general, narrow it down to something like low-carb foods to lose weight. That’s because competition is very high and you’ll have to distinguish yourself.
Join A Good Affiliate Program
With your website in place and a growing audience, you can now move into finding the right affiliate program. A quick Google search will give you plenty of options. For example:
- Amazon Associates Program
- ShareASale
- ClickBank
- CJ Affiliate
- Rakuten Advertising
These are just a few examples; you can find many more online. However, they don’t work the same.
Some affiliate programs may require membership fees or hidden charges, while others offer excellent commissions and no monthly fees. And some provide additional marketing materials such as banners and articles.
Two really important considerations when choosing a program:
- Commission percentage – this is really key, as Amazon pays the lowest commissions, but you can find programs that pay 50% plus. So do you research, and it’s well worth your time.
- Attribution window – again, Amazon is the lowest here as well. Their attribution window is only 24 hours. That means when someone clicks your affiliate link on your site and goes to Amazon, they have to purchase within 24 hours for you to get credit. That sucks! Some affiliate programs have lifetime attribution window!
My advice before joining any program, do the due diligence. Read online reviews for a better understanding of the program and its offerings.
And most importantly, take action! Nothing is set in stone. Try new affiliate programs, and test them out. And you are not locked. You can always change course if you find a better affiliate program.
Work on SEO
To make money, you will need traffic on your website. While you can pay for ads and get visitors, the best free strategy is to optimize your content for search engines. Create a killer keywords strategy that can help get your website on the first page on Google or Bing.
There is no shortage of SEO tools that can help you with this. Some are free, and others come at a fee. If you’re serious about affiliate marketing, invest in a good SEO tool. (1)
While SEO is great, the quality of your content is even more critical. You must create original content that is engaging, informative, and helpful to your readers. It’s the only way to keep your web visitors returning for more.
And make sure you join an affiliate marketing training course. This really is the key when you’re getting started! You can spin your wheels for a year if you don’t have the right direction from the jump.
Distribute Your Promotional Content
Once you have set up your promotional content, please share it on your website and social media platforms. It is also essential to create an email list. An email list is a compilation of your contacts of people who would like to receive information from you.
An email has a higher conversion rate than other channels, and you should exploit this channel. Send your content to your subscribers. It can be entertaining stories, reports, downloads, news, and special deals. Provide value and promote a product to your subscribers once in a while.
Be Authentic
In your affiliate marketing efforts, offer a candid opinion on the product you are promoting. It’s more than just chasing numbers. If people feel that you are being genuine, they will likely follow your advice and make a purchase.
Conclusion
When done right, affiliate marketing can help you break even and make a significant income. You don’t even have to quit your day job. Just put in the effort, and create a reliable source of passive income.
Click to return to the homepage.
