A Beginners Guide To Affiliate Marketing

1. "What is affiliate marketing?" is probably a question you're asking yourself (while scratching your head) if you've downloaded this PDF. Affiliate marketing is something many of us have come across in some shape or form but a lot of us just don't understand the meaning of it or how it works as a business model. Many of us are completely oblivious to the whole affiliate marketing industry in general. Hence, i've decided to write this article to help enlighten those of you who are interested in finding out more about this new age business model that thousands of people are profiting from. Where did affiliate marketing come from? Approximately 25 years ago a wonderful entity called the world wide web came into being. This created opportunities for companies all over the world to advertise and sell their products to a global audience. Unsurprisingly, e-commerce exploded in popularity with companies such as Amazon and Ebay being at the forefront of the e-commerce rush. Many companies realised that they had untapped selling opportunities through the millions of websites on the internet and on the flip side, website owners were providing value to their readership and required a way to monetise their traffic. As a result of this, the affiliate marketing business model was born. The internet has now completely transformed the way businesses operate and has expanded earning potential for every business by increasing market reach exponentially. What is affiliate marketing and how does it work? An affiliate can be described as someone who makes a commission from a sale promoting someone else’s product. You've most likely bought something online through an affiliate without actually knowing! This could be the sale of literally anything from courses that teach people how to date the woman of their dreams, to tennis coaching lessons, online subscriptions and amazon products. Affiliate programs are everywhere! The amount of commission can also hugely vary depending on the affiliate program, they range from a few percent all the way up to ninety percent, in some cases. Check out this infographic I've created that breaks down how affiliate links work:

3. What sort of income can affiliate marketers make? Many people enter into the affiliate marketing space looking to make a quick buck, but this simply doesn't work out. Affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick, push button solution. It is a genuine business model that requires effort, dedication and perseverance, just like any other business does. Marketing is an art form that requires the correct knowledge, direction and mindsets for success. Now: Affiliate marketers from all over the world generate BILLIONS of dollars every year in commissions. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. Being an affiliate can be one of the most lucrative business models on the internet today. Many internet marketers have generated seven-figure incomes through promoting other people’s products. Many of us hear these stories about people making tremendous amounts of money on the internet but few actually understand how it works and how simple it can be to generate a substantial income with an online business. What is the difference between an affiliate merchant and an affiliate program? An affiliate merchant is a business that increases their brand awareness, traffic and sales through a network of affiliates. These affiliates advertise the merchants offers through various online channels such as Adwords, Bing and Youtube or through their own website. Affiliate merchants create video ads, banners and landing pages for the affiliate to promote their offers but this varies depending on the merchant. In some cases, the affiliate creates their own custom advertising banners and videos that are tailored to their target audience for maximum return on investment. Examples of traditional affiliate merchants include Amazon associates, commission junction and ClickBank. An affiliate program is essentially a company that specifically provides various products for you to promote. These companies do not own the products themselves but are a sort of intermediary between the product owners and the affiliate marketers. Many affiliate programs also include training and tutorials on how to set yourself up as an affiliate, how to build your own website, SEO, personal development...etc. This allows the online newbie to get started with their own online

4. business from scratch as they are provided with all the tools and trainings required for them to understand the business model and start generating sales in a short space of time. The technology we have available today allows us to massively automate many tasks that had to be manually done only a few years ago. This has reduced the level of technical ability required for people do things like build their own websites, setup landing pages and build lists of subscribers. You can literally build a website within minutes today, even if you have zero technical computer skills. This has increased opened the floodgates of opportunity for anyone with basic computer knowledge, now having the opportunity to start an online business. Advantages for merchants Merchants love affiliate marketing because it makes them more money. It really is as simple as that. Affiliates only get paid on a "per sale" basis, so they are only paying out commissions when they're making product sales. It's a win win situation for the affiliate merchant and for the affiliate marketers. Why affiliate marketing is an awesome business model: • You can get started literally within hours, you only require a working computer and a decent internet connection. • You don’t need to rent out any physical space, unlike a classic “brick and mortar” business, you can start affiliate marketing from the comfort of your own home, saving you a huge chunk of cash! • You don’t need to ship out any products. What you are doing is making a referral for products or services. Once you've made your referral, you're done. Not having to handle the logistics of shipping is a huge deal and a great perk with this business model! Your job is to refer prospects through your affiliate links and if they purchase something, you get paid! It’s as simple as that! • It runs on auto-pilot, allowing you to live the lifestyle you desire, without having any geographical constraints. For example, if you have a blog that is ranking organically for some articles that you have promoted, your site will be getting a certain amount of traffic and (if done properly) generating sales for you 24/7! Once setup correctly, your business can virtually run on auto-pilot.

5. You might be wondering: Why isn't everyone doing affiliate marketing if it’s such a great business model? Most people that attempt an online venture do it on their own. They lack a system they can plug into, therefore making it a lot harder for them to get setup with everything they require. People lack the discipline, knowledge and perseverance required to run a successful online business. The bottom line: Most people end up spreading themselves way too thin, trying to master too many things at the same time. They get stuck in education mode thinking they need to learn every technique out there and never actually get down to business! Overwhelm slowly sets in and they end up putting their online business venture on the back-burner or just giving up all together! Starting a profitable business as an affiliate relies on a few key factors… 1. Finding a mentor – When you first get started with affiliate marketing, you need guidance. You will have a million questions to ask and having a mentor really does make a significant difference in terms of starting you off in the best possible way and giving you the correct advice you need to start taking action and build your internet business. 2. Finding the correct affiliate merchant – If you’re promoting crap products, no one is going to buy them. No matter how good you are at marketing. Finding the correct merchant is one of the most important steps on your affiliate journey, you need to be promoting attractive products that people want to buy, that way, half the work is already done for you! 3. Joining a community – Some affiliate marketing programs such as The Six Figure Mentors house an exclusive private community of like-minded people where you can share ideas, collaborate and empower each other on your collective online journey. This alone is worth its weight in gold. Help is always just around the corner and you will be motivated by fellow members to persevere and keep going no matter how you feel!

6. 4. Zero Entitlement – This has been the death of many potentially successful marketers on the internet. Affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick scheme, it is a business and it requires dedication, effort and hard work. If you feel entitled to earn money because you placed a few ads or you followed a guide and are expecting instant or guaranteed returns, you will be killed! Failure is just a lesson learnt and a step closer to success. This is the attitude you need to adopt if you want to be a winner! :) 5. Build Your List – Building a list of prospect subscribers has single-handedly been the most profitable element of many businesses. The fundamentals of list building are gaining subscribers that are interested in the products you are promoting, then instead of spamming them with affiliate offers, (that everybody hates) you provide value and build a relationship with your prospects. You build what I like to call KLT factor. (Know, Like and Trust). Once you've built a relationship and gained a prospects trust, you can then recommend a quality offer. Makes perfect sense, right? It's the way marketing should be done! 6. Personal Development - Your mindset is single-handedly the most important factor to your success. Embarking on an internet business venture will test you in many ways and teach you valuable life lessons. Online entrepreneurship requires the learning of self-accountability, self-reliance and self-determination. Laying of the proper foundation is essential. Consistent action and failing forward are also very important factors - as mentioned above, failure needs to be viewed as a stepping stone to success. All of these mindset changes allow you to grow as a person and work towards becoming the best version of yourself. In Summary: You should now understand the basic mechanics of affiliate marketing and should no longer be asking the question "what is affiliate marketing". You’ll probably agree that it has sensational earning potential. The secret to building a successful online business is having a business platform that you can plug into. A platform that provides all of the above mentioned points required for starting a profitable online business. We have partnered up with one of the leading internet education and mentorship providers; The Six Figure Mentors, who offer an extraordinary platform for anyone interested in entrepreneurship/online business/working from home/becoming self- reliant. These guys offer a step-by-step modular training program that includes the tools, training, resources and community support to help you succeed in the online arena.

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