What is Affiliate Marketing?
Every product / service wants to reach and hopefully sell to more customers so they need to advertise to as many people as possible. Part of their advertising budget is an affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, products or services are promoted and when someone makes a purchase the affiliate marketer is paid a commission.
How does affiliate marketing work?
To become an affiliate marketer:
- Find a product or service to promote
- Join the affiliate program to get a unique link
- Promote the product or service using the unique link
When a purchase is made using the unique link, the affiliate marketer gets a commission.
Two Takeaways from this article:
- IF Affiliate Marketing is a scam
- Scams to watch out for related to Affiliate Marketing
Can you Earn Money in Affiliate Marketing?
YES! Affiliate Marketing isn’t a scam. You can earn money in many different ways thru affiliate marketing. The most common way to earn money is by promoting products/services and earning commissions. This is the ‘bread and butter’ of affiliate marketing. If the business is set up correctly, affiliate marketing provides passive recurring income. Another way to earn money in affiliate marketing is by setting up a course to teach methods of affiliate marketing. Other people take the skills they’ve learned such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), copywriting, or website creation to work for corporations as part of their affiliate program.
Scams Related to Affiliate Marketing
1.Paying to be part of an affiliate program – Becoming part of a affiliate program should be FREE as you will be promoting a product/service for a commission. Some programs will have a screening process – reviewing your website, asking for information about the size of your mailing list, asking how you plan to promote the product/service, and requiring you to accept the terms and conditions of their affiliate program. A legitimate affiliate program won’t ask you for payment to join.
2. Promoting products/services that don’t exist or of low quality – RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. If you decide to promote product/service research to ensure it exists. Also research to find out the customer satisfaction rating of the product/service. It is highly recommended that you don’t promote a product/service that you don’t have personal knowledge of or can’t verify as this will damage your reputation. Becoming part of affiliate marketing means that people will make purchases based on trust and if people can’t trust you, they won’t purchase products/services that you’re promoting.
3. It’s a ‘Get-Rich-Quick’ Solution – you can make quick money but if you want to create a business with passive recurring income, you’ll need to earn the money by working hard. You will be the CEO of your business and need to hold yourself accountable for the health of the business. Being involved in affiliate marketing will require understanding data, marketing, and being the spokesperson of your business.
In Closing
Affiliate Marketing isn’t a scam but a legitimate on-line business. Like any business, being involved with affiliate marketing means treating it like a business. The more work you put in, the more money you will earn. Also like a business, responsible business owners need to be mindful of their reputation and keep up to date on trends and data. To keep a business relevant, keep learning and be willing to adapt to market trends. Being an on-line business it can be run from anywhere with an internet connection and provide FINANCIAL FREEDOM.
