5 questions about Affiliate Marketing
It’s time to start leveraging your visibility and gaining some money on it. One good way to get started is affiliate marketing.
We put together some of the most frequent questions and answers that beginners have about affiliate marketing.
We put together some of the most frequent questions and answers that beginners have about affiliate marketing.
Earn Money Online, part 3
How to earn some money on your website? One of the most popular ways is affiliate marketing. 5 questions and answers to get you started
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about earning money online. We’ve already covered how to set up your own site and how to help people find their way over there.
We hope you’re off the good path – but remember that sometimes it can take a moment before people find your site. Be patient and keep creating high-quality content.
Once you’ve got that steady traffic going, it’s time to start leveraging your visibility and gaining some money on it. One good way to get started is affiliate marketing.
We put together some of the most frequent questions and answers that beginners have about affiliate marketing.
1. What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing means lining products or services to your site and getting a cut in case someone buys them through your link. It’s a great way to leverage your audience by creating content about your favorite topics.
Let’s say you write about productivity and entrepreneurship. Probably, from time to time, you come to present products or services from that field, such as productivity tools. Through an affiliate program you could add a link to a site that sells that particular product or service and get a percentage of the sales when your readers buy them.
2. How does the store know the sale came through my site or social media profile?
When working as an affiliate, you set up a specific link on your site. When a buyer comes from your site or social media, the store recognizes them as “your” clients and you’ll get your cut of the sale.
Of course, there is always a risk that people don’t click through your link but buy directly from the vendor or maybe from another site altogether.
To avoid this, remember to mention about the affiliate link – probably your faithful followers want to help you out. This is why it is helpful to mention to your audience about the affiliate link. They are probably happy to help you by ordering through your affiliate link. In any case, they pay the same price so buying via an affiliate link is not more expensive for them.
3. How can I set up an affiliate collaboration?
Start by checking the websites of companies that you regularly write about. Many of them already have an affiliate program set up. You only need to fill in a form to see if you’re eligible.
Once you’ve agreed on a collaboration, the company provides you with instructions on how to set up your backlinks etc.
It is possible to start an affiliate program also with smaller companies who don’t necessarily have official programs: contact them and ask directly.
Before you start adding affiliate links on your site, make sure that you have an agreement in writing for at least the following things:
- What is your percentage of sales?
- When are you paid (right away, monthly, at the end of the collaboration)?
- What happens is a client returns an item or cancels an order?
4. 4. Do I need to mention about the collaboration on my site?
The guidelines and laws change from one country to another, so always check the guidelines that apply in your country or region.
Affiliate collaboration is a form of paid collaboration, and usually they need to be clearly stated in the beginning of your content. You can do this with a phrase like “Content includes affiliate links”.
Readers and followers are used to this kind of collaborations on websites so the risk of them not wanting to follow you because of them is relatively low. They might even be more tempted to buy through your link to help you out!
5. What kind of products should I recommend?
You can partner with any brands and stores in your industry. You want to make sure two things:
First of all, recommend only products that you sincerely believe in. When your followers learn to trust your judgement, they are more likely to buy products and services that you recommend.
Secondly, choose affiliate partners that make sense to your audience. If you write about entrepreneurship, recommending a task manager app makes sense. Or if you publish make-up tutorials, sharing links to make-up store is the perfect fit.
Affiliate sales are a great complement of revenue. Even though you wouldn’t make a fortune in the beginning, you get to gain some extra while doing something else you love – creating content for your site.
It’s a lot like filling in surveys, isn’t it? Having fun while gaining some pocket money.
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