Are you eager to both increase your income and achieve a degree of independence? Follow these steps to become an affiliate marketer and learn to earn from home.
The field of affiliate marketing is exploding and exhibits no signs of slowing down any time soon. For some fascinating facts and background, I encourage you to read, “Why Become an Affiliate Marketer?”. The reasons for pursuing this path are compelling!
Affiliate marketers perform a vital role in our online society by linking consumers who have needs for goods and services with reputable vendors who have products to sell. Studies show that a huge percentage of online sales involve an affiliate who earns a commission for his or her efforts.
So, let me show you how you can become that successful affiliate.
Learn to Earn From Home – 7 Steps to Become an Affiliate Marketer
As yet another year comes to a close and a new year begins, what better time to embark on an exciting new venture? You’ve joined me on my blog today because you’re looking to effect changes in your life. If you’re ready to take action, here we go.
Step 1) Become Better Informed
We’ve all heard the expression; knowledge is power. This statement applies to many situations, not the least of which is affiliate marketing. I speak from experience. So, please trust me when I tell you that affiliate marketing is not complicated to learn.
But, and this is important, it’s no walk in the park either!
I stand behind the statement that anyone can learn to earn from home as an affiliate marketer. But it will take significant effort on your part. And, that effort begins with a thorough understanding of the affiliate marketing process and basic principles for success.
Fortunately, there are various sources of good information. Here’s an interesting video to get you started:
You may also want to join a forum such as Quora where pertinent questions on affiliate marketing are regularly asked and answered. I’ve enjoyed relevant posts by successful and eloquent bloggers such as Neil Patel.
Naturally, there are also a plethora of books available. Any and all of these resources can add to your knowledge base and ground you in fundamental affiliate marketing concepts.
Step 2) Decide Who You Want to Help
Affiliate marketing is fundamentally about helping a specific target market find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Your target audience is frequently referred to as your affiliate marketing niche.
It’s fair to say that niches exist all around us and there are endless possibilities from which to choose. The best advice I can offer you is to let your passions drive your niche selection.
Why?
Because launching an online business is a long-term decision and you will live and breathe your niche choice for years to come. You want to hone in on a topic that thoroughly engages you and that you can speak and write about endlessly without getting bored.
Make sense?
Step 3) Select the Products You Want to Recommend
As an affiliate marketer, you will earn commissions by recommending goods and services of other vendors to your readers. I recommend products that I believe in and use myself. Affiliate marketers add value in the online space by reviewing various products and detailing the pros and cons so that purchasers can make informed decisions.
Hence, you will want to make a thorough assessment of the needs of your target market. What types of products are your potential readers interested in? Are certain brands better than others? Where are the best places to acquire the desired products? With which vendors will you seek affiliation?
For more information on this step, including examples, you may be interested in this blog entitled Choose a Niche.
Step 4) Brainstorm Evergreen Content Topics
Evergreen content is defined as content that remains relevant well past its publication date. Much like evergreen trees that retain their leaves throughout the seasons, evergreen content retains its significance over time. Such posts tend to rank highly in the search engines and continue to garner readers, likes, and shares for many years.
Frequently, evergreen content takes the form of educational or informative posts rather than specific product reviews. For example, in my niche evergreen topics would include things like What is Affiliate Marketing? Or perhaps, What is the Definition of a Keyword?
Evergreen content is critical to long-term success because it’s timeless and will be equally useful whether it’s read today or next year. Time-sensitive articles are also important (such as reviews of new keyword research tools), but evergreen topics will sustain interest in your online business.
Research your chosen field of interest and flesh out your list of pertinent topics.
Step 5) Launch a User-Friendly Website
Now we’re getting to the hands-on phase of becoming an affiliate marketer. I would characterize the first 4 steps as the planning process. But at this point, you’re ready to take action and implement those plans.
You’ve researched the needs, pain points, and frequently asked questions of your target audience. Furthermore, you’re eager to connect with your niche and offer well-articulated, quality content that addresses their key concerns. The communication vehicle you’ll use is a website that’s available online 24/7.
I know this part is still a little scary for some folks, but it needn’t be. I was hesitant myself at first so believe me; your fears are perfectly understandable. But I quickly discovered that the tools available today are pretty amazing and intuitive. I’m rather proud of the website I’ve created. And, I’ve accomplished this without knowing a lick of code. So, I know you can do it too!
If working from home and being the boss of your own business is your dream, there’s no time like the present to dive in and build your first website. I know you’re thinking that sounds complicated and expensive, but that’s simply not the case.
Pursuing your online goals has never been easier!
You can create a free Starter Membership today at Wealthy Affiliate, the best and most comprehensive affiliate marketing training center on the Internet, with nothing more than an email address. Your membership comes complete with 10 lessons, 2 free websites, and hosting for the websites.
You’ll also have access to the owners, my coaching services, the extensive WA community, and Live Chat for a full 7 days. It’s an awesome deal and invaluable learning experience that you don’t want to miss out on. And, you should know that while you lose access to the community after 7 days, the websites are yours to keep.
A Starter Membership at Wealthy Affiliate is invaluable for a newbie testing the waters because it’s a no-risk approach. By the time you’ve completed your first ten lessons and launched your first site, you’ll know whether Internet Marketing is for you. Either the experience will whet your appetite for more (that’s what happened for me :)), or you’ll determine it’s not your cup of tea.
Either way, isn’t it time to get off the fence and stop “toying” with the idea?
Step 6) Continue to Learn and Grow
Wealthy Affiliate offers limitless opportunities to continue to learn new techniques and to scale your fledgling online venture to any level you desire. The WA platform also provides an extremely affordable suite of tools and resources for the serious affiliate marketer.
Wealthy Affiliate Takes You By the Hand and Shows You Step-by-Step How to Create a Website That Attracts Massive Traffic and Connects Your Readers With Things They’re Already Searching For Online
A premium membership gives you access to the Online Entrepreneur Certification (OEC) training which is a five-level series containing 50 hands-on, real-world courses. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll also join a huge and active community of marketers who willingly share their secrets to success and continually add to the available training.
Your membership also includes super fast, state-of-the-art hosting for up to 50 websites (complete with SSL certificates), an exceptional keyword research tool (Jaaxy), and the ultimate writing platform (SiteContent).
And then there are the weekly live Webinars. By the way, the Webinars have been going on for more than 10 years, and they’ve all been recorded and made available for replay,
Here’s a sampling of recent topics covered:
There are hundreds of videos that aspiring entrepreneurs can binge-watch if they so desire. Being able to watch super affiliates sharing expert ideas and techniques that have shaped highly successful careers is priceless! Does that sound like something you’d like to be a part of?
Step 7) Expand and Nurture Your Audience
Like any other business endeavor, an affiliate marketing business requires nurturing and TLC. Your audience will expand over time as you add new content, target more and more keywords, gradually become an authority within your niche, and improve your rankings in Google.
Over time you can develop multiple revenue streams through affiliation with different vendors. Blogging is by no means a passive activity. It requires real work and dedication. But, it can feel like passive income when you earn commissions while you sleep from posts that you published months or even years ago.
I guarantee you’ll experience over-the-moon excitement when those first commissions roll in (even if it’s just a $4 Amazon commission to start :)). The initial earnings are irrelevant. It’s the confirmation those earnings bring that the process works.
From there, the sky’s the limit. It’s just a question of perseverance and scaling!
Do You Have What it Takes?
If you’re laboring under the delusion that affiliate marketing will bring overnight riches, you’ve come to the wrong place, and you need to move on. But if you’re willing to invest in yourself and take the time to create a sustainable income, affiliate marketing may be exactly what you’re looking for.
With the proper training and resources, success as an affiliate marketer ultimately comes down to what I like to think of as the 3 P’s: Passion, Persistence, and Patience. Can you exhibit these characteristics if the end result is a thriving business?
A Wealthy Affiliate premium membership is $49/month or $359/year and includes all the resources you need to achieve success. Additionally, if you take action in 7 days, you receive your first month at a bonus price of $19. This price is amazing for a platform that absolutely delivers!
Final Thoughts
The Internet has profoundly affected us all and had a dramatic impact on how we live and work. ECommerce is an integral part of today’s world, and that’s unlikely to change in the near future. Therefore, why not embrace the possibilities this presents and learn to earn from home as an affiliate marketer.
I’m going to go one step further and say that if you’re looking to start a website in 2019 or take your online business to the next level, you can’t possibly go wrong by joining me and thousands of other successful and aspiring entrepreneurs at Wealthy Affiliate.
Here’s to your success in 2019 and beyond!
Over to You
If you’ve been fascinated with the idea of learning to earn from home for a while now, I’m sure you still have questions that I failed to answer. Please jump into the comment section below and ask away. I respond to every comment, and it will be my pleasure to help!
Like It? Please Share It!
Hello Linda . . .
I like how you have added so many useful resources in your site, and yet it does not seem “busy.” I wish you continuing success and progress in your efforts.
I appreciate that you’ve offered a number of very specific steps that visitors can use to put into action and make small steps of progress. As a retiree, I’m interested in working online but I haven’t been quite sure where to start. Also your links to your affiliate and referral sites are bold enough that visitors will be interested to follow through — which is half the solution to our problems.
Affiliate marketing seems to offer a world of possibilities for many of us, especially those of us in our advanced stages of life, who are not ready to sit in the rocking chair and become lifeless.
I salute you and congratulate on you progress! Keep moving forward!
Hi Ibrahim,
It’s true. Affiliate marketing is a excellent option for seniors looking to share their experiences and work from home. We still have a lot to offer. I think the most useful information is very detailed and leads us through a logical sequence of steps. You make a good point that when you’re brand new to something it’s difficult to know exactly where to begin so step-by-step guidance really helps.
You sound intrigued. I recommend that you check out one of my earlier posts entitled Will Wealthy Affiliate Work For Seniors? There are a large number of seniors and retirees who’ve found a home at WA are reinventing themselves as affiliate marketers.
I hope you’ll decide to join us and I wish you well!
I hadn’t heard it put quite this way before, but I believe you’re 100% correct, regarding exactly what it takes. It takes the right attitude and you’ve nailed what that attitude consists of: Passion, Persistence, and Patience. I think passion can be generated from knowing that there are many success stories out there and that you can become one of them. Persistence and patience are the more difficult of the three, because these character traits come from further within, from a deep part of one’s self, because the passion is what’s felt, but feelings dissipate. Once the business is built on persistence and patience, it will be unshakable. That’s my two cents.
Thanks for an excellent article. Best of luck in everything you do.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks very much for contributing your two cents to the discussion 🙂 I enjoyed reading your perspective and I wholeheartedly agree. Over the course of my more than 2.5 years in the affiliate marketing industry, I’ve drawn deeply on my stores of persistence and patience and that approach has served me well.
I wish you the best of luck as well!
Quality article Linda! Your 7 steps are great. I have already joined wealthy affiliate and have been working on two websites for a few months. Even so your article still gave me a few great suggestions on more things that I can do to learn more and grow my business. I am going to check out some of those books that you’ve recommended.
I also want to second your endorsement of wealthy affiliate. It is a great platform and I love the training, community, and website hosting!
Hi Mariah,
It’s always very confirming to connect with like-minded individuals who share my views on the value of the Wealthy Affiliate platform. I’ve found that building an authoritative website is a continuous learning process. I’m pleased you found some good tips that you can use to your advantage. Providing solutions for my readers is always my goal.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion. All the best with those 2 websites!
Hi this a great idea and I think that many people should try their hand at affiliate marketing. So long as they understand it takes work and commitment to sustain a workable business. The best place to learn how to do this is definitely WealthyAffiliate. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hi Kenny,
Yes, there are many compelling reasons to pursue affiliate marketing and I agree that it’s an excellent choice for many people. It’s certainly worked out well for me as a senior and retiree. Stay at home Moms and Dads, disabled individuals, the unemployed or underemployed can all benefit. And let’s not forget entrepreneurial-minded individuals who are ready to be the boss.
It’s unfortunate that there is so much misinformation on the Internet about affiliate marketing. People get sucked into thinking that they can begin earning immediately and that it doesn’t take much work to be successful. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Business success always takes a great deal of work, effort, and patience.
WA makes this clear from the outset which is why I’m such a staunch advocate, They provide all the resources and support you need for the long haul and they don’t sugar coat things or make empty promises.
I’m glad you stopped by and I appreciate your comments!
The affiliate market has really introduced everyone to a successful online business in 2018. And it makes sense for more people to learn affiliate business and start their own business in 2019. This article has a clear step by step instruction on what you need to start an online affiliate business . I would recommend anyone to read this article before starting your own affiliate business.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Hi Sujandar,
I appreciate the strong recommendation. I was pleased to see that you found my detailed steps clear. That’s very useful feedback because it’s certainly my goal to be as helpful as possible.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I have had some limited experience with affiliate marketing and so far I am extremely pleased with it. I do agree with you, Linda, that being informed is so important when it comes to starting anything, including affiliate marketing. I also agree that it is definitely simple to learn if you know where to look. Thanks for this overview and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!
Hi Steve,
I’m happy to hear you’ve taken the plunge and acquired some experience as an affiliate marketer. I’m passionate about the subject myself and very much convinces that anyone who follows these steps and exhibits the might attitude can achieve success. As recommended, you do need proper training and mentoring which is true of every endeavor I’ve ever engaged in.
Happy New Year to you also and thanks for jumping in with your thoughts!
Thank you for the easy to follow steps. If I ever need to tell someone about affiliate marketing, I will surely have them check out your site! Wealthy Affiliate is a great place to learn how to build a great website and the steps to earning income from that website. I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate for about six months and have learned so much from the site and members. It is truly an excellent source. But it takes work, as you have said. It doesn’t magically create an income for a person. One question I still have questions about is on choosing good keywords. How is it done?
I look forward to your reply. 🙂
Hi Karin,
Keywords are an essential element of search engine optimization and are critical to improving your Google rankings and increasing the free organic traffic to your website. I find good keywords by performing broad research on topics that are relevant to my niche. Then I use keyword research tools like Jaaxy to drill down to more specific questions and phrases that my audience appears to be searching. I look for keywords that get recurring searches every month but have very low competition. These low-competition phrases tend to be fairly easy to rank for in Google.
Forums like Quora or Answer.com are great sources of questions, I’ll Google the current questions to see what kind of responses are out there on competing sites. From there, I’ll try to draft a more comprehensive response. I’ve found this approach works well. As you’ve pointed out, it does take work 🙂 But I’m OK with that because I thoroughly enjoy both the process and the results.
I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying Wealthy Affiliate, Take full advantage of all the great stuff they have to offer and you’ll be well on your way to a website that generates a nice monthly income.
Best of luck and thanks for your comments!
I’m so glad you mentioned Quora as a source for learning more about affiliate marketing. I joined Quora just last week as a matter of fact and didn’t even think about adding affiliate marketing to my list of interests. Now I know! Thank you for this info and providing your very true 3 P’s (you’ve obviously got what it takes..and so do I:))! It definitely takes all three of those traits to become a successful online affiliate!
I’ve found Quora to be a wonderful source of information. I’ve learned many tips from other contributors. I also enjoy it as a source of questions that the members of my niche are asking. For me, it’s been an excellent source of keywords that I’ve used to craft blog posts. I’m also a regular contributor on Quora which makes it a good source of traffic for me because I link back to my site as often as I can.
It seems we agree on the 3 P’s. If you possess those traits in abundance, you will do well! I wish you every success and appreciate your comments!