Imagine for a moment that your blog, website or social media page becomes your primary source of income…even if you only put in a few hours a week.

This vision is a reality for bloggers and social media influencers all over the world, thanks to the wonders of affiliate marketing.

“Affiliate Disclosure:  This page has affiliate links. If you choose to follow one of these links and make a purchase, I will earn a commission paid to me by the company, at no cost to you. The commission I make from affiliate sales helps me run my website. Thank you for your support.”

So What Is Affiliate Marketing?

To put it in simple terms, affiliate marketing is promoting products from other people or businesses. You’re paid a commission when someone clicks on your affiliate link that takes them to the site you’re advertising for, and makes a purchase or fulfills whatever the conversion is for that particular advertiser (like signing up for their email list).

You can get paid in different ways, with the three most common being:

• Pay Per Sale
• Pay Per Lead
• Pay Per Click

This is determined by the product owner and is discussed in their affiliate programs.

Benefits of Affiliate Marketing

While it may take time and effort initially, affiliate marketing can be an amazing way to earn passive income.

What’s passive income, you ask? It’s money that comes your way on an ongoing basis with minimal effort on your part.

While you might think it’s too good to be true, statistics show that individuals and businesses continue to find profit and success every day simply by posting content containing affiliate links.

And now for the most exciting news of all. You too can cash in on affiliate marketing by promoting products on your blog or website.

It’s amazingly easy to do. Here are some pointers to get you started.

Focus On Your Niche

This may be the most important piece of advice you get and should guide all other decisions around affiliate marketing.

While it might seem more effective to cast a wide net and appeal to as wide an audience as possible, the reality is that the opposite is true.

Targeting a highly specific audience allows you to narrow your scope and establish yourself as an expert. And expertise is your biggest asset if you want to build a relationship of trust with your audience.

When you write in a niche that you’re familiar with, you’re in a position to write about products that you actually use in your day-to-day life. This gives you more credibility.

Finding the right micro-niche also boosts your performance in search results. With more relevant results, you have a better chance of ranking highly in Bing or Google.

To go along with your micro-niche, you’ll need strong, specific content that appeals to your audience. More on that later.

Use Multiple Channels Along With SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective tools in your repertoire to ensure that web searchers find and read your content, and click through to your affiliate links.

But relying on SEO alone is a mistake.

Remember that your goal is to build a community around your site. To accomplish this, you’ll need to use multiple channels to attract repeat visitors.

Try a variety of approaches until you discover what works for you. Experiment with Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and/or Facebook. Consider repurposing old and new content to share via email and social media in addition to just posting on your website.

Again, this helps establish you as an expert since it allows your knowledge to be shared across a variety of platforms and reach more people.

Build Trust With Your Audience

If you want to earn money through affiliate marketing, you need an audience. And not just a passive audience; an audience that is willing to take action by clicking on the links for the products you promote. And the best way to grow an active audience is by building a relationship of trust with your visitors.

By communicating an authoritative knowledge of your niche, you are showing that you’re a reliable expert. Visitors will become comfortable seeking your advice.

This way, when you make recommendations about specific products, your visitors will trust your judgment, increasing the likelihood that they’ll click on those affiliate links.

Once you’ve gained that trust, treat it with care and authenticity. Avoid recommending anything unless you’re sure that you would be willing to purchase and use it yourself. Only recommend brands that you know and like. And if possible, take the time to test the product yourself before recommending it.

Choose the Right Affiliate Program

Not all affiliate marketing programs are alike. It’s essential that you take the time to consider what your overall goals and needs are, and choose a program that’s a good fit for what you’re trying to achieve.

Your instinct might be to choose the program that pays out the most, but this is not necessarily the best decision. For your purpose, it’s much more important to consider how a particular program will work with your niche and your target audience.

First and foremost, you’ll want to look into the program’s reputation. A reliable and trustworthy program can connect you with reputable companies and merchants. Clickbank and ShareASale are among the most reputable programs out there, but you shouldn’t confine yourself to these.

Of course, you’ll want to check on the commission rate that the program offers. These can vary widely from one program to another.

And finally, any program you use should be compatible with your niche, offering access to merchants and products likely to appeal to your target audience.

Add Value To Your Content

Value is almost like the Holy Grail of marketing. Everyone seeks it; but there are not many places where they really find it. Make your site a place where visitors find value, and you can be sure they’ll come back for more.

Give serious thought to the content you create, and ask yourself whether it truly adds value to the lives of your visitors.

If you’re not sure how to do this, start by identifying those qualities that set you apart from everyone else. What do you offer that no one else does? It is this difference which will attract people.

In making this determination, look carefully at your statistics. What content engages your visitors the most, and why? When you answer these questions, you’ll be well on your way to securing that Holy Grail of value.

Conclusion

When done right, affiliate marketing can be a fun and profitable side hustle, or even your main job.

As you become an expert in your niche and grow a community of followers, it won’t be long before your blog or website will be earning money on its own.

While it may take some work in the beginning, follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to the exciting adventure of affiliate marketing.

Have a wonderful day!