Affiliate marketing seems to be the go-to method for generating sales and growing a business. In fact, it is predicted that, in the United States, business spending on this particular marketing method will hit $8.2 billion by 2022.

The best part is that affiliate marketing promises great results regardless of the size of your business or your level of expertise.

So what’s the deal?

Does it sound too simple and too good to be true?

Affiliate marketing really works but in order to see results and grow your business, you need to understand what is.

In this post, we talk about affiliate marketing and how it works step by step.

In a Nutshell

Affiliate marketing is a commission-based marketing method where you promote someone’s product and get a small cut of each sale made through your website. In this scenario, you are the affiliate.

What this means is that you can potentially make a solid profit without investing a lot (or anything!) which makes affiliate marketing low-cost and suitable for everyone.

What you require for this is a website and time to dedicate to promoting the product.

There are several affiliate marketing platforms to choose from and affiliate marketing programs to join. Once you pick a product to promote, you will get a unique link so that the merchant can know which sales come from you.

When a buyer clicks on the link through your website and buys the product, you get compensated.

This doesn’t mean that consumers pay more for the product. On the contrary, they pay the same price and your commission is included in it.

Some affiliates will mention the fact that they get a percentage of each sale somewhere on their website. According to the Federal Trade Commission, affiliates are obliged to do so. You can add it to the description or the footer of your website.

How to Start?

The first step in becoming an affiliate is to choose an affiliate platform. This can be YouTube, Instagram, or a blog.

If you go for the blog, you’ll need to create one which is fairly simple and low-cost these days. You will then create content for your blog and add affiliate links to it.

Whether you opt for a blog or YouTube, you will need to optimize all the content you post so that it ranks better. If you’re a blog creator, optimize your content for search engines by adding keywords relevant to the product you’re promoting.

Pick a Niche

The major problem is how to rank high in search results if you’re blogging about topics that already have an abundance of articles on the Internet?

The trick is to choose a suitable niche or a rather narrow category. This increases the chances of building an audience that is truly interested in what you have to say.

For example, instead of making your blog about a general topic such as fashion, make it about something specific such as hats.

Needless to say, your content must be of high quality and actually useful to your target audience. You will gain a smaller but dedicated circle of followers who find your tips useful and gradually, you’ll rank higher in search results.

The go-to advice when choosing a niche is to pick something you’re actually interested in, especially if you’ll be the one writing. This will reflect on the quality of your blogs.

Pick an Affiliate Program

There is an abundance of affiliate programs to choose from but the commission varies depending on which program you end up joining.

Some come with high payouts but a limited pool of buyers so it’s difficult to make a high income. Others are high-volume but come with small commissions so you earn just a few dollars per sale.

Your choice will depend on your interest and whether you’ll target businesses or consumers.

The Bottom Line

Affiliate marketing is indeed an effective way of making a passive income with low upfront costs. However, it is important to note that it will take time until you start making real money. You will need to invest time and effort into attracting the right audience, promoting the product, and boosting your search engine rankings.

It won’t come overnight but in the long run, it is definitely worth the effort.