Here’s some really good news for anyone who wants to earn a living online…
It IS possible to make money online selling someone else’s products.
And it’s possible to do this through email. No need for a website and complicated setups. How? It’s called affiliate marketing. And it is a goldmine!
I know this because affiliate marketing is how I got my start in online business. And it made me millions.
First thing’s first…
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a really simple concept. It involves one person selling a product for someone else and receiving a commission for that sale. That’s it. Simple, right?
The concept of referrals has been around for a long time—known in the past as word of mouth. But back in the pre-internet days, there was no real way to track referrals to a business. Unless you worked for a specific company and sold their products, there was no commission.
The result? The average person was not compensated for making referrals. Someone could have spent their whole life raving about a specific shoe brand, maybe making millions of dollars for the company, while never earning a dollar themselves.
But now there is a way to track those referrals!
These days, anyone can be compensated by recommended certain products and referring customers to brands. And that opens up a whole new realm of possibilities!
How Do Affiliate Offers Work?
Today’s internet technology makes it possible to easily track referrals.
An affiliate refers someone to an online product and receives a commission when that person buys the product. That’s all there is to it. It is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.
Affiliate offers are run on such a simple system. Once someone signs up as an affiliate, they are assigned their own unique tracking link or affiliate link. And this link is the key to making commissions.
The tracking link can be placed in ads and on the person’s blog or other websites. Whenever someone clicks on the link, they are taken to the product’s landing page. If that customer buys the product, it gets traced back to the affiliate and that affiliate gets the commission.
For example, if I sign up as an affiliate for a weight loss product, I will receive an affiliate link. I can then put that link on my blog. I can also create Facebook or Google ads to promote that link.
And every time someone clicks on the link and buys the product, I will make a commission.
This commission can be as high as 60% to 80% of the sale. And I haven’t even done any work to get that money, other than posting a link!
Affiliate Marketing As a Business Model
Affiliate marketing offers amazing flexibility.
It is possible to run an affiliate marketing business on its own with great success. I’ve done it. So I know from firsthand experience.
Affiliate marketing can also supplement an existing business. It offers a great way to provide offers to subscribers and customers aside from the central offerings of a business.
And here’s the best part…
Affiliate marketing can go hand-in-hand with email marketing. I personally believe that email is the best medium for affiliate marketing.
To run a successful affiliate marketing business, here’s a simple, surefire strategy:
- Build a list
- Provide content
- Promote affiliate offers
I have been doing this for over a decade. In fact, I started out as an affiliate marketer, long before I got into digital publishing. I studied the very best marketing strategies out there and I brought them together to build my own business.
And I did it ALL through email!
I made millions of dollars. And it was at that point that I realized I could help others achieve internet marketing success.
And that’s when I started creating my own digital products. I already had the email lists built. I already knew how to attract subscribers. I turned those lists from my affiliate products to my own products. And eventually, I founded Lurn, which is the culmination of all of it.
But in order to have a successful affiliate marketing business, it is important to truly understand affiliate marketing.
And a crucial part of this is knowing how to find good affiliate offers…
What To Look For In An Affiliate Offer
There are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of affiliate products out there. They are spread out across dozens of niches. When deciding what to promote, it is necessary to narrow this down.
First, choose a profitable niche. Some niches perform better than others, and the key to success is to choose a winning niche. These include niches such as:
- Weight Loss
- Fitness
- Personal Development
- Dating
- Survival
- Finances
- Hobbies
And a lot more.
Once a niche is chosen, it is time to choose an affiliate offer. But, how do you know if an offer is a good one?
The first thing to consider is the price point of the offer.
- Low-ticket – Between $1 and $97
- Mid-ticket – Between $97 and $700
- High-ticket – Over $700
Determine which price range the product falls into. Different strategies are required to sell each kind.
The more expensive the product, the more that has to go into the sales process… More time, more value provided and more relationship building with potential customers.
For example, with low-ticket offers, simply sending out a promotional email can be effective. But with a higher ticket offer, a lot more has to be done. I even recommend affiliates do their own webinars for higher ticket offers. Doing that was a big key to my own success early on.
And with any offer, remember that good copy is absolutely crucial!
Over the years of building my email affiliate business, I learned that promoting a mix of these different types of offers works best.
Only promoting low-ticket items means limiting the amount of money earned. Only promoting high-ticket offers means alienating subscribers who can’t afford them. But promoting one of each type of offer every month produces the best results.
When looking for the best affiliate offers, it is necessary to get as much data as possible. Does the product sell well? Is the commission good? Here’s what to look for:
- Conversion rate (Gravity on ClickBank)—How well the product is selling
- Commission—Should be at least 60%
- Quality of the sales page—Length/quality of copy and how it compares to competitors
It is also important to assess the market.
Determine whether there is a lot of affiliate competition. Believe it or not, the more affiliates promoting the offer, the better. Competition is a good thing! It shows the market is hot and that people are buying.
Also, check out market and niche keywords to make sure there are a lot of solid search terms. Every market has terms and phrases that people are actively seeking out. Use these in your copy.
Of course, all of this data is important. But what people think of the offer is just as important.
Are there product reviews or testimonials? What do people have to say? If others don’t like the offer, there is no point in selling it. But if people who have bought it are raving about it, that’s a great indicator. There’s a good chance that sales will go through the roof.
The next step is to sample the product. Remember that when an affiliate is promoting a product that is inferior, their customers will come back to that affiliate if they don’t like the product.
Test the product out! It is far easier and more honest to promote a product that has been personally tried and tested.
A good affiliate offer will be consistent with the affiliate’s brand and overall message.
If the brand’s message is natural health, for example, then an affiliate offer for a pharmaceutical drug wouldn’t fit. And it likely won’t appeal to that affiliate’s subscribers.
Once good affiliate offers are identified, the next step is to determine where to find them…
The Best Websites To Find Affiliate Offers
Finding affiliate offers really isn’t difficult.
There are so many sources out there for affiliate offers. It’s simply a matter of searching through the options. Then select the best ones based on niche, branding and personal preference.
Here is a list of the best places to find great affiliate offers. Just keep in mind that some of these are third-party affiliate companies and others are companies that control their own affiliate program.
ClickBank is one of the largest and oldest online retailers and affiliate programs. Affiliates can promote physical and digital offers in a wide range of niches. And with over 6 million product offers and 200 million customers, the affiliate opportunities are incredible.
JV Zoo is another popular affiliate platform with a focus on information products. They offer detailed data, making it easy to choose good products. This includes when the product was launched, the price, how many sold, the commission, and the percentage of sales that were refunded.
CJ Affiliate used to be Commission Junction. This is considered to be the largest affiliate platform around. Most major retailers use CJ Affiliate and they reach millions of consumers.
OfferVault is a free service that provides over 61,000 CPA (Cost Per Action) and CPC (Cost Per Click) offer in one place. These offers can be searched and sorted based on a number of filters, such as category, payout, and when the offer was last updated.
This is a digital and physical product retailer and affiliate platform that is easy to use. It’s a relatively small network, so the range of products to promote is limited. However, the signup process is quick and easy and commissions are as high as 95%.
CommissionSoup is an affiliate network that has been around since 2000. They offer great tracking features and reporting for CPA, CPS (Cost Per Sale), and CPL (Cost Per Lead).
For 15 years, ShareASale has operated strictly as an affiliate marketing platform. They have a great reputation and their technology is renowned. They also have 4,000 merchants, of which more than 1,000 are exclusive to ShareASale.
FlexOffers is another dedicated affiliate platform that has been around for over 10 years. They are focused on the digital publishing industry. So this is ideal for affiliates that want to promote information products.
Avangate is a digital commerce retailer that has a great affiliate program. Their service is cloud-based and is centered on SaaS, software, and service companies.
This is a CPA marketing platform. They have their own affiliate technology that allows affiliates to create customized ad campaigns.
AffiBank is a third-party affiliate platform that offers numerous product categories. The majority of the offers pay 75% on commissions. Plus, they have their own in-house affiliate tracking system.
AvantLink is an affiliate platform dedicated to technology products. They bring developers together with merchants and affiliates. And since their focus is on technology they are leading the way in affiliate technology.
MaxBounty is an industry leading performance marketing network connecting trusted and skilled affiliate marketers with vetted high paying advertisers on a cost-per-action basis.
Tradedoubler delivers performance marketing and technology solutions powering a unique network of connections with over 2,000 global brands and 180,000 active publishers.
Awin is a global affiliate marketing network that empowers advertisers and publishers of all sizes to grow their businesses online.
Rakuten used to be Buy.com. It has landed in the top three eCommerce companies with more than 90,000 products and over 18 million customers. And Rakuten offers the ability to effectively optimize and customize offers.
Amazon handles its own affiliate program. And since Amazon is the largest online retailer, the affiliate opportunities are amazing. Affiliates can choose from over 1.5 million products to promote. However, the commissions—at 4% to 9%—aren’t nearly as good as some other affiliate programs.
eBay has been around for more than 20 years. It is one of the largest online retailers and has a great affiliate program. This program includes the ability to easily track and report affiliate sales.
More Ways to Find Affiliate Offers
The above list of affiliate programs offers an impressive selection of niches and affiliate offers. But there are a few other great ways to find good affiliate offers too!
Private Affiliate Programs
Some businesses or online marketers have private affiliate programs. To find these, simply go to Google and search for “Your Niche + Affiliate Programs.” Then go through the search results and contact the ones that look good.
Many of the top products in every niche have their own affiliate programs. These can be great ways of making money as an affiliate marketer.
Blogs & Newsletters
Another good way to find good affiliate offers is to browse through blogs and email newsletters and see what they’re promoting. If respected blogs and newsletters are promoting it, it is probably worthwhile.
This is especially the case if the same ones pop up in more than one place. Remember, other people promoting offers is a good sign!
Affiliate groups can be found on Facebook! These are great sources for affiliate offers. Join those groups and find out what they are promoting.
Forums
There are forums, such as Warrior Forum, that are specifically dedicated to affiliate programs and offers. Check them out, ask questions, and find offers and ideas. There is no need to completely reinvent the wheel.
Once the best affiliate offers have been identified, the next step is to promote them and start earning commissions.
Promoting Affiliate Programs
Finding the right affiliate offers is just the beginning. Next comes promoting them. But putting out ads that lead to the sales page is not the only way to do it. In fact, it’s not the best way to do it.
There are actually quite a few ways to promote affiliate offers. Let’s take a look.
Email Marketing
Promoting to a list of email subscribers is one of the most effective ways to promote affiliate offers. This is a highly-targeted audience. They found the email list and subscribed to it because they were looking for something specific.
Plus, these people are on the list because they chose to be. They are giving their permission to market to them. There is no better audience.
Email marketing allows marketers to communicate directly with people who are already interested. Does it get any better than that?
High-End Products
As I said before, promoting high-end products requires going the extra mile. People are being asked to part with a lot of money. This means the offer must be very valuable and the connection with the audience must be deep.
To gain their trust and provide value, market via video or webinars. This will accomplish the following:
- It makes the connection with the audience much more personal.
- It helps build a relationship with the audience.
- It makes the audience more trusting.
Offer bonuses with the product to increase the value of what the consumer is paying for. Examples of bonuses include free reports, an extended guarantee, or another product that compliments the product being promoted.
Reviews
Write a review of the product and attach the affiliate link. A review blog is ideal for this. As time goes by, the blog with gather a following. When a review is posted, along with the affiliate link, people will buy. Just make sure the review is an honest one.
The good thing about reviews are that they can be both valuable content and an endorsement. This is a good recipe for affiliate sales.
YouTube Videos
People love videos. This is such an effective way to engage with consumers and create a personal connection. Videos can be used in a couple of ways:
- A video is a great way to do a product demo. Showing the product in action will help people understand its value. It will show them how it can improve their lives. Then place the affiliate link in or below the video and watch the sales roll in.
- A video is also a great way to promote an offer by presenting information on something related to the product. This could be research, a personal story, or something else that is connected. Reveal to the consumer how the product can help them.
Get creative. There are an infinite number of ways to promote affiliate products. And it is highly recommended to use more than one method. With different avenues of promotion, sales will increase.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn passive online income. It’s also a way to supplement the income of an existing online business. Affiliate marketing offers flexibility and endless possibilities.
And it is available for ANYONE to take advantage of. All for pennies on the dollar.
Selling someone else’s product has never been easier. The key is to find the best products in the most profitable niches. Then, search out the best affiliate programs and find other creative ways to promote those offers.
And for the ultimate in success—pair the promotion of those affiliate offers with email marketing. This truly is a winning combination.
There is no limit to the success that can be achieved through affiliate marketing. And we want to help!
We’re offering a FREE Digital Bootcamp.
Face it. It’s difficult to find success by just stumbling around solo. It takes a lot of time, energy and trial and error. That’s why the best approach is to learn from people who have actually done it. And that’s what we’re here to do.
In this FREE Digital Bootcamp, we’ll give you the best strategies and specific systems to make money with affiliate marketing. Ready to succeed?
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I’ll see you there.
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