With more people flocking to online business than ever before, people around the world are finding themselves wondering, “Is it really possible to make money online?”
Online business comes in numerous forms, the most common being affiliate marketing, blogging, and eCommerce (selling digital or physical products online).
In this article, I’m going to specifically focus on affiliate marketing since it’s one of the most convenient and desirable ways to generate an online income. Affiliates don’t create products or manage customer service themselves — they simply generate results for other business owners in the form of website visitors, leads, and sales. They opt to get paid only when they produce the results that the business owner expressed interest in when setting up their affiliate program.
Here are five tips that’ll be a tremendous help when setting out to make money from an affiliate marketing business.
Get Started with the Right Mindset
The affiliate marketing industry is unfortunately rife with low-quality products, and it doesn’t help that product publishers tend to skip over the “prerequisites” to succeeding within affiliate marketing.
VERY few publishers in this industry explain, let alone understand, how important mindset is when venturing into affiliate marketing. If it were as easy as most product publishers in this industry make it seem, everyone would be succeeding (which is far from the case).
You have to go into affiliate marketing with the understanding that it’s a business and, just like any other business, it will require time, effort, and devotion to self-improvement if you expect to succeed. Do affiliate marketing businesses present incredible lifestyle opportunities (unlimited income potential, geographic freedom, semi-passive to very passive income)? Absolutely!
But it’s not a journey for the faint of heart.
You will make mistakes and, as long as you learn from them, they’re worth 10x the headache they create in the moment. Go into this prepared for a marathon — not a sprint — and you’ll be set up for long-term success significantly better than most who venture down this path.
Choose the Audience You Can Provide the Most Value to
Scouring the internet for affiliate marketing advice will likely lead to the same starting point, over and over again: “Blog about your passion.” Even though blogging has evolved a lot over the recent years, this is still the most common piece of advice given to prospective affiliate marketers.
There are a lot of things people are passionate about that are very, very difficult to monetize — particularly with an affiliate marketing model. Affiliate marketing often requires hungry prospects that are ready to take action: making a phone call, submitting a contact form, signing up for a trial, making a purchase, etc.
Many hobbies and passions simply don’t produce the type of prospects affiliate marketers make their living from. For example, if someone is searching for song lyrics, or a walkthrough for a video game level they’re stuck on — are they really going to be persuaded to purchase something or submit a form on a company’s website to get the information they seek? Almost certainly not. Affiliate marketing models depend on product purchases and lead generation, so recommending to “choose your passion” for target audience/niche selection isn’t the best advice.
Selecting your affiliate marketing website’s niche based on a passion, interest, or hobby is a good backup plan, but I’d implore anyone who’s starting an online business to go where they can provide the most value.
Not only will it help tremendously as you encounter tough competition, but also it’ll be indescribably easier to create high-quality content without spending hours upon hours doing research. This path may not seem like the most fun, but neither is having to conduct 6-10 hours of research every time you plan to write an article because you’re learning as you go.
Focus on Delivering Value Above All Else
Once you’ve identified a niche or target audience that you can provide the most value to, focus on delivering that value and let go of the rest.
Too many people become consumed with making their website look pretty, establishing a presence on every social media platform, or trying to add affiliate links to their content MONTHS before they even have website visitors (traffic). Website traffic is the lifeblood of any affiliate marketing business. Without it, there’s no chance for conversions, which means no chance for commissions.
The most successful affiliates in the world are the ones who most effectively bridge the gap between an audience’s pain and a credible, helpful solution to that pain. Monetizing that relationship is what generates income, but building relationships and providing value through high-quality content is what generates conversions.
Focus on taking care of your tribe and building a relationship that will last rather than chasing visitors from your site with a bunch of “ME ME ME!” sales pitches or advertisements that don’t have anything to do with what they need.
When converting visitors no longer feels like pulling teeth, the money will follow.
Prioritize Tasks Based on Impact, Not Busyness
As a business owner, it’s easy to keep busy. However, it’s not always easy to be productive. That’s why people tend to start their day with tackling their email inbox — it may feel like a quick win, but all it really accomplishes is getting you back to “even” (as opposed to moving the needle in your business).
A quote commonly attributed to Abraham Lincoln states, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six of those hours sharpening my axe.” Regardless of whether or not he ever said that, it’s a great analogy for keeping busy vs. making progress. You can “swing your axe” all day long without intention and take twice as long as someone who planned a bit better.
Make sure what you’re working on every day actually moves you one step closer to where you want to be for that particular stage of your business.
Why do I emphasize the importance of the current stage of your business? Because you’ll have different goals for different stages. As mentioned earlier, most people spend too much time worrying about conversion optimization, building an email list, or perfectly placing affiliate links before they’ve received a single website visitor — an event that likely won’t happen for at least several months if you’re focusing on organic website visitors via SEO.
Why spend so much time on a task that can’t pay off until several months down the road rather than something that may move you towards your current goal today?
Because you need to focus on moving the needle each and every day. You only have so much energy to put into this business before you risk burning out, so make sure every drop of effort actually moves you towards the next milestone.
Take Things Day by Day to Prevent Burnout & Overwhelm
It’s remarkably easy to become overwhelmed if you look too far down the road when beginning your affiliate marketing journey. There’s a lot of work to be done, and even more skills to acquire before you can do it all.
It’s also easy to feel discouraged when you’re staring at the peak of Mount Everest from the ground, 29,000 feet below. Every man or woman before you who’s made the climb did it the same way, though: by putting one foot in front of the other and taking one step at a time. There’s no other way — just like there’s no other way to build an affiliate business. Focus on the step you take today and let go of the rest (for now).
This may border on insultingly basic advice, but I stand by it — if you apply this advice to times when you’re feeling overwhelmed and facing defeat, it’ll pluck you right out of the hole of despair and set you back on the path to success.
Conclusion: Can You ACTUALLY Make Money Online from Affiliate Marketing?
Many people who set out to create an affiliate marketing business find themselves wondering, “Was this entire industry just made up to sell information products?” but it’s a $12+ billion industry that continues to rapidly grow.
It’s a long and challenging journey, but as long as you follow the tips outlined in this article, you can ensure every step you take is sure-footed and leading you toward the successful affiliate marketing business of your dreams.
