When it comes to being an entrepreneur or owning your own business there is perhaps no more appealing dream than that of passive income.
No matter how much you love what you do or how much value you get out of working on your business I can think of very few people that would turn down the opportunity to make a little extra cash.
Especially if this cash could be generated without the need to create any additional products, services, or offers, and could be generated around the clock, even while you sleep.
And that my friends is the draw of affiliate marketing.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is actually a really simple concept that involves someone other than you creating something, and then paying you a commission to sell it to someone else.
That’s it.
- The Producer
It all starts with a Producer.
The Producer is the person who creates the product or service.
This is also what makes affiliate marketing so appealing in that you don’t actually need to create a product or service of your own.
Most often when people think about starting a new project or business they first need to create some form of product or service to sell.
But not so with affiliate marketing.
The Producer has already done much of the hard work for you!
- The Marketer
Next comes the Marketer (this would be you).
The Marketers job is to (wait for it…) MARKET!
And to sell the product to the end Consumer.
When you do this, the Producer will pay you a commission and depending on the type of product or service you’re selling the commissions can range from a few percent (typical for big ecommerce stores) all the way up to 50% and beyond (what many information marketers pay.
The more you sell, the more you make.
And once your marketing system is setup it will often continue to run with very little additional time, energy, or effort.
- The Consumer
The last person involved in this transaction is the Consumer.
This is the person who ultimately ends up buying whatever it is that you’re selling.
Affiliate Marketing Is All Around You
Affiliate marketing is all around you and happens everyday.
Gyms, lawyers, online education, and giant stores like Amazon.com are paying others to do their marketing for them and splitting the profit.
I use affiliate marketing as an integral part of my businesses monetization strategy, and even sell some of my online trainings with affiliate partners who receive a commission every time someone enrols using their unique signup link.
The affiliate marketing industry is huge, and is only getting bigger as it’s anticipated to grow to over $6.8 Billion over the next five years.
How To Get Started
The best way to get started is to dive right in.
For most internet marketers, affiliate marketing is where they got they start. (Side note: I first started selling web hosting around 5 years ago and still do today)
Many affiliate marketing companies do have an application process however as it’s important that their businesses aren’t promoted using spammy, negative, or “questionable” sites or methods.
This is why it’s important to set yourself up for success by portraying yourself as a professional with as many of the following as possible:
- Website
- Active social media channels
- Professional headshots
- Testimonials
- Email list
- Track record of affiliate success
If you don’t have any of these yet don’t worry, there are still some smaller affiliate partners who will be happy to let you try selling their stuff.
The other way to fast-track your way to a higher end affiliate is to simply purchase their product, apply it and get results, and then tell the business that you want to share their amazing product with the world!
Not only will this give them a little ego boost, but more importantly it will demonstrate your familiarity and understanding of the product which will be beneficial in helping you promote and sell it.
