Last updated on November 17th, 2018 at 08:26 am
So you want to know if it’s possible to make money promoting products online? If you’ve been thinking about getting started with affiliate marketing, you’re in the right place.
*This page contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you
I am a huge fan of finding products to promote online and earning commissions. In fact, I personally think it’s one of the best ways for new bloggers to get started making money.
If you think that it’s going to be a cakewalk, you’re in for a huge surprise. Just like any other business you create, it takes time to learn how to do things the right way.
That’s why I always tell people to take the time to learn how it works so you can make fewer mistakes.
This free training will teach you everything you need to know so you can spend less time jumping through all the mumbo jumbo online.
Today, we’re going to discuss why you should consider affiliate marketing and the truth about making sales promoting other people’s products.
This is the best way for new bloggers to begin because you don’t have to create anything or deal with customer service.
All you have to do is drive people to a 3rd party website and you make sales. Well, it’s not that easy, but that’s how it works.
Let’s get started.
Get Paid to Sell Products Online
Before we jump into how to make money with affiliate marketing, let’s first discuss why so many bloggers love affiliate marketing and what it is.
As a blogger, you can promote products that you love and earn a commission whenever someone buys through your unique link.
Think a typical traditional salesperson or saleswomen. Whenever they make a sale, they earn a percentage of a sale.
Well, being an affiliate marketer is no different, except you’re using the power of the Internet and your computer.
Plus you get to use your blog which works for you 24/7 and you don’t have to be overly pushy to make a sale.
In fact, I think it works a lot better when you’re not being pushy and you’re just educating or sharing your own personal experience about a service or product.
As a blogger, there will be tons of products and services that you love and use or are directly related to your topic. You’ll want to make sure that you sign up with the best affiliate programs and recommend them to your readers.
How Much Can You make From Affiliate Marketing?
Unlike a traditional job where you’re working for a set wage, with affiliate marketing, you have the potential to earn an unlimited amount of money.
Now, before you start seeing all those dollar signs in your eyes, there are some things that you need to know.
When you first get started, it’s going to feel like you’re on a hamster wheel. You’re going to be working hard and you’ll go a few months without making any sales at all.
Don’t worry, it’s totally normal, in fact, some people go years before they start seeing consistent income from their blogs.
What Does This Mean?
We all like to jump the gun when we’re not making sales. It’s so easy to think that we’re doing things wrong and if only I buy this system I might be able to make more sales.
This is known as “shiny object syndrome” and I personally suffered with it for several years. Take it from me, that’s the worst thing you can do as a blogger who wants to succeed with affiliate marketing.
If you get on the “shiny object syndrome” it will take you everywhere, but success. So don’t do it, get this free online training to learn the truth about what it takes to create passive income with affiliate marketing.
Now if you’ve been working hard and you’re still not making any sales. Then it might be time to figure out what’s going on.
Unfortunately, there can be many things that are happening:
You’re Promoting Products that Don’t Sell
One of the mistakes most beginners make is trying to promote everything and everything. The truth is that you need to find the right products that your audience is willing to invest in.
If you choose the wrong products, it doesn’t matter how great your website is, you’ll never make any sales and you’ll end up getting frustrated and quit.
It could be that the landing page of the product you’re promoting sucks. Your job as an affiliate ISN’T to sell, that’s the job of the copywriting on the landing page.
If it sucks, then you’re going to have to find a different product to promote.
Or maybe you’re promoting great products but you’re promoting them to the wrong people? This is why it’s so important to know your audience because this is how you’re going to make sales.
As you can see, there are many different reasons you’re not making sales, unfortunately, it takes time to figure what’s causing the lack of sales.
You’re Not Funneling People Towards a Sale
You might be driving hundreds or thousands of visitors per day. The reality is that most people are NOT going to buy the first time they visit your website.
It’s your job to make sure you’re doing a great job on funneling your visitors where you want them to go by using different types of content and subtle psychological tricks.
No, I am NOT saying to trick them into doing something they are going to regret. I am just talking about funneling your visitors so they get closer to the sale.
Many bloggers funnel their visitors to their opt-in box so they can join their email list. Once they are on their email list, they can then work on building that relationship which eventually leads to sales.
You Haven’t Figured Out a Way to Increase Your Traffic
So many people will say that you don’t need to focus on traffic. I tend to disagree, you need traffic if you want to sell products online.
If you’re not getting any traffic, then no one is clicking on your affiliate links, which means no one is buying.
No, you don’t have to have a ton of traffic to your blog to make sales. But you can’t expect to make commissions if no one is visiting your website.
You’re Targeting the Wrong People
Maybe you’re attracting tons of people, but these people are never going to buy from you. There’s a chance that you’ll never make any sales, regardless of how hard you work.
It’s so easy to jump on the traffic bandwagon and not focus enough on conversions. Yes, you want traffic, but you want the type of traffic that converts.
Not all traffic is equal. Some kinds of traffic are more likely to buy than other kinds. So if you’re just focusing on any type of traffic, you could be getting lots of visitors but still not making money.
Can You Really Make Money Promoting Products Online?
Now you know it isn’t going to be a walk in the park to start making money. However, if you don’t give up and keep putting one foot in front of the other, there’s a good chance that you’ll start to earn commissions.
Once you earn one, it will give you the motivation and drive to keep going. After all, if you can do it once, there’s a great possibility that you’ll be able to do it again.
Now let’s take a look at some tips on how to find products to promote and earn commissions online.
5 Tips for Finding Products to Promote Online
Brainstorm a Niche
Before you can choose an affiliate program to promote, you first need to decide on the topic that you’re going to be blogging about.
Choosing a niche market that you love and is related to your hobbies, passions, and skills is an excellent starting point. I truly believe you need to be interested in your niche because you’re going to be working on your blog on a daily basis.
If you’re not interested, it’s eventually going to become boring and you’ll just end up quitting. From my personal experience, it’s so much easier to write content and promote my posts on social media sites, if I am interested in something.
So the best advice I can give is to choose something that you’re passionate about and has the potential to earn profitable commissions. Be sure to check out these 11 blog niches that have huge potential to earn money.
What Have You Used And Loved?
If you’ve been blogging for a while, there’s a huge possibility that you’ve invested in a blogging course, tool or service that you absolutely love.
It costs money to run a blog and anyone who is taking it seriously will find themselves investing in tools to help them improve their skills.
For instance, I wrote a KWFinder review blog post because I wanted to share my experience with the keyword tool. I’ve been using it for about 2 months and I’ve already noticed a 700% increase in my traffic in just two months.
It’s definitely been worth the money that I invested and I wanted to share my personal experience.
All I am doing is sharing how the tool has helped me increase my traffic and explaining the features of it.
Now if someone buys through my link, I’ll earn a commission online. It doesn’t cost them any extra to buy through my link, they are just supporting my blog and giving me the commission.
You could do the same thing, in fact, if you haven’t written at least one review on your blog, then you need to make it a point to do so this weekend.
Reviews work really well, especially, if you take the time to share your personal story. People want to hear what you love about the product or what you didn’t love.
Just be honest and share your own experience, it’s one of the best ways to get paid to promote links on your blog.
Finding the Best-Sellers On Amazon
Yes, you can get paid promoting Amazon products and many people have found a way to earn a full-time income. Even though the commissions are not that high, if you can find a product that sells really well, you have great potential to earn profits online.
The great thing about Amazon, is they are a reputable company. If someone clicks over to their website from your blog, there’s a huge possibility that they’re going to buy something.
If they buy in 24 hours of clicking through on your unique link, you’ll earn a commission on anything they buy.
This is what makes this program so great. You don’t have to work hard to make a sale, you just need to get them to click over to Amazon.
High-Commissions With Residual Income Opportunities
We all want those high commissions and most new bloggers avoid promoting any low-end products. The truth is that you should be promoting both.
Yes, you want those high commissions, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could make sales on lower end products as well?
If possible you want to try to promote products that offer residual income opportunities. This is where you do all the work once, but you continue to earn money as long as your referral continues to remain a paying customer.
Two affiliate programs come to mind when I think about this and they are Clickfunnels and SEMRush. I’m sure they are tons more and if you spent time searching Google, you could come up with a huge list.
You’re going to be writing content and promoting on Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media sites, why not take the time to find affiliate programs that will pay you over and over instead of just a one time commission?
Look At the Product Sales Page
Your job as an affiliate is to focus on the promotional aspect of marketing. Whether you choose to use content marketing or social media to get your affiliate links in front of potential buyers, it’s not your job to sell.
I personally prefer content marketing because the blog posts you write today can bring you traffic for years to come.
This means that it’s extremely important to make sure that the landing page of the product you’re promoting is doing its job.
If you’ve been sending tons of traffic to a specific sales page and it’s still not converting, maybe it’s time to look at a different product. This post will give you an idea of what an ideal number of clicks before conversions happen.
This is why it’s so important to deep link. You’ll get better conversions because you’re sending your traffic to a specific landing page that is related to the topic.
How to Get Started
If you’ve made it this far, then maybe you’re ready to create your own digital asset? If so, head on over here to install WordPress in just 5 minutes.
Once you have your blog set up, it’s time to sit down and start writing. Your job is to write content that helps your audience.
This means you want to focus on keywords or search terms that someone would type into Google to ask.
If your website is on the first page of Google, then people will click onto your site. If they love your content, they’ll either bookmark your page, sign up for your email list or buy through your affiliate links.
Now if your content sucks and you’re doing things totally wrong, then they’ll close out of your page faster than you can say “See Ya.”
You don’t want that to happen. You want to amaze people and get them to stay on your site so they take some kind of action.
The content you write on your blog matters and this affiliate training shows you how to write the type of content that your audience is looking for. Not only that but you’ll learn how to write content that makes Google happy and actually ranks your blog.
Final Take Away
Hopefully, this post has made you realize that you can start a blog today and work towards earning an online income. You don’t even need to have any experience to start.
As long as you’re willing to give it time and NOT give up, you will eventually start to reap some rewards. There’s no better time than now to take action and start working towards a better life financially and time freedom.
If other people have managed to create profitable digital assets, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from doing it too.
Hand Picked Articles for You
- How to Get Affiliate Links On Your Website Quickly
- 15 Tips to Boost Your Affiliate Income Quickly
- How Fast Can You Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
Are you promoting other people’s products to earn an income online? If so, let me know how it’s going and what method you’re using to promote your links.
My Recommended Blogging Resources!
Here are my affiliate links for my most recommended resources. I hope these resources can help you grow your blog too!
Free 12 Day Blogging Bootcamp: This is a course that will show you how to get your blog started.
ShareASale: ShareASale is one of my favorite affiliate networks. It’s free to sign up and they have tons of advertisers that make it easy for any blogger to make money through affiliate marketing.
SEMRush: This tool is amazing and has helped me increase my organic traffic. It is expensive, so don’t pay for it every month. When I’m NOT using it, I’m using KWFinder to help me with my keyword research.
Quiz: Which theme is best for your blog?: Take this quiz if you’re having a hard time trying to decide which WordPress theme you should use.
If you want to build an email list and send newsletters, I recommend ConvertKit: I’ve started using this to help me grow my blog and it is so user-friendly.
JumpStart Blog Traffic: Learn my secrets to growing my blog from zero pageviews to growing each and every month, using Google and Pinterest.