Did you know that about 25 scams online exist for every legitimate opportunity? Are there any work at home jobs that are not scams these days? It's hard to find legitimate online opportunities. One method for working from home that is 100% legitimate is affiliate marketing. Can you make money with affiliate marketing?
Can you start making money right away? Is it hard to do? How does it work? That's what I intend to cover here today as well as some ideas for other methods to make money online which you might try alongside affiliate marketing.
Table of Contents
Can You Make Money with Affiliate Marketing?
It's possible to earn real cash with affiliate marketing and it happens every minute of the day. You could start affiliate marketing in 5 minutes flat, but you won't make money fast with it because there are pieces of the jigsaw that need to be put together.
So many people quit before they make money in affiliate marketing. It can be tough and there's a lot to learn before the money starts piling up. Some people, though? Some people know how to make money with affiliate marketing. You may be wondering "how do I make it work for me?"
How to Make Affiliate Marketing Work for You!
The ones who stick at it? - They make it work. Those people are the ones who learn all they need to learn and don't stop learning. Learning the biz is harder than actually doing it. The key to success is to not give up, quite simply put!
So, if you quit easily then I think affiliate marketing is not really for you, and perhaps some other way to make money online would be best, selling on eBay or doing online surveys like paid viewpoint. Perhaps getting other people to write ebooks for you and then publishing them on Kindle is for you. Read about that here.
What is Affiliate Marketing, Anyway?
Affiliate marketing is a business model that combines a bit of keyword research, blogging on your niche website, promoting (blogging about) products that you think are great (or not great!!!), advertising and lots of other little optional components to reap the rewards. The rewards are given to you by the vendor. That is the product/service owner or company. Read more in-depth about affiliate marketing here.
Commissions, Referrals and Signups
They give you a commission for sending customers to them. Basically, an offline version of affiliate marketing is taking a potential customer (that you know is looking into buying something) by his or her hand and showing them what is good and what to avoid. You take them to what YOU know is good from your own experience. This is your REVIEW of something in a blog.
Give Your Visitors Heaps of Value - They'll Come Back!
You are giving them valuable information. This information is all part of the research cycle that everyone goes through in their heads before paying for something. They want to be sure about something before paying, we all do, don't we? So you make those people sure by telling them the truth. You say to them I recommend both A and B. But you say this product (A) here is nowhere near as good as this product (B). Even if it means taking a hit with your commission and you end up getting someone to buy a cheaper product.
Be Honest!
Be honest! Don't think, money money money...better to think..."how can I provide my website visitor the very best recommendation that I know they will be really pleased with? (even though it could be a less profitable one for me?)" It's always best to be completely transparent and honest as an affiliate marketer.
Zero Hype
Don't give any hype. Tell the truth and it will serve you well. People will trust you and people will come back to you in the future. It makes sense, doesn't it? This is why on this website we only recommend things we KNOW are cool and that we KNOW other people will think is cool too. Get me? Any link on this site that does refer you or other visitors to a product or service is thoroughly checked out.
Always Make Sure What You Recommend is Legit!
Not checking stuff out properly would be very bad for business, especially in the long run. Again, I say - BE HONEST! So many people want to learn how to build an online business and make money. Affiliate marketing is a great home based business model that absolutely anybody can do if they have the inclination to. If you want to find work at home jobs that are not scams, then so do other people.
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You Wouldn't Want to Be Scammed, Would You?
In affiliate marketing, depending on your niche, you should always remember that you wouldn't want to be scammed and you should treat people as you would hope to be treated yourself. The wonderful thing about affiliate marketing (blogging) is that while you are making money "selling" other peoples' products through your blogs and your reviews, you don't actually have to have your own products. That means no stock, no posting and packing, and no fuss. There are no returns and no refunds you have to deal with yourself. I wrote an article of 11 reasons to love affiliate marketing.
How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Can you blog? If you can write stuff easily on a topic of your choice, then you can make money with affiliate marketing or blogging (if you can do keyword research and you can put a website together). For example, we could use a review of a specific camera, let's say in this case it is a xyz123 camera.
So we write a review after trying out the camera and we try to be thorough in our review. What we have to do first, though is to do some keyword research to find out which words would best "drive traffic" to your site. This is covered in other topics on this site so we won't delve into that right now.
In a blog you would either praise the camera or you would score it badly, and possibly compare it to a better one. You would be honest in your blog review of product xyz123. If it was a good and thorough review your readers might be "sold" on the camera. It is not you "selling" the camera directly - rather...it is Amazon, or whoever is advertising that particular camera on your site. To read a more detailed overview of how affiliate marketing works, read this.
Helping People Out!
In many ways, blogging about a your experience of a product is actually "helping people out." This is because they may not have heard about camera xyz123 before or it could be because they searched in google for "camera xyz123 review" and your blog was luckily picked up by them. This is where good SEO is essential. The reader then comes to your site, reads your review and then clicks a link to "buy" the camera from someone else. It is the "someone else" who gives you a commission. Why?
Because you just got a new customer through the doors. In our example case, it was xyz123 camera and it was advertised by amazon on your site. You reviewed the camera. You were very impressed with it. So you tell people about it in your blog post which is something like...
XYZ Camera Review
"The XYZCamera from ABC company is really awesome and B camera isn't quite as good because it doesn't have as many features." That's what sells - honest reviews. Don't tell lies about the camera and you can't go wrong. All of this is of course if you were in that niche. The exact same principles are applied to ANY niche promoting ANY product. Need I say more? I think not. So, all that getting paid for being honest stuff. Does affiliate marketing ring your bell? (It is basically blogging for cash!!!)
Are You Knowledgeable About Something?
Does it make you think "Hey I know loads of stuff about android and mobile devices - I am going to build a website and blog about tablets that run on android." Does it make you think "Wow, yeah I love cooking Italian food. I am gonna make a website all about Cooking Italian food." Two ideas right off the top of my head right there. What tickles your fancy? Baseball? Strappy shoes? Knitting? Camping? Fishing? Keep fit? Wearable smart devices? There are millions of niches. Choose one you love and you are on your way to success.
Time to Wrap Things Up Now!
Let me know in the comments below what niche you would like to be in and I will give you suggestions and how to tutorials you can try out. For a more in-depth review of a really cool place to start a home business for free go here! I recommend to all visitors to my site to visit an online training school to learn loads and loads of cool stuff that helps you build your own website and make money affiliate marketing. Wrapping up now, but there's plenty more stuff on this site if you dig about a bit.
Are there any Work at Home Jobs that are Not Scams?
You can bet your bottom dollar there are! You just have to be careful and do your research before paying for any kind of product online, be it training, software, tools or services. Thanks for reading - as always, your comments below will be answered in a timely manner. Ask questions or give advice. Nice talking to you. Live long and prosper! Read more about this website and about Jim here.
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Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away… Jim got a chronic case of sciatica and lost his job. However, Jim used this opportunity to learn how to build websites with WordPress and then to make money online. Jim wants to help you do the same, while helping you to avoid the plethora of scams. Let Jim help you earn your first $1000 online from home. Cheers and see you soon!
Hi James,
You’ve given some really helpful suggestions when it comes to making money with affiliate marketing.
I like affiliate marketing because there’s practically no risk. Selling products online carries so much overhead and risk if your products don’t sell.
Selling things you like via affiliate marketing, and being sincere, are a winning combination for online success.
Cheers,
Todd
Absolutely, Todd.
Carrying your own inventory is a must in most businesses that sell physical products…not affiliate marketing.
People can (and do) use Amazon stuff that they sell on their websites in the form of adverts that are relevant to your article topics. If I were to create a review about a playstation 4, for example, I could have an amazon ad which has playsatation 4 and related equipment advertised nicely in the sidebar widget. You never know, someone might think, heck I am gonna buy a playstation 4 right now.
The commission from amazon isn’t the highest, but it is a really good way to help “monetize a website” and that means you can start to cover the costs of the website.
Thanks for dropping by, Todd!
James