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You may have heard of affiliate marketing but you may not know what it’s about.
Let’s start at the very beginning by defining what the word affiliate means.
According to Oxford Dictionary:
An affiliate is a person or organization officially attached to a larger body.
Keeping that in mind, affiliate marketing the direct connection between a company and an affiliate (marketer) where the company rewards the affiliate for each visitor or customer driven by the affiliate’s natural marketing efforts (blogs, articles, newsletters, etc).
Let’s Get More Specific…
In affiliate marketing, there are two parties involved: the company and the marketer. The marketer approaches the company and expresses a desire to partner with them. If the company agrees to partner with the marketer, they will settle on a percentage (commission) to be made from the sales. The company (now the affiliate) then registers with the webmaster’s affiliate marketing program and is given an online affiliate link to be used to refer people to the website.
What is a super affiliate?
While anyone can be an affiliate, not everyone can be considered a super affiliate.
A super affiliate is someone who takes affiliate marketing seriously. They don’t just throw up a bunch of banner or ads on their site.
They’re someone who takes time to review a product in great detail, write a comprehensive summary, or even sets up a domain to promote a specific product.
A super affiliate knows the importance of list building to further promote products to their customer base.
What is an affiliate program?
If you want to start an affiliate marketing business, you need to understand what an affiliate program is.
It’s a concept introduced by online business owners for people who wanted to help them sell their products and earn money in return. Affiliates don’t have to buy or sell any products to earn money, all they have to do is find potential customers for the business owners.
If you own a website, having an affiliate program synced into it is a big advantage.
It helps you market products at no cost andyour website can be an instrument to sell products in a shorter period of time.
You can find affiliate programs in use at:
There are lots of affiliate programs out there so, before you decide to join a specific one, learn how to investigate if it’s real and actually pays a commission.
Consider This Before Joining an Affiliate Program…
Aside from checking the legitimacy of the affiliate program, check to confirm their opportunity is right for you.
See what products and services are being promoted.
Ask if it’s a single or multiple product-based web business. Why?—For some people, a multi product-based business is crucial.
Know if the products are marketable. Are the products informational products, like eBooks?
Examine the user interface of the website. Is it interesting and presentable? Is it a site customers will frequent on a regular basis?
Check if there is a way to contact or follow-up with the customers, like personal messaging.
What about the signup process? Is it easy and straightforward?
Also consider the relevance of the affiliate program to your website’s niche, that way you don’t compromise your credibility.
Write honest product reviews. Find the correct placement for affiliate links. Set up your own domain or blog. Try to find affiliate programs that offer lifetime cookies or lifetime customers.
Redirect your affiliate links through your own domain.
Dos and don’ts of affiliate marketing
- Do figure out who you are selling to
- Do make a list of what your target market needs
- Do choose affiliate programs carefully
- Do treat affiliate marketing like a real business
- Don’t plaster your website with affiliate banners
- Don’t over promote your products
- Don’t give up too soon
If you want affiliate marketing to work, make your website friendly. Here are some tips that can help you improve the design of your website:
- Use a white background and black font
- Make it navigation friendly
- Avoid flashing images and flash introductions
- Keep offers to a minimum
- Warm up your customers with good copy or images
- Avoid overusing exclamation marks.
- Keep in touch
- Provide your contact information, be accessible
- Ask for feedback
The most important thing to remember is this: It’s a business and you should treat as such. Be serious about it, be honest about it.
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