The following blog post is a guest post by Diana.
So you've heard you can make money from affiliate marketing. You've even heard you can make lots of money. Just like any other big goal, the first steps are usually the hardest. Should you blog and review products that earn you commission? Will running search engine ads get you out of your day job? What traits will you need to make a career from this industry?
There are different ways to get your feet wet with affiliate marketing and land that first paycheck. There are mistakes to avoid and traits to build. Here are five tips on how to launch a successful career in this fast-paced and highly covetable industry while avoiding costly mistakes:
1. Stick with One Project
You heard someone made their first affiliate marketing check by running dating ads while another marketer you met online is making a killing from weight loss offers. Do you then proceed to invest time and money into building both a dating and diet site? This isn't the smartest way to approach your first Internet venture.
Choose one vertical and stick with it. Putting your eggs in several baskets might sound safe but with limited time and resources it is best to focus your energy and efforts on one type of offer. Remember that each site or ad you run will require time and work. Spreading out your limited resources will cause you to produce lower-quality results.
2. Expect to Perform a Lot of Experiments
Overnight success stories get a lot of hype. What the media doesn't report are the hundreds and even thousands of hours successful people put in their ventures before turning in a substantial profit. The most successful blogs, landing pages, and email lists were not exactly touched by the hands of Midas in one simple step.
Don't immediately give up on the offer you chose to run if you don't see profits rolling in right away. Try tweaking your landing page, blog, ad copy and the like. Expect to do a lot of revisions and tests in this industry.
3. Build a Relationship with Your Affiliate Manager
Consider your affiliate manager your ally. Affiliate managers deal with a lot of other affiliates on a day-to-day basis, so they have information you need such as which offers perform the best. However, this also means that an affiliate manager's time is limited.
It's worth your while to begin forming a lasting business relationship with your affiliate manager right from the get-go. Ask questions and be courteous. Schedule an initial phone call as soon as you are introduced to your affiliate manager. Prepare a list of concerns and questions, showing respect for his or her time.
Common courtesy, building rapport and being likable will make you stand out from all the other affiliates. Show you're interested in working in concert and you will reap the benefits. If you make money, your manager makes money. It's a win-win relationship you will need to invest in.
4. Be Creative and Tap into Your Experience
You see a lot of ads that use a particular type of verbiage so you write your landing page copy the same way. You also see marketers using Facebook to promote a particular product so you do the same thing.
While it's not a bad idea for a newbie to use popular marketing methods—most such methods are popular because they work—that doesn't mean you should let yourself fall into the habit of just copying other people's work. Customers get immune to seeing the same type of marketing tactics—whether it's a Google ad, an email's subject line or a banner ad.
Stand out from all the other noise online by coming up with unique methods. Just because you're new at affiliate marketing doesn't mean you can't invent methods veteran marketers haven't thought of. Tapping into your experience from real life and your own unique knowledge will help you create ad campaigns no one else can. Fresh content and marketing methods will give you an edge over experienced affiliates.
5. Keep on Learning but Make Sure You Produce Results
A lot of people who want to get into affiliate marketing make the mistake of reading every affiliate marketing guide on the planet but then fail to actually get their hands dirty. While it's a very smart idea to keep learning and finding out what's going on in this fast-paced industry, the money will only start to roll in when you actually do the work.
The best time to begin is now. Start that blog or ad campaign today, not next week or when you feel you're ready. You'll probably never feel perfectly ready unless you dive into the water and start swimming towards your goal. Consuming information will only prove useful once you get to work and apply what you've learned.
It's easy to get your head spinning when starting out in this industry. The Internet is massive and there are countless ways to land that first paycheck. Keep these sound principles in mind when you begin your affiliate marketing venture so you don't lose your focus. It helps to remember there is no single formula to Internet success. Sure, it pays to work smarter instead of harder—but when you're new to this industry or any other industry, hard work is still a very important factor.
Like this article? Have any advice to share based on your own experience? Leave a comment—we want to hear from you!
Note: The views and opinions of the author of this guest post may not represent the views and opinions of Affilorama.
