If you’re a new blogger and you’re trying to wrap your head around what exactly affiliate marketing is and how it all works, don’t feel like you’re alone!  You’re NOT!

Affiliate marketing programs are a great way to get income for your blog, and a great introduction to e-commerce.  The more people that drop by your blog, the greater your chance will be at creating an excellent income.

How It Works

Affiliate marketing programs are where a company offers to pay you a set amount for either a click through from your website, or a set amount for visitors signing up.  Some programs even a percentage of a purchase made by visitors as a result of being referred from your website.

Even if visitors don’t make a purchase immediately, almost all programs offer cookie duration, normally consisting of 30 – 90 days.  What this means, is that as long as the visitors have the cookie in their cache, you’ll still receive a profit from the sale.

Key Things to Keep In Mind

The biggest amount of time in maintaining your site will be searching and implementing affiliations with various companies.  Even though there’s a lot of money in affiliate marketing, you have to take the time to search for the best programs.

One thing that you may not be happy with, is the idea of other companies banners littering your website.  If you use too many banners or links on any web page, it can confuse and help to irritate your visitors.  More than one animated element on a web page can be very distracting as well.

Affiliate tracking can also be a problem.  Once you have applied to become an affiliate for a company, they’ll usually supply you with a personalized link or code.  It’s very important that you implement this code into your page correctly, or you may be sending visitors to the company without receiving any profit. A majority of snippets in the code will contain a unique user ID, which the company uses to distinguish which site sent traffic.

Some affiliate networks and programs that I have worked with and recommend are:

• Commission Junction
• ClickBank
• Link Share
• Amazon
• Don’t forget about Blogelina’s affiliate program, too!

How To Choose The BEST Affiliate Program For YOUR Blog

Ensure That the Product Is Niche Relevant

If you cannot identify the solutions a product offers your market, then it’s probably best not to choose that product. But, if you can write down what the product offers your audience then it could be a winner.

Make Sure That You’ve Used the Product

It’s really dangerous to promote affiliate products that you or someone very close to you has not used. There is no way to know the quality of the product or the company if you don’t know what the product looks like. You want people to whom you promote any product to trust your word. If you make one mistake and promote an untested product that is not as promised, you’ll have a hard time climbing out of that hole.

Promote Products That You Love

If you are a member of your target audience, and you love the product and can identify what you love about the product, you should have an easy time promoting the product to your audience. The fact that you use the product, and can say first hand that you love the product and why you love the product will go far with your audience relating to your description and buying.

Promote Products That Offer Good Customer Support

You want to only promote products that offer buyers tremendous customer support. The reason is that if your audience buys the product and is unhappy for whatever reason and cannot get hold of the creators, they’re going to come to you for answers. If they don’t have exceptional customer support, you could end up with very unhappy followers who stop following you.

Be Sure That You Understand the Payout Program

If you can’t understand the affiliate program’s method of paying you, or you don’t think it’s a good and fair program, don’t join it. Read all the fine print. Some affiliate programs require a certain dollar threshold be met before payout. Some programs require a number of purchases via different forms of payment first (ClickBank) in order to collect payouts. Understand the program and know the rules so that you can be paid as you deserve.

Choosing the right affiliate products to promote will practically ensure your success. You’ll want to tell everyone about the product if you love it, and you’ll be proud to promote it if the producers of the product are ethical and trustworthy. By choosing products that solve problems for your target audience, you’ll see success faster than if you simply chose random products that have high payouts.

We’re hoping that the infographic below will give you a clearer picture of the Affiliate Marketing process – but, if you still have questions, be sure to leave them in the comments below!

Affiliate Marketing: The 7 Step Guide For Newbies

Still Have Questions?

Leave them in the comments below!