Affiliate marketing is one of the best income sources for most internet marketers. There are a decent number of affiliates out there who are making a full-time income with affiliate marketing right from the comfort of their own homes.
But getting to that level takes time and years of hard work, proper guidance, and good knowledge.
If you’re just starting out my advice is to spend some time learning about the whole concept of affiliate marketing.
That way you can start right.
Read on, the following article provide actionable steps for making a living off affiliate marketing.
Table of Contents
Can You Really Make A Living From Affiliate Marketing
You can definitely make a living from affiliate marketing but in order to make that happen, you need to approach it the right way. Don’t dive into this industry without proper and good knowledge about it.
The thing is, the affiliate marketing industry is constantly changing.
The process of promoting affiliate marketing products 3 years ago may not work today.
What do I mean by that?
Well, I mean…
Driving traffic to affiliate links without first providing any sort of VALUE doesn’t work effectively today.
Now everything is about value.
I mean providing relevant, valuable, and high quality that helps solve a particular problem your audiences are facing is the name of the game today.
To make it simple and understandable for you, I mean the more value you provide, the more money you’re likely to make.
What Is Affiliate Marketing
Here is a great definition I found online on affiliate marketing:
Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting another person’s (or company’s) product. You find a product you like, promote it to your audience, and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make. Source.
My definition:
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online as a complete beginner by promoting products or services created by another individual to earn a percentage as a commission from every sale you generate.
NB: You only make money when people click on your affiliate link and actually buy the product.
If people truly click on your affiliate link and purchase the product you’ll surely get compensated by the product creator.
But make you choose wisely what program you work with.
That said…
Affiliate marketing can allow you to make a passive and steady flow of income.
However…
How much you earn depends on how successful you’re in converting your visitors into potential buyers.
That said…
One amazing thing about affiliate marketing is that the barrier entry is relatively low and you can work from anywhere in the world and still make a decent income.
PS:
I have another post where I share with you more in detail what affiliate marketing is and how it actually works. Check it out.
How Long To Make Affiliate Marketing A Full-Time Income Business?
Trying to make affiliate marketing your full-time income source can take several years.
If you’re just starting out, I think you’d need time to first learn the whole process of affiliate marketing and this can take you a solid 3 to 5 years to make affiliate marketing your primary source of income.
However…
If you already have good knowledge about it and you work on your business on a regular basis and produce relevant and quality content and optimize your site for relevant keywords.
Then you can achieve your desired result or target in a year and a half or precisely 2 years.
After ranking your content organically on search engines.
You’ll start to generate consistent free traffic which you can convert into income for years to come.
And guess what?
You don’t have to invest in paid ads.
Which can get you in a position where you can make living from affiliate marketing.
Now…
With that being said.
Let’s take a look at what actionable steps you can take to make a living doing affiliate marketing.
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How To Make A Living Off Affiliate Marketing
First, you need to decide on a niche or topic.
A niche is simply a topic you’re interested in, passionate about, or want to learn about.
It could also be an area you want to build a business around.
When it comes to picking a niche, it’s extremely important you take time to choose the right niche.
It may be easier to go after a niche you see other marketers making a lot of money in.
That’s a common mistake I see a lot of people make (especially the beginners).
That said…
It is important you pick something you’re at least interested in, passionate about, and will be willing to stick with for the long run no matter the challenges.
Don’t go after a niche simply because you see others making tons of money from it.
Next, you’ll need to research and pick an affiliate program to work with.
This is the most important part if you’re trying to become a full-time affiliate marketer.
And what I often see is that a lot of people try to skip this step.
A vast majority of people just pick any affiliate product they come across and start promoting it…
…Without running any thorough research about it, to find out whether or not it’s of GOOD quality and will help add value to their audience live or not.
This is what I want you to do:
Take time to research and pick quality products from a reliable company or network with a proven sales track record and offer high commission.
NB: If you don’t choose the right product to promote and you’re just promoting anything just for the purpose of making a commission.
Guess what?
Your chances of making a full-time income with your affiliate business are slim.
[bctt tweet="The Longer You're Not Taking Action The More Money You're Losing."]
Now, you’ll need to pick a platform and build a community so you can promote your product to them.
This step is very essential for your affiliate business. As you decide on your niche and your product.
You need to pick a platform where you’re going to build loyal fans or followers that you can convert into potential customers or buyers of your product.
You can build a following using platforms such as Facebook groups, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube channels.
But I recommend you start YouTube and a blog.
Why?
These two platforms have the potential of sending quality and qualified traffic to your product.
Which you can easily turn into sales over time.
You can build your blog with WordPress using Bluehost.
Bluehost is one of the best and most reliable hosting companies in the hosting industry.
P.S: If you’re ready to start a blog, which I highly recommend you do. You can check my step-by-step tutorial on how to start a successful blog.
Next, you’ll need to start creating valuable content on that platform.
You’ll need to create content that helps solve a particular problem people are facing so you can build trust and relationships with them.
Why?
So, you can easily convert them into buyers and do repeated sales with them.
NB: The more people you help with your content, the higher the chances of them clicking on your affiliate link and you getting more sales in your business.
Finally, you want to start building an email list of visitors to your content.
The money you want to make it’s in the list you build.
If you’re sending people from your content directly to an affiliate product sales page.
Well, guess what?
You’re losing, I mean you’re leaving money on the table.
People don’t normally buy products at their first exposure. Even if some of them do, that number is going to be few.
So…
Here is the thing.
From your content, you want to first capture your visitors’ email addresses before sending them to the actual product sales page.
Why?
So that even if they don’t buy the product at that first exposure.
Now…
You can follow up with them through email marketing to remarket the same product to them over and over again until they’re ready to buy.
That said…
You can start building your email list with GetResponse here.
Here Is The Plan & Step To Make Affiliate Marketing Your Full-Time Income Business:
- Pick A Niche
- Pick A Good, High Paying And Converting Affiliate Product
- Master One Traffic Source
- Drive Quality And Qualified Traffic To Your Affiliate Product
- Build An Email List & Leverage The Power Of Email Marketing
- Find Additional Products That Of Recurring Commission To Promote To Your List
- Invest Into A Good Mentor
- Start A Side Hustle As An Affiliate Marketer
- When You Start Making Enough Money As Your Day Job, Quit Your Job And Expand Your Affiliate Business
- Focus And Work On It Dailly
[bctt tweet="Formal Education Will Make You A Living, Self-Education Will Make You A Fortune."]
Tips To Increase Your Possibility Of Make Affiliate Marketing Your Full-Time Income And Living Your Day Job
Making money in affiliate marketing and probably making a living from it can not be predictable.
You can only make it a reality if you’re willing to put in the work, build an email list and sell more high ticket products.
Below are 8 things to do to increase your earnings if you want to make a living off affiliate marketing:
1. If You Want To Make A Living Off Affiliate Marketing You Need To Update Your Skillset
In affiliate marketing, some basic skills are needed in order to succeed with this business model, skills such as:
- Content creation
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
- Creative mind
- Problem-solving
- Web design
- SEO, etc…
The above skill sets are extremely important for your success as you journey your way to this field.
That said…
You need to get better at those areas before thinking of making money off affiliate marketing.
2. Choose High In-Demand Products
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an affiliate, which may delay your success, is by promoting any kind of affiliate program you come across with.
…Without doing any research on them.
That said…
If you’re just promoting any kind of program you come across without taking the time to find out whether or not people are actually in need of that product.
Well, guess what?
Your chances of getting a sale with that product are slim.
So now…
Instead of promoting any kind of product to people. I want you to take this approach instead.
First:
- Know who your target audiences are.
- Understand your audience’s pain point, market needs, and desires.
Then…
Find a product that’s unique, profitable, congruent to your niche, and also in high demand.
And then place your affiliate products accordingly.
I believe taking this approach will allow you to make way more money in your affiliate business.
3. Use Several Traffic Sources
In affiliate marketing traffic is what will determine whether or not you’ll make affiliate sales.
If you can drive tons and tons of traffic to your affiliate link, well, your chances of making money are very high.
That said…
One of the best approaches you should take is to focus on more than one traffic source.
This way…
You’ll be able to attract more eyeballs (traffic) to your affiliate product which will eventually result in more sales.
Here are some best traffic sources in affiliate marketing that you can leverage:
- Social media (Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, twitter..etc)
- Blogging
- Email Marketing
- Forum Marketing (Quora, Reddit… etc)
WARNING!
When you’re just starting out I recommend you first focus on only one traffic source. And over time if you start getting enough traffic from that source, then you can move to another one.
4. Attract Targeted Traffic
The mistake I often see a lot of people make ( I’m also part) is that they try to market to everyone on the internet.
Well, the thing is…
If you’re marketing to everyone, you’re actually marketing to nobody.
For example, you can’t sell ‘Cat food to a Dog owner’, they’re not going to buy it.
Why?
Well, this is because that’s not exactly what they’re looking for.
The process of making money online with affiliate marketing is to send the right people to click on your links.
If you’re just sending any type of people to your product you’re not going to get any sales.
Sending wrong people to an affiliate product is the main reason why some people are still struggling to make their first affiliate sale.
So…
It’s important you know and understand who your target audiences are…
…Who may be interested and more likely to buy what you are promoting as an affiliate.
And market to them only.
5. Test, Measure, and Track Your Link
It’s important you test and measure the performance of your click-through rate (CTR) to see what’s working and what’s not working.
Why?
So, you can make an immediate change and adjustment.
6. Follow New Methods and Techniques
The affiliate marketing industry is constantly changing.
Every year there are new techniques and ways of approaching affiliate marketing.
That means…
The only way for you to stay current and win in this industry is to stay current by learning new marketing methods and techniques.
Failing to learn new ways of promoting your product, well, your chances of standing out among the competition are very much slim.
7. Use Tools To Scale Your Business
Using tools can be a huge advantage to you, it can allow you to boost your income very quickly and it also gives you the time freedom to focus on other stuff.
If you’re not leveraging the power of technology, you are lacking behind.
8. Be Patient
Trying to make money off affiliate marketing is not an overnight success. It takes time and years of hard and commitment.
So, you want to be patient.
And focus on feeding your website or YouTube channel with valuable, genuine, relevant, and high-quality content to rank on search engines and raise awareness of your brand.
Attend affiliate marketing events, seminars, or webinars…
…Join a discussion forum or online communities to meet like-minded people to develop your skills as a marketer.
Why?
So you can deliver more value to the marketing place, which will again help you to grow your income.
Because the more value you can provide to the marketplace the more money you’ll be able to make in return.
[bctt tweet=” To Get Rich You Have To Be Making Money While You’re Asleep.”]
That’s It Folks!
Affiliate marketing is like any type of business out there and if you treat it like a business, it can filthy make you rich.
It has more chances that it can allow you to earn more than what you’ll earn in your day job but at the start, you need to put in massive work and be consistent.
You also need to be patient and give yourself time…
…Don’t quit your day job till you’re earning enough income from it that can support your bills and other expenses.
NB:
Along your affiliate marketing journeys, you’re going to face challenges but don’t give up instead, believe in yourself, have faith, and just press on!!!
Can You Still Make A Living Off Affiliate Marketing FAQs!
How Much Can An Affiliate Marketer Make?
The truth about how much you can make as an affiliate marketer is not predictable. You can earn little to no money or millions of dollars as an affiliate.
The only important thing is how much time or work are you willing to put into promoting your product. And how much traffic are you getting on that product.
Those are the key factors that’ll determine how much you can make as an affiliate marketer.
How Long Does It Take To Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing?
How long it will take you to make your first income with affiliate marketing will depend on the amount of time and effort you put in each day to grow your affiliate business.
P.S: You can learn more here on: How Long To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
What Are The Highest Paying Affiliate Programs?
There are tons and tons of high-paying affiliate marketing programs out there. However, it is not about promoting high-paying programs, it is all about marketing something that will add value to a customer’s life.
That way you can build trust and relationships with them which will put you in a position of earning more income or passive income.
There are a lot of high-paying scam programs that promise to pay high commission for promoting their product but in the end, they don’t.
So, before you start working with a high ticket product, take time to do thorough research about the product before promoting it.
That said…
Here Are Some Legit High Paying Affiliate Programs You Can Join:
- Legendary Marketer: Pay out 40% to 60% to their affiliate
- ClickFunnels: Paid 40% recurring commissions per month per user for life.
- WP Engine: Pays up to $7,500 for a single referral.
- Shopify: You’ll earn up to $2,000 per referral.
- SEMrush: You earn $200 for every new refer and $10 for every new trial.
- StudioPress: You’ll earn 35% per theme sale and a minimum of $75 per site sale.
By the way…
You can check my Resource Page for my #1 recommended program. This program offers a high ticket product, meaning no more small commission.
They have a team that does the high ticket selling for you.
They also offer one-on-one coaches that work directly with you to ensure you’re on the right path.
ALSO READ!
- How To Become Rich With Affiliate Marketing
- Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It
- How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Fast
- Does Affiliate Marketing Still Work
