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affiliatemarketingskills143 · 2 years ago

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ShareaSale Only pay when it works!

I made $200,000 in revenue from affiliate marketing websites. Here's how I got started after years of struggling with my SEO business.

Bruce Paulson is a freelance SEO specialist who creates affiliate marketing websites.

Paulson said his business started to grow once he put himself in the customer's shoes.

He said he sunk more money back into his business last year than ever and it became his most successful year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bruce Paulson, a 43-year-old freelance SEO specialist from North Carolina about scaling his business. It's been edited for length and clarity.

In 2022, I made almost $203,000 in revenue from affiliate marketing alone. Affiliate marketing is the strategy that helped to move the needle for my income.

I've been the owner-operator of an SEO agency since 2015. For the first five years, all I did was work with clients, but I struggled to grow my business. Even though I was good at getting SEO results, which is moving a website to the top of Google searches, I wasn't good at selling my SEO services.

But in 2020, I started learning how to build simple affiliate websites, which is where you recommend a product or service and if someone makes a purchase you get a small payout.

When I first started doing affiliate marketing I didn't understand it

At first, not much was happening so for a long time I thought I was building websites and going nowhere. I didn't know how to put an offer in front of an audience or how a company would pay me for traffic from my website. Once I started, I slowly began to learn — and I'm still learning.

Affiliate marketing is about building a targeted audience, or traffic. If I have a website about stand-up paddleboards that gets a lot of monthly visits from paddleboard enthusiasts, I can buy a product, write a review about it, and possibly recommend the product to readers.

If the readers like what I say, click on my link to the company, and buy a paddle board, I can get anywhere from 3% to 10% of the purchase price in commission.

Once I understood affiliate marketing, I started to put myself in the customer's shoes

I started to think about the questions customers might have about a particular product, then I'd write articles that answer those questions. Doing this correctly can lead to more sales.

Eventually, I made my first sale and wanted to make more. So I built more affiliate websites. I also tried a bunch of different niches, from water sports, insurance, and mortgages to credit cards, boats, and the health industry.

I have affiliate offers from Amazon, Avantlink, ShareASale, and other private programs

Amazon is pretty easy to get into — all you have to do is have public advertising disclosures on your website. Avantlink and ShareASale are similar except they have lots of companies that work with them, and those particular companies have to approve you by looking at your website and seeing if they want to work with you.

If I have a website about stand-up paddleboards and I apply to a big company's running shoes program on Avantlink, that company probably won't accept me because my website traffic is not relevant to their market. But if I apply to the Bluefin stand-up paddleboard program with my paddleboard website, I'll likely get accepted because my traffic is relevant to that company, and there's a decent chance that exposure for Bluefin will result in sales.

In my first two years of building affiliate websites, I probably spent more money on them than I made

I'm currently running six websites and plan to build more. There are many costs associated with each website. Some expenses include buying a domain for around $20, securing hosting for $180 per year, and paying a cheap web designer on Upwork to build the first five pages of the website for around $300.

I could write articles myself for free, but it takes me forever and they aren't the best articles, so I opted to pay for decent articles at $100 per article — I need a minimum of 30 articles but realistically around 200 articles on the sites. I pay a cheap web designer on Upwork to post my articles for $10 to $15 per article. Additionally, I pay $2,400 per year for an Ahrefs account, which is a tool for keyword research, competition analysis, and more.

When building affiliate websites I need some interest in the topic like water sports, finance, or digital marketing. If I don't have an interest in the topic, I get frustrated and quit.

In 2022 I got better at asking myself, what is someone really after when they search for something on Google

I got better at thinking about "the intent behind the intent." That's helped me focus on ranking for more specific searches. Now, instead of trying to rank for "socks" — a term that gets a ton of monthly searches, is super hard to rank for, and has a very low conversion rate — I focus on ranking for searches like "winter socks that are warm and will keep my feet dry." The latter has way less search volume, is not that hard to rank for, and has a very high conversion rate.

If I can rank No. 1 in Google for "winter socks that are warm and will keep my feet dry" and I recommend a nice pair of Smartwool socks, then I have a very good chance of making that sale — and that's my entire approach to SEO these days.

Having success at affiliate marketing has made me more successful at signing new clients

It's counterintuitive to put zero effort into looking for new client-work, yet have more people reaching out to me than ever. This turn of events has made it so I can turn down smaller jobs that aren't a good fit for me and focus on working with companies where I can move the needle.

When I was struggling with my business, if I worked harder I would just be struggling harder. Now that I'm getting some traction I have more energy. I wake up early and even work on the weekends.

I've sunk more back into my business this year than I could've ever imagined

Last year I spent $25,000 to join The Forge marketing mastermind group and it terrified me to do this. While medical bills and college were technically more expensive, this is the most money I've ever willingly spent in my life — even more expensive than the $16,000 I spent on a 2007 Subaru Forester that I still drive daily.

I joined the digital business mastermind group because the folks who taught me SEO in the first place created it. Even though I was already having some success with affiliate marketing,, I thought it would be great to have people who were way ahead of me look at my business and tell me how to improve it. It's also cool to be around people who are positive and motivate me to work harder.

2022 was my most successful year financially. For the first time, I have some traction with my business, and I want to pour as much gas on the fire as I can. I think in a few years, I'll be able to look back and have built something my parents can be proud of.

#affiliate marketing #make money today #make money as an affiliate

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makemoneyonline-pedia · 4 years ago

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Make Money With Affiliate Marketing in 11 Easy Steps

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to build passive income that will continue to flow in, even when you’re spending time on other projects. It’s one of the fastest and most effective ways to begin making an income from your blog or website, even when you’re still building up your following and reputation.

By targeting the right audience, you can enjoy commission while recommending your favorite products and services; and the best part is that affiliate marketing works for all niches.

However, bloggers and niche site owners tend to make a few mistakes that limit their chances of affiliate success. Here’s our guide on how to make money with affiliate marketing so you can maximize profit, making every post pay.

Since there are many considerations involved, please read the full guide before implementing or making any changes to your affiliate posts.

Before continue - If you are uncertain about the future, frustrated with your current situation, or simply desire the freedom of Internet Business ownership. THIS ARTICLE WILL HELP YOU >>

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Today

1. Target the Right Audience

When I first started implementing an affiliate process, I applied for popular affiliate programs and inserted the affiliate link into my popular posts.

While this affiliate ‘trickle-down effect’ will make you some income, it’s not the best strategy for affiliate success. You need to catch the reader with their credit card in their hand to start making consistent sales.

To really start making money from affiliates, you need to flip your affiliate game around and start the process by choosing the right product/service, that are essential to your target audience, that have prime keywords to help you rank your affiliate article on page one of Google.

For example, instead of just adding Amazon product affiliate links to your guide on studying for finals, you can choose a product that you know will help students study and target the keywords they would be using to search for such products.

Why not do both? You can make money through both methods, but the more targeted approach will likely make more. Track the income to see which type of post brings in the most income.

So How Do I Rank on Google?

This process is called search engine optimization (SEO). If you are not familiar with SEO I suggest you read our introductory guide here and sign up for our free 4-part SEO course. Part of SEO is keyword research.

This helps you target keywords with a decent volume and low competition so you can appear on page one of SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) in Google.

SEO will allow you to reach the right audience who want to buy the affiliate product or service.

We call this process writing ‘money-making’ posts. You can make affiliate income from social media but you need an engaged audience to do so. An active newsletter list is another funnel that you can target.

For us, SEO offers the best outcomes for our travel and food sites when it comes to monetizing through affiliates so this guide is going to focus on using SEO.

2. Choose Products/Services to Promote

When deciding what affiliate products to promote, don’t just choose the popular ones. Really consider the following things:

The affiliate and the product. Do you stand behind the company? Is it something your audience needs or wants? Is it a high enough price point to actually make money from? What commission will you receive? What is the cookie window?

How a buyer would purchase the product. Will they buy right away or consider their decision first? This will affect what kind of marketing you need to do.

What is the user intent of the target audience? For example, what does the Google searcher asking for ‘best neighborhoods in New York’ want? Hotels? Houses for sale? What does a searcher asking for “best slow cooker” want?

3. Consider the Buying Cycle

You need to appeal to readers who are ready to purchase in order for them to get out their credit card and make the purchase right away. So be sure you choose keywords that target the decision/buying stage. These people are beyond the information-gathering stage and are ready to buy as soon as they find the right product.

Using buying words and phrases will attract decision-stage readers. Here are some example buying words:

Product reviews

This product vs That product

Best luxury product or best budget product

For women … for men … for families

If you think you have a chance of ranking on page one of Google with your post, then don’t worry so much about the volume of the keyword. It’s better to rank well for smaller volume keywords than to not rank for high volume ones.

I used to believe you needed a large audience to make money but that’s not true, you need a targeted audience. With affiliate marketing, it is better to have a hundred views that convert, than a thousand that don’t.

For example, one of my targeted money-making posts makes 3x the commission in comparison to another post that receives a ton of views but isn’t targeted.

Affiliate links work much better in a targeted post.

4. Solve a Problem

You can add an affiliate link to just about any post, but the ones that will begin to make money are the ones that solve a problem.

The best way to tackle this is to brainstorm your audience’s pain points. Think about an issue that causes a problem for your audience – something they struggle with.

What are the top three things that keep your audience up at night?

Such as how to source a recipe ingredient they can’t get at home, or how to choose the best elliptical machine when there are so many similar options on the market. Those are the affiliate products you should introduce to your audience.

After brainstorming, conduct keyword research to see if people are actively looking for a solution to that problem on Google. If there is search volume, and the post you write solves the problem, you will begin to make affiliate sales.

Note: Don’t forget to consider whether you can compete against the top ten posts in the SERPs. If there are already dozens of people solving that problem, you might have a hard time getting your solution in front of readers.

Write an in-depth and very useful guide for your audience about that pain point. Identify the issue, empathize with the issue, and introduce your product that solves the issue.

5. Choose The Right Affiliate Programs

When choosing an affiliate program, at the very least you have to consider the following:

Commission – What percentage will you make? Or is there a flat fee you will receive per sale?

Cookie Window – How long does a reader have to purchase in order for you to get the commission?

For example, Booking.com’s direct program gives a 25% commission on the amount they make (not the full hotel booking amount) with no cookie window, whereas Amazon has a sliding scale for commission, product depending, and a 24-hour cookie window.

More advanced site owners will also consider the overall company conversion rate before applying too because the company’s ability to make the sale after you’ve led a reader to them is also very important.

6. Consider the Types of Affiliate Programs

Some companies choose to host a direct affiliate program like Booking.com and Amazon Associates.

Others go via a third party where you sign up for the third-party program (like Commission Junction or Awin), then you must also apply for the individual affiliate program.

There are companies covering every niche thinkable in these third-party sites.

Here are some of the affiliate marketing programs we use on our sites (travel, food and SEO):

Amazon Associates – Direct Amazon product sales

ShareASale – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

VigLink now Sovrn Commerce – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

CJ – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Partnerize was Performance Horizon – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Awin – Third party, shop for merchants once you sign up

Food52 – Recipes, kitchenware

Avantlink – A collection of international merchants.

7. Focus On The Perfect Products

There are a few ways in which you may be choosing the wrong products or services.

Firstly, you are pitching a product that just does not convert.

It might not be right for your audience, it might have poor conversion rates for the company selling it, the product or service is not available all year round, you’ve failed to optimize the post for that product (see next section) and/or you can’t rank for target keywords (see above).

Secondly, you only focus on low-priced products with low commission rates which in return does not make you much in revenue.

Naturally, in the beginning, you may not want to target high-value products because you don’t think you can sell them. However, you need to break out of that mindset. It’s not about the price of the product, it’s about identifying a need and finding a product that fulfills that need.

A low commission rate isn’t always a negative. If you sell alot of the product, you create a high average order rate (AOV). In some cases, this can earn you additional income for bringing in a lot of sales.

Note: For some affiliates, the reader doesn’t have to buy the product or service you recommend for you to receive a commission. For example, with Amazon, don’t be surprised if you see pet-related goods showing up in your reports when you promote well being products. Although dogs are a great source of happiness, it just means the reader has read your guide, clicked through to Amazon from one of your product links then continued shopping for other items.

This isn’t always something to be celebrated though as it can indicate that the reader did not complete the buying cycle for the targeted keywords/product or service.

8. Optimize Your Affiliate Posts

You may have SEO down but your content isn’t converting for affiliates. There are many reasons that your links might not be converting, such as lack of calls to action, placing it in the wrong spot in the post, and not making the buying signals clear enough.

To fix this issue, see below for some great ideas.

Deep Linking

For many affiliate programs, in-text affiliate links that are naturally placed within context convert better than widgets and images. Widgets can slow your page speed down too.

Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)

CTAs are buying signals, like buy here, act now, check prices, reserve your spot, etc. Not including CTAs might leave your readers without a clear understanding of what they should do. If you use Gutenberg you can use the colored boxes function, bottoms or separating lines to make callouts stand out. You can also create your own CTA boxes using this code: <div style=”background-color: #FEA8EA; padding: 1.0em; max-width: 25.0em; margin: 1.0em 0; border: solid 1.0px #FEA8EA;”><strong> Don’t miss out. Buy today! </div> Example:

Don’t miss out. Buy today!

Change the color coding to match your brand colors. You can also change the thickness of the box.

Linking is such an important part of the post-building process. Read this article and never miss a step again.

Sense of Emotion

Every good marketer knows that fear sells. If you can paint a picture from personal experience which outlines why the reader should buy the product and add a sense of urgency or excitement, you could increase your selling power. Remember, solve a problem!

Avoid Affiliate Stuffing

Just like keyword stuffing, you can overdo affiliates too. Sure you want to encourage click-through, but having an affiliate in every paragraph looks spammy and can be overwhelming.

Sell naturally by putting a personal spin on it. If you’re trying to sell products you don’t use yourself, it will come across as unnatural and salesy.

Use Professional Plugins

There are a couple of affiliate plugins which improve the user experience (UX) as well as making items stand out.

AAWP – Creates stylish Amazon tables, authorized to pull prices which is against T+Cs for you

Thirsty Links – An easy-to-use link cloaking plugin. Redirects your messy + sometimes spammy looking links to a neat URL. Tracks too

Mobile User Experience

Do not ignore mobile user experience. Google now ranks the mobile version of your site, so always evaluate how your posts look to mobile users.

Ask a friend to check for you, sometimes it’s difficult to see issues with your own posts.

9. Track Your Affiliates

Affiliate marketing is not a set-it-and-forget-it process.

Question any affiliate course that screams ‘make money while you sleep’.

Sure, you will be selling while you get shut-eye but to make a lot of money you have to stay on top of securing Google rankings through SEO and working out what affiliate placement is working.

If an affiliate program offers a way for you to track the specific link that is being clicked, use it. This will give you great insight into what links are converting, and what links aren’t.

Check frequently to see what placement is working and be willing to adjust it when it’s not.

Is it a deep link, a buying signal CTA, a button or a box? Can you replicate what it working elsewhere? If it’s not working, tweak it. Business is about calculated risk.