New Affiliates - How to Get Started?

[Linda Buquet]

(From today's 5 Star Blog)

What are the 5 most important things to learn to be successful as an affiliate? What's the best way to get started? How do you find great programs? I get asked these questions on the forums all the time, so here are a couple forum threads from this week that have some very helpful info.

Over at SitePoint "optimus prime" starts by offering his Top 5 Tips for Beginners. Well everyone agrees with his #1 tip, then of course things break down and everyone has different opinions, a little forum spat breaks out, egos flare, you know typical forum stuff - but some good tips and info comes out of it all.

[quote]"At one point or another, all of us were beginners at this crazy thing called internet marketing. So, in the spirit of giving, I thought that we could all share 5 pieces of advice for anyone looking to break into this industry. 1. Start with a Topic you love. * There are going to be a ton of obstacles if you are just starting out. If you don't pick a topic you absolutely love, you will get discouraged, and most likely give up. In the beginning, make things easy on yourself, and pick something you love. There are 10,000 people out there competing for #1 in google for "Home Mortgages". There may only be 100 competing for "Remote Controlled Boats". Pick something you love, and become a big fish in a small pond." Go read the rest at SitePoint.
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php

Then another thread just started today at the affiliate forum I mod over at SearchEngineWatch . Advice & Tips For Budding Affiliates" crunchtime says "Does anyone know of any great affiliate programs, or any programs that are effective in helping affililiates become successful. There are so many ebooks, adwords tools, KW tools etc, that sometimes it is overwhelming. Could you please let me know if you have any suggestions."

Here is my reply

Hi crunchtime,

Ohhhhhhhhhh there are so many different ways to get started and so many options. I could write a book... "great affiliate programs?" Yes, I know where you can find a few good ones.

As far as the question of what’s the "best" affiliate program to get started with - well that's a big question but the answer can be defined by YOU!

What is your current site about and who are your visitors? What are they interested in? Find products and services that will appeal to them and THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! For instance if you have a site about travel, don't just promote hotel and airline affiliate programs, add travel insurance, Amazon books about travel and Luggage.

What are you passionate about??? What do you know a lot about? If you can find an affiliate program that ties into your interests or hobbies you will be ahead of the game!!! WHY? Because it can take some time to generate income and if it's something you are interested in it will give you the incentive to keep building more pages PLUS you can add valuable content to your site based on your knowledge of the subject.

LEARNING THE ROPES

One way to minimize the learning curve and get into revenue more quickly is to learn from a guru - or a marketing training system. There are many out there and some are just hype. Two in the affiliate marketing world that I happen to believe in, because I have talked to affiliates that have found success and swear by the methods are James Martell - http://www.jamesmartell.com/ and the Affiliate Classroom - http://www.affiliateclassroom.com/ I also know the owners personally and believe strongly in their integrity and commitment to helping others.

The Affiliate Classroom has a full access 2 week trial for $1 so I would jump in there and learn all you can in 2 weeks. They teach you step-by-step exactly what to do.

If you can research and find a training program that you feel is good - you can pay to learn more quickly and overcome some of the trial and error that can burn people out and make them want to give up.

I just touched on a couple different areas, but I hope I have given you some guidelines and tips to ponder. Please post any other specific questions on this board and I will do the best I can to help you.

What do you guys think? What are the best success tips for getting started? What's the best way to learn the ropes in this biz?

[stephfoster]

I would say "expect to work". So many people think affiliate marketing is just throwing up links and waiting for the money to roll in.

BTW, your link doesn't work. I found it at http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298613 (hope it keeps working)

[Linda Buquet]

Great point Stephanie!

I would say "expect to work". So many people think affiliate marketing is just throwing up links and waiting for the money to roll in.

This is not get rich quick. Takes time and lots of blood sweat and tears.

Thanks for the link fix.

[affbld]

What are the 5 most important things to learn to be successful as an affiliate?

As a new affiliate, i would say the challenges i'm facing include but are not limited to:

#1 - choosing between the plethora of paid web hosts
#2 - website design & html
#3 - keeping abreast and implementing the different emarketing strategies
#4 - which resources to use, and which dont add value and/or are duplicated
#5 - taming the SEO Monster
#6 - being perceived as a newbie, lack of trust
#7 - learning curve
#8 - time management
#9 - copywriting skills for my website and/or promotion efforts

Missy Diaz
Newbie trying to promote affiliate marketing - the industry.

[James Nardell]

IMHO the best way to get started is Ken Evoy's 'Affiliate Masters' course. I don't think you can go too far wrong in the beginning if you use this. Plus it's free which is also cool...

[James Nardell]

Plus you can ask the AM's at AMWSO for some help too! We're always happy to help newbies get started in the wonderful world of affiliate marketing...

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks James,

Yes Ken's Masters Course is great. Here is a ton of other great free tips and info from Ken at SiteSell.