Hello, I'm another of the many who are looking to venture into the world of affiliate marketing. I don't even know where to start. I do have a small amount of money to play with. I'm wondering how soon I can expect to start earning somewhat of a return. I know thats a loaded question - I'm eager but nervous and don't want to lose everything. I have a few niche ideas, but I don't know if they are money makers or not obviously. I don't know what type of websites make money. Sheesh I'm nervous!!! I'm wondering how much a newbie can expect to earn a month in the begining?
Thanks so much, I'm sure as you all post I will be quick to follow with more questions. I'm only semi familiar with the lingo - I've been researching for a few months now and I need to make a move!!!
"I'm wondering how soon I can expect to start earning somewhat of a return."
It's impossible to say. There are way too many variables. One person could start making money fairly quickly others could go months without making hardly any.
Before going any further, stop and read all the stickies in the newbie forum, then start thinking about picking a niche and read some of the threads in the niche forum. There are really just too many ways to get started and the right on depends largely on you. Your background, skills and many other things.
There is honestly no blueprint or easy step by step process that works for everyone. I wish there was. But you know what, then everyone would be doing the same thing and no one would make money. You need to try to figure out the best path for you, but we're here to help. Read the stickies then you can ask more specific questions, once you get some ideas about which way you want to go.
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I do have some ideas, I keep a journal of them and I have been studying the newbie forums for the past few days before registering. I'm wondering if my ideas are too big? Is something small better? Also a note about the forum business is there any money to be made in it? I ask because I find it appealing however I never see advertisements or anything in forums so I don't see income opportunity - yet most people don't do things for nothing.
Good you've been reading the newbie forum and keeping record of ideas. Smaller niches (but ones that have some demand) are strongly recommended when you are brand new. It's extremely important IMHO for affiliates to see early results or they give up.
In general forums are tough to monetize. I've heard many forum owners say that. People are there to chat not buy. However I would think some forums could work if they focus on certain markets. Like a Mom forum that advertises baby products and toys.
Forums are also very tricky to run and moderate. I love this forum and we are lucky to have so many awesome members, but in every forum you have to deal with spammers, scammers and flamers too.
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Your Partner in Success,
Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Program Advertising, Promotion & PR (Publisher Relations)
The free forum support we provide is made possible by all the 5 Star programs at the top of the right sidebar & in the directory below. Please visit & support our merchants.
My 200 pennies, stick to what you love. It won't feel so much like work. It's easy to jump into what you think would make money quickly, but if it's not interesting to you at all, you'll get board quickly.
When I was an affiliate, my first site was health insurance related. YUK! Soon after starting it, I was dreading working on the site. So I scrapped it and switched to something more personally satisfying. Live and learn.
I agree that you have to stick to topics that you have knowledge about or you are passionate about. You will make a more successful website if you love the topic. You will look forward to adding new content to it or making it look better. If you pick a topic that you don't have a lot of knowledge about or you don't like the topic, you will find it hard to work on the site.
Try not to choose a topic that everyone else is doing. Sit down and write a list of all the things that you love in life and try to build something off of that. You have to find the little out of the way niches that you won't have much competition with.
There is really no easy way to earn big in this industry. Research, understanding, analysis, creativity, trial and error, and the will to stand up again when you fail - will determine how well you will do on internet marketing
It all starts with niche selection - incorporating your passion, experience, etc. into in putting up a site is a big plus. This way, you get to provide and share good content and info to your site's visitors. Don't just select a niche just because you heard that a lot of people have been successful in them. The quality of your content will play a major role later on when you start promoting your site.
Your earnings will greatly depend on how you market your site and what you offer to your traffic.
I personally don't start paying to market a product until I try to market it via free methods (ie. article writing, forums, blogs, squidoo lenses). I put a free hit counter in my website. You can get one at statcounter.com and make the counter invisible. Then I can see how many hits I am getting compared to sales. Based on this, I decide whether or not I want to spend my money on ppc for the product.
Another Newbie here!!!
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