Affiliate Marketing for Dummies: A Complete Guide for Beginners

If you’ve been looking for a guide that shows you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, then here it is…

Here’s our ultimate guide to affiliate marketing for dummies.  It’s a complete step-by-step guide for beginners that shows you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, including how it works + we let you know how you can get started with an amazing training platform, which helped us get started too.

We’ve done our best to keep our explanations as simple as we can, and we hope our guide is comprehensive enough for you, but if there is anything more specific you want to ask, then please write to us at john@bestaffiliatemarketingtools.org

Let’s get into our step-by-step guide to Affiliate Marketing…

Table of Contents

A Step-by-Step Affiliate Marketing for Dummies Guide.  Everything You Need to Know!

step-by-step-affiliate-marketing-guide-for-beginners

When I was first looking for ways to make money from home, I started doing some research into how I could make some money with a blog.

I was aware of the more obvious ways that you could make money with a blog, such as selling my own products or through advertising.  But I knew very little about affiliate marketing.

Ok, to be completely honest, I knew nothing about affiliate marketing at all!  When I first heard of the term, I thought they were talking about something in a foreign language.  It sounded super complicated, and yet I soon realised that I had been involved in affiliate marketing, as a customer, many times.

I just never put two and two together.  Now I know what I know now, I think it is one of, if not THE best way to make money online!

That’s why we put this guide together.  To help anyone, and everyone get a firm grasp of what affiliate marketing really is, and how it all works.

I can still remember the excitement I got from my first affiliate sale.  It was only $3, but after a few months without any commissions, that was a huge achievement…

an-image-describing-our-first-amazon-affiliate-commission

That was when I knew that affiliate marketing really worked.  If I could make a $3 sale, then what was stopping me from making that a full-time income.  It made me more eager to learn more about affiliate marketing, and everything that went with it.  Like improving my writing, my website, learning more about my niche in detail, etc.

I had already been following an awesome training program that was proving its worth by following their step-by-step strategy, but I wanted more, and this proven training program gave me the extra information I needed.  (You can read up on that training program here).

This guide is going to share with you some information, hints and tips, and techniques that we’ve learned from our experiences with affiliate marketing.  It’s going to be a long read, so you may want to grab a cup of coffee first… and maybe bookmark our page, so you can get back to it when you need to…

What’s Affiliate Marketing?

It’s a very common question we get, as you’ll still be surprised at how many people have never even heard of it, so they don’t know what it is or what it means.  They know it has something to do with online marketing, but don’t really know what the “affiliate” part of it means…

Affiliate Marketing Definition

Let’s look at the definition that Wikipedia gives…

“Affiliate Marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts”

Ok, maybe that didn’t really help answer the question…  It still makes it sound really complicated, when actually it is one of the most simple techniques you can use to make money online.

Affiliate Marketing – What Does It Mean (Simple Explanation)

The easiest way to describe it is that affiliate marketing is very much like a “refer a friend” type of marketing.  Affiliate Marketing allows you to make money (usually referred to as commission) for recommending products and services to those who read your blog.  You will only get paid when one of your recommendations turns into a subscription or a sale. 

There are also types of affiliate marketing, where you can earn for the click itself, this is CPA Affiliate Marketing.

By creating a blog website, and then signing up with an affiliate program, you can then promote products and services that are related to your niche.  When someone lands on your website and clicks on your affiliate link, and then buys something, you can get rewarded with a commission for that sale.

What you might not realise is that you may have already been involved in affiliate marketing, as a customer, without evening realising it…

For example, have you ever used an Uber?  When you refer a friend to try Uber and to become an Uber driver, Uber rewards you with a coupon code to use on your next trip..

That’s affiliate marketing in action.  Instead of paying for expensive marketing campaigns, they reward active users for recommending their service to someone else.

In Uber’s example, it’s a coupon for the next trip.  But when it comes to a lot of other products or services, the reward is a commission (money).

Let’s show you another example…  Let’s say you are looking to purchase a new laptop.  But you aren’t sure which model or brand is the best one for you.  Are you thinking about a normal laptop, or a tablet/laptop hybrid.  A gaming laptop, or just one for word processing?

Which brand do you want to go with?  There maybe tons of questions that you have, and want an answer too, before you make your final decision.

Where do you go for those answers?

Well, most of us end up doing a search on Google.  We tend to start typing in something like “best laptop” or “Macbook review” or “Surface Pro review”.

Pretty much the same as when you typed into Google to learn more about affiliate marketing.

Google (and YouTube) have the lions share of the traffic, and their goal is to get you the best answer to your questions specific to your query.

Bloggers will work hard to provide the best answers to the questions you have.  So, if you are looking to buy the best laptop for blogging, or gaming, or whatever your desire is, the blogger who provides the best answer will appear at the top.

They will get the most traffic, and anytime someone goes with their recommendations, that blogger will earn a commission.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

Let’s get into a little more detail about how affiliate marketing works.

Affiliate Marketing is the term for the process of promoting other people’s products or services.  In return you earn a commission for the sale.  

This flowchart describes the steps involved in this process

#1Customer Search

The customer does a search for the help they need

#2 Your Site

They land on your website.  Where they find helpful guides, how-to guides and relevant product reviews

#3 Customer Buys Product

As you’ve signed up with an affiliate program, such as Amazon (example) you have a special link which tells Amazon that you were the one who introduced that customer

#4 You Make Money

If that customer clicks on your link and then does complete the purchase, then you make money

If we go back to that example with the laptop search, when the person did that online search they would have landed on a blog post that was written by an affiliate marketer.

Or, they may have landed on a useful YouTube video, where an affiliate link was waiting for them in the comments section.

Either way, when the person clicks on the link and then buys the laptop, the affiliate marketer would have earned a commission.

There are a couple of other points that you should consider with affiliate marketing.  They are also great examples of how good affiliate marketing is for a blogger.

The first point is that a well written blog post could be earning you passive income for years to come.  With affiliate marketing, there is no need to handhold the transaction.

The blog post and the affiliate link do all the hard work.  My first affiliate sale happened overnight whilst I was sleeping.  Once I had written the blog post and included the relevant links, I just leave it to do it’s job.

If we take Amazon, they are the world’s largest marketplace and they have an affiliate program.

If someone lands on your blog post and they like what they read.  Your blog post has helped them come to a decision about whether to buy it, or an alternative (as you may have said you would recommend an alternative in the blog, and included an alternate affiliate link).

They then go and click on your affiliate link and go directly to Amazon.

Amazon handles everything else.  They handle the transaction, the shipping, everything else that we all know happens when we buy from Amazon.

But they also do all of the stuff that says you were the one that introduced this buyer, they bought this and therefore you earn this amount of commission.

Even though, you were never there.  Because you don’t have too.  This means that an Affiliate Marketer’s website is working for them 24/7 and 365 days a year.

Once you have done all the legwork and building the foundations, it can become a really lucrative passive income.

The second point that makes affiliate marketing great, is this.  A customer doesn’t actually have to buy what you were promoting to earn a commission.

For simplicity, our example will be Amazon again.

Amazon has 24 hour cookies.  Some affiliate programs have much longer ones, some even have lifetime cookies.  But Amazon has 24 hour ones.

What this means is that once your reader clicks on the affiliate link, the program will save a cookie on their device.

Many people might not buy the product straightaway, they may just save it to their basket or they may change their mind..  But if they decide to go back to Amazon in that same 24-hour period and buy something else, you would still qualify for the commission, on a completely different purchase.

Let’s use an example…

Mary is reading a blog all about slow cooker recipes… She is thinking about getting herself a new slow cooker, and so clicks on one of the links the blogger has about a slow cooker.

It takes her to Amazon (and the cookie is triggered).  She has a look at a few on there, but she decides that she isn’t ready, or she’s not actually going to make a purchase.

She goes out for a walk, but then when she gets home, she remembers that she was going to buy a new Apple laptop for her job.

She logs back into Amazon, and goes and buys a $2K Macbook Pro… But that isn’t the best part.

You just earned a commission on that sale… As Mary made that purchase within the 24-hours of clicking your link, the sale stands.

Ok, it’s very unlikely that it will be as easy as that.  But hopefully, you get the point of how affiliate marketing works and how you can always benefit from being an Amazon affiliate.

slow-cooker-amazon-affiliate-example
macbook-amazon-affiliate-example

The reason we love affiliate marketing is that it is one of the most passive ways of making money with your blog!  You could write one blog post that could earn you money for years to come.  It would only require minimal work to keep it up-to-date and current.

Affiliate Links

At this point, I just want to show you an example of what an affiliate link would look like, just in case you haven’t notieced before…

Here’s the standard link to Amazon’s marketplace (website):

Standard Link to a website: https://amazon.com

Now, here is what an affiliate link would look like to the same website:

Affiliate link to the same website: https://amzn.to/2XVtLra

Both links would take you to the Amazon website.  But the second link is our affiliate link, so it tells Amazon we took you to the website.  Amazon gives you both a short link option (the one above) and a full link.

We personally feel the shorter link looks better.

When you hover your mouse over the links in your browser it will normally display the link at the bottom left-hand side of the screen (at least it does in chrome).  So, you can start to see which links are affiliate links or not.

Why Affiliate Marketing Is Ideal For Beginners

There are many reasons why we believe Affiliate Marketing is ideal for a beginner who is looking to earn money online.  But we’re going to discuss the top 4 reasons why we think its the right choice for a beginner…

#1 Potential for a Full-Time Passive Income Stream

When you compare affiliate marketing to a normal day job, there is such a difference.

With a normal job, you usually earn an hourly rate and you only get paid for the hours you are there.  There is also very little chance or incentive to work harder, as you won’t get paid more if you work harder or do a good job.

That decision is left up to the employer.  So, this type of traditional structure wil never help you achieve financial freedom.

With affiliate marketing, by putting in more effort, you can have a direct impact on your earning potential.  It has the potential for you to do something once, like write a blog post or a product review, and get paid over and over again.  There is no ceiling to your earning potential.

Your website/business can be working for you 24/7.  It can be working for you whilst you sleep or travel the world.  This is about creating a passive income stream that works for you, and not against you.

Having the right mindset is a really important factor, but you are showing a fantastic mindset just by reading this guide…

Take action and you can change your life and start pursuing your dreams for change.

#2 Fully Flexible Working Schedule

This is something you aspire too, as you will not really have this in the early days.  You will still need to keep you day job for now, until you start seeing an income from it.

But once your business is on the right path, and you can give up your day job and then start planning your own working schedule.  You will be the boss and you can then start working from literally anywhere you want.

The local coffee shop, your sofa.  Many affiliate marketers are working whilst travelling the work.  Wherever you feel most comfortable, will be where you are most productive.

I have an office at home, as I kind of like the structure.  But there are also times when I’m working from the garden.  As long as I have internet and my laptop, I can work on my online business.

#3 No Need to Sell

Have you ever heard of a business model called MLM?  It stands for Multi-Level-Marketing.  It can also be called Direct Sales.

There are many MLM companies, some of which we have reviewed and the story isn’t a great one.

It relies heavily on your ability to sell products face-to-face and your ability to recruit other marketers into your downline…

MLM companies make it really difficult for the everyday person to find success.  This is often down to overpriced products and a monthly sales quota which is impossible for a beginner to hit.  

Which means many MLM members are having to buy products every month just to remain active for commissions.  But the reality is that 99% of MLM members are losing money or are in huge piles of debt.

They also ruin their relationships with their friends and family, as MLMs get you to constantly pitch products and the business model to them.

Yet, what I found strange is that most people have heard of direct selling or MLM.  they have also given it a go, and probably failed.  Yet, they haven’t heard of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing is a polar opposite to MLM.  There is no need to sell door-to-door or host house parties.  There is no need to recruit people and then train them to be sales people.

There is no sales persona needed.

All you do is let your website do all of the hard work, by providing loads of helpful content and serves a purpose.

Many of us are a little introverted, so the MLM form of selling is massively out of our comfort zone.  I’m not an outgoing person who can go out and sell a product that I don’t really believe in, just to make a sale.

That is the key difference – Affiliate Marketing, you help someone get a good product.  MLM you sell overpriced products to stop losing money.

This is a great way for people who may be a little shy, to make money online by helping people from behind their keyboards.

#4 No Prior Experience Needed

We’re totally serious about this one.  Gone are the days where you needed to be a technical wizard to launch a website.

Anyone can now build a website in just a few minutes, without any computer code.  We’ll show you shortly how you could have your own website up and running in just a few clicks.  Nowadays, it’s no more difficult than using Microsoft Word or Chrome.

All you’ll need is time, effort, and a willingness to learn.

Before I got started with affiliate marketing, I knew nothing about online marketing or even how to build a website.  I also felt that my writing wasn’t going to be good enough, let alone be able to apply for affiliate programs.

And yet, here we are helping beginners like you get online and that is because we found the best training on the planet to help us every step of the way.  All I had to bring, was my determination to make this work and it is…  I’ll show you some results later…

Who’s Affiliate Marketing For?

It would be too easy to write that affiliate marketing is for everyone.  but I don’t believe that it is…

The reason I say that is you need to be an individual who is patient and someone who thinks about this a long-term goal and won’t give up until their goal has been achieved.

Affiliate Marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme.  You won’t wake up in a week or two suddenly earning a 4-Figure Monthly Income from it…

To explain the difference, let’s compare affiliate marketing with a typical day job…

Ina normal job, you work for your next paycheck.  If you knew that your boss wasn’t going to pay you, you wouldn’t work, right?

The same could be said about the opposite.  If you stopped going to work, you wouldn’t expect to get paid.

With affiliate marketing, you will be working towards earning a passive income stream, but that means you won’t get paid straightaway.  You are working towards making that a reality, but the rewards come further down the line.

Basically, you need to think about working for free in the short term, and believe that you will get the returns at some point down the line…

When you start to earn from your passive income streams, you work when you choose to, and because you have to.

If you can that into your head and know that you may be working on your business for free for a while, and yet know that it will lead you to something down the road, then you will do extremely well.

But you will need to work really hard if you want to see the results…  the only reason you will fail at affiliate marketing is because you give up too soon.

never-give-up-chase-your-dreams

Too many affiliate marketers have given up saying it doesn’t work, but when you offer them help and advice, you realise they still kept that employee mentality – they worked hard for two weeks and thought they should have returns by now…

You honestly need to dedicate a year to this, and then work your backside off to achieve that goal…

So, who is affiliate marketing for?

You don’t require any prior experience to get started with affiliate marketing, but you will require patience, and some support.    We will help you, and the support we got is open to anyone who is serious about making affiliate marketing work for them.

It worked for us because we had an awesome community behind us to help us every step of the way.  You can check out this awesome community for yourself for FREE.

But you’re going to need to be the one that takes this opportunity, and works hard to achieve your goal!!

How Much Can You Make with Affiliate Marketing?

Honestly, the earning potential for an affiliate marketer is limitless!

There are many examples where success affiliate marketers are earning a truly astonishing income from affiliate marketing.  It is pretty common for those who have mastered affiliate marketing ot be earning tens of thousands of dollars a month, using the affiliate marketing business model.

Here are some examples to give you an idea of the earning potential…

  • Pat Flynn earns more than $2 million a year from affiliate marketing
  • Michelle from Making Sense of Cents makes over $50,000 a month with Affiliate Marketing.  She has also create a course to help others.
  • Mike from Stupid Simple SEO, makes over $95,000 a year in passive income.  he uses SEO techniques and Amazon

But How Long Will It Take?

It’s a common question again… You’re asking how long will this take to earn me money, right?

Ok, Let’s try and give you a realisitc timescale to help you with your expectations…

From past experience, you could start making your first few sales within the 3-4 month mark.  From then you could be earning a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars within a year, maybe two…

Are you willing to spend one to two years of your lie, building up your own PASSIVE INCOME stream so that you don’t need to work at your normal job for the rest of your life?

To be clearer, and give you some context- this is a year of hard work.  Putting in a lot of time and effort to achieve that level of success.

This isn’t going to be a walk  in the park.  There are many times when I was working on my site in the evenings, when the family had gone to bed.

Working at break times at work, so that I could see some success in the long run.  It was totally worth it in the end, but felt hard at times throughout.

There is no guarantee or a promise about those timescales.  It is just a rough guide, as there are so many factors to consider.  But work hard, and you will see the results.

You might also be thinking… if anyone could build their own passive income online just just a year or two, why isn’t everyone doing it.  Why are so many people struggling financially if they could just do this?

Well, the reason why so many people fail is down to their mindset.  They don’t follow the advice that was set out by our awesome training program.  They often give up too early…

Keep reading after our step-by-step guide where we will share with you some top tips to double or triple your success rate in Affiliate Marketing…

Affiliate Marketing for Dummies:
A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Ok, here’s our step-by-step guide for beginners.  Here are all of the steps that you need to be successful with affiliate marketing.  This “Affiliate Marketing for Dummies” guide will make your life so much easier…

How to Start Affiliate Marketing?

The steps you need to take to start affiliate marketing sound very easy, when written down…

  • Apply for the best affiliate progams
  • Add your affiliate link to your blog or reviews
  • Wait for the money to come…

Oh, if it was only that simple…  You’ll soon realise that there is a little more too it that that.  Nothing is ever straightforward, right?

Whilst we are going to try to keep our explanations nice and simple, there are many steps you need to make before you actually get to the point of being able to earn money.

If you really want to make money with affiliate marketing, then you need to start the right way and ensure you follow all of the steps, in the right order.

#1 Choose a Niche

Choosing a niche is the most important step, if you want to be successful with affiliate marketing.  There are a few factors that are going to help you with this, which we will get into in a moment.

But when you are deciding on your niche, it is important not to be too broad.  If you start with a niche that is too broad, it is going to really difficult for you to stand out in the crowd.

There will be many other competing websites you have to consider, so if you start too broad you make your task harder.

Choosing a tightly focused niche will help you rank higher up in Google, allowing you to grow your following faster…

Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself when choosing your niche…

What Topics Am I Passionate About?

When you consider you are going to have to write a lot of content on your blog to get yourself noticed, choosing a subject you have no interest in is a bad decision.

Too many people choose a niche because it sounds “profitable”. Or they choose expensive products as they look at the commission they could earn, over their knowledge on the subject.

But here is what you need to know.  If you cannot write much content about the subject, you won’t earn anything anyway.  So, pick a subject you are passionate about.

You need to pick a subject that you are passionate about, can help other people with blog posts relating to that subject, and have some experience with it.

That is why we suggest you choose a hobby or passion you have.

You’ll have some experience and knowledge related to it.    You’ll also have more interest in learning more about that niche, and you already know your target audience.

They will be people like you…

That way, you can come up with loads of ideas for blog post, that lead to product reviews for items related to that niche.

When you have no passion for a subject, it means every task will feel like a chore.  You’ll get bored of doing the research, bored of writing the content, bored of everything.

But without any content, you will get no rankings in Google.  No rankings leads to no traffic.  No traffic means no sales.

Think of it this way…

Gaming Laptops & PCs are big business.  Many are retailing for over $2,000 easily.

But if you have no knowledge or interest in them, what is the point as you will not be able to create any helpful content or even understand the target audience.  Having an empty website about Gaming Laptops will earn you nothing.

But I’ve seen many blogs that are earning a really good income promoting stuff that retails for really low figures.  But as the blogger is getting thousands of visits a month, the cumulative income is easily giving them the financial freedom they desired.

One other thing I’ll say is that you don’t need to be an expert, most people are not looking for an expert opinion.  They are looking for the opinion from real people, someone who knows where they are coming from.  Provide them with the help they require, and the money will follow.

But not the other way around.

Can I Make Money In My Niche?

A hobby or passion is a good start, but passion will only get you so far.  So, you need to ensure that you can actually make money from your passion/hobby and the niche you have decided on.

A good way of doing this is to check out the Amazon marketplace, or doing a Google search for affiliate programs within your niche.  (We’ll show you that in a little more detail later).

By checking if Amazon has products related to your niche, then at least you know there is demand for those kind of products and that you have products you can promote.

If you cannot find any products when doing this, then you may be being too niche, and you may need to have a rethink…

But you might be still sitting there going, “I have no idea John, help me out…”

Well, the following four markets have a huge market, and always have buyers, so they might be a good starting point for you to choose a niche:

  • Health & Fitness
  • Money (Making & Saving)
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Beauty & Fashion

If you want more ideas, you can check out this post.

Is My Niche Too Niche?

You do need to drill down as much as you can to find a niche, but there is also a pint where you have gone too far.

You need to be able to come up with 50 or 100 blog post ideas related to that niche.  So, if you went with pink dog collars, you are going to find it really hard to come with stuff to write about.

But if you went with dog collars, or dog accessories then you might have a better starting point.

No matter what the niche is you decide to go with, make sure you write about products you are familiar with,

If there is one thing that you really need to focus on, to be a successful affiliate marketer, you need to help your potential customers and not sell to them.

Helping your readers solve problems, and answer questions they have, must come first.  You also need to be confident that whatever you are recommending, it will be really useful to that customer.

Building trust is key to people coming back to you for return advice, and future recommendations.

#2 It’s All in the Planning

planning-and-setting-goals

Now you have a niche, you then need to consider your plan.  All businesses require a plan and for affiliate marketers there are two things that you need to be good at planning.  One of them is your time and then the other is your strategy.

Time management is key when we are first starting out, especially if you are still working at your normal job.

So, when are you going to put the time aside to do some research or write a blog post or do some training?

There will be times when normal stuff gets in the way, family commitments, etc. But planning some time each day and each week will be really important to your success.

Ideally, if you could spend at least 2 to 4 hours per day on your new business, you will be surprised at how much you can get done.

That might seem impossible, but when you factor in how much you want this and the amount of time, we all spend on social media (wasted time), you could easily find 2 hours a day for this.

As for the strategy, we are going to focus on content marketing in our guide.  This means creating content consistently.  You will need to plan how many blog posts you are going to write each week, what are you going to write about, etc.

Once you actually get started, you will find you will have a much better understanding of what to prepare and how to plan your week.

#3 Build Your Own Website

image of computers on a desk, with a website on the screen

Now, this is where it gets exciting!!

That is because we are going to show you how you can build your own (FREE) website and have it up and running to start making you money in just a few minutes…

If you already have your own website, then that is a great start and you can skip to step 4…

If you don’t, then this where you are going to take your research to the next level…

If you’ve never built a website before, then please don’t worry.  It’s nowhere near as complicated as many people think it is.

These days, it is so simple and there is no need to know anything about complicated computer code or anything. Many of us affiliate marketers (us included) don’t know anything about website coding or programming.

When you have tools like SiteRubix, and WordPress, there is no need too. 

You can build yourself a website in just a few minutes.  In fact, it usually takes you longer to decide on your domain name, than it does to actually building the website.

There are just a few steps you need to follow to get your website setup the right way…

Pick a Domain Name

A domain name is just a fancy way of describing the name of a website.  Our domain name is visible in the address bar up the top – https://bestaffiiatemarketingtools.org

Here are some ideas of how to pick a name for your website:

  • Pick a name that is easy to remember
  • Make it easy to spell
  • Try to avoid using dashes (i.e. instead of best-affiliate-marketing-tools we went with bestaffiliatemarketingtools)
  • Choose a name that relates to you or your niche

You can see if your domain name is available using the box below:

Choose the Right Platform & Hosting – WordPress

We want to make this as simple as we can make it. We recommend SiteRubix and WordPress.

WordPress is by far the easiest Content Management System (CMS) for bloggers and affiliate marketers.  It is so easy to manage and customise your blog with a number of different themes to match the look you are after.

Over 50% of the websites out on the web are WordPress websites, showing that it is the preferred option.

But if you think of your website as a building (your house for example).  The hosting is the ground or foundations that your house is built on.

There are many hosting providers, Bluehost and SiteRubix are both good examples.

But if you are not ready to commit fully and pay for hosting, SiteRubix is the ideal choice as they will provide you with a free website and free hosting.

You will also get access to that community we spoke about earlier and mentoring from ourselves too.

If you chose SiteRubix, here are the steps you will need to follow to install a WordPress website:

  1. Choose a Domain Name
  2. Choose a Title for your website
  3. Choose a theme from the selection available
  4. Click Install Website

Once you have gone through those steps and created a free Wealthy Affiliate account.  You will get your own affiliate marketing website, access to Wealthy Affiliate’s training program and access to ourselves to help whenever you need it along your affiliate marketing journey.

If you need more help building your website, check out my step-by-step guide to building a WordPress website to go through everything in detail.

#4 Find Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners

Here is where you can start to explore the products and affiliate marketing programs there is within your chosen niche.

There is part of me says, that until you have built up an extensive range of content on your website and actually have traffic before you apply for them.  But there is nothing wrong to see what is out there for ideas on what you can write about and ultimately promote further down the line.

There are two different types of affiliate programs you can join:

  1. Affiliate Networks: Affiliate Networks group publishers that have affiliate programs under one single website platform, like Awin.  If you are accepted into an affiliate network, you will find it easier to find and apply for several different affiliate programs and it helps you keep a track of the different offers and conversions too.
  2. Individual Affiliate Programs: Some companies offer their own affiliate programs meaning you will need to apply individually to each company.  Examples include Amazon, eBay, Bluehost, etc.

Here is a list of some of the top affiliate networks:

Here is a list of individual affiliate programs:

Things You Need to Know Before You Apply to Any Affiliate Marketing Program

#1 You need to have content on your website before you start applying and sometimes you will get rejected!

Before you are allowed into an affiliate program, you will need to go through their application process.  This normally requires you to fill in some details and includes information about your website, your location and how much traffic your website is currently receiving.

Depending on the affiliate program, you might get rejected.  The main reason is normally because of a lack of content on your website before applying to the program.  We recommend you have at least 15 articles on your website to make your website look good and legit.

If you do get rejected, try to find out why by contacting them.  It will normally be down to the lack of content or traffic levels.  But when you get the feedback, you can work on what they feedback to you.

Don’t let it get you down, it is totally normal to get rejected from time to time.  Sometimes you just need to go back and prove you are in this for the long term and are willing to put the effort in.

If you imagine they get a lot of applications and the serious marketers will stand out from the crowd with their persistence.

#2 There is a minimum threshold payment you need to reach before you get paid

Most of the affiliate programs have a minimum payment threshold you need to achieve before you receive your money.  Some are as little as $10 and then there are others that are over $100.  Therefore, you may need to remain a little patient to get hold of your money.

It took us ages to receive that $3 from Amazon as we had to wait until we earned a few more sales…

Make sure you do your research and see what the minimum threshold is before you apply

#3 It could take up to three months to receive your payments

This will depend on the affiliate program.  Some pay every month on the same day.  Some will hold on to the money for at least 30 days but some all the way up to three months.

This is normally because they need to verify the sale, and most of them offer a 30-Day money back guarantee.  If someone cancels the purchase, you will not receive the commission.

#4 Check how much commission you will receive

Every affiliate program is going to be different.  Some will get you a fixed amount on someone subscribing to a service, others you will get paid a fixed commission on a sale.

Knowing the commission rate can help you determine how profitable it can be, and how feasible it is to get a sale.

It would be much easier to get some to buy into a free subscription to an app and receive $2 every time, than it would to sell a $250 product offering a $100 commission.

You need to know what is realistic and achievable

#5 You must keep track of your affiliate programs

Once you get going, you will find that you will end up with a long list of your affiliate programs and it is easy to get lost.  So, my advice is that you keep a track of all your affiliate programs you have applied.  Also, whether you were accepted or rejected.  It can also help you factor in which programs are earning you money and which ones you need to work on to improve.

Other Ways of Finding Affiliate Programs

Affiliate Networks are great in a sense, but they do not cover all the affiliate programs there could be in your niche.  So, here are a couple of ways you can find other relevant affiliate programs in your niche.

Google Search

We use google every day, and it can be as simple as typing:

“Niche + affiliate program” or “Company + Affiliate Program”

For example, if you typed “Amazon Affiliate Program” you would find the link to their associates program.

Check Out Your Competitors

You will need to keep an eye on what they are doing anyway to see how you can compete and come out on top, but you can also figure out what affiliate products they are promoting through checking out their website and hovering your mouse over their links.

Affiliate Search Platform within Wealthy Affiliate

I also want to share with you another way…  If you did decide to get a website through SiteRubix, there is an easy way of searching for a ton of affiliate programs within your niche using the Affiliate Program Search Function within Wealthy Affiliate.  You will get hundreds of results, but you will also get reactions from other Wealthy Affiliate members as to how good they are.  But you can also apply direct from the platform.  Definitely a great tool for affiliate marketers looking for affiliate programs.  Click HERE to learn about this awesome tool.

affiliate-program-search-health-and-fitness

#5 Create High Quality Content That is Relevant

I would not suggest you go out and apply for loads of affiliate programs at this point yet.  It can do more harm than good.

The simple reason is that many affiliate programs require you to have a qualifying sale within a set time period.  Amazon needs you to have 3 qualifying sales within 6 months.

Another reason is that a brand-new website full of affiliate links will not rank that well in the search engines.

So, our advice is work on building up great content before you start delving into affiliate programs.

The simple fact is that your route to success with affiliate marketing is to provide high-quality content that draws in an audience and then you can bring in affiliate offers and product reviews with affiliate links in.

Once you start getting traffic, you can then start searching for affiliate programs.

If you want to make money, you need to create engaging content worth sharing with others and that is relevant to the reader who is looking for it.

By creating in-depth blog posts that include call to actions, short paragraphs and written in a conversational style (write as though you were talking to a friend), it will make sure your readers will have a great experience on your website.

Here are some ideas of what you could include on your website in your chosen niche:

How to Guides & Tutorials

How to guides and tutorials are a great addition to your website, they are also a great way of building up trust with the reader.  Trust is an important step in them wanting to follow your advice (which will be to affiliate links).

But remember you are there to help and need to really write a guide that helps them fully.

Product Reviews

When you factor in the customer purchase lifecycle, people searching for product reviews are typically in the “ready to buy” stage and are looking for a review to see whether it is the right choice.  If you can provide an in-depth product review that can help someone with their final decision, you can earn some good money through your affiliate link.

List Articles

It is well-known that people love lists – The top ten, or 14 facts about.

List articles are a great way of attracting readers and in turn attracting traffic.

If you can create a few list articles you will see a great leap in traffic, which you need to make sales.

Product Comparisons

If you have a couple of key competitors in your niche, then a good comparison post which lists the pros and cons of each, you will have a great article.

If someone is looking for a comparison, it is likely they are in that “ready to buy” stage and just need help finalising their decision.

Before you start writing that content though, you need to understand the importance of SEO or Search Engine Optimisation.

#6 Learn to Master SEO

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an important step in getting readers to your website from Google or Bing.

SEO is a free method of getting people to your website and is really key to you getting people to your content that will lead to potential sales.

There are two factors, one is User Intent and the other is Keyword Research.

User Intent

You really need to understand what a user is looking for when they type that search into google.  By understanding your target audience’s intent, you can then answer that question in the right manner.  Understanding where that customer is in the purchase lifecycle is also key to leading them down the sales funnel.

If they are nowhere near ready to make a purchasing decision, then you should consider that in answering the question.  If they are ready to buy, you need to suggest it in a more forward manner.

To optimise your sales, you need to really understand the intent in the search and your target audience.

But you also need to be able to complete keyword research,

Keyword Research

Keyword research is integral to your affiliate marketing business.  Blindly writing blog posts related to your niche will not yield results.

You need to understand what questions people are asking Google and how many times a month people are searching for that given term.

To keep it simple, any term you type into Google is a keyword.

So “Affiliate Marketing for Dummies” may have been the keyword you typed that led you to our guide today.

But how did we know how many people are searching for that.  Well, we did some keyword research.  There are many different keyword research platforms.  For example, Ubersuggest or Jaaxy.

We are going to use Jaaxy for our example as it is integrated into Wealthy Affiliate and is the tool, we use most.

Check out the screenshot below:

This was us doing keyword research for this blog post:

jaaxy-keyword-research-example-affiliate-marketing-for-dummies

It shows us that on average 206 people search for Affiliate Marketing for Dummies on a monthly basis.  There are 126 other competing blog posts out there we are up against, so we need to ensure we write a high-quality comprehensive guide for Google to rank us high up.

You could also use Google Instant. Have you noticed how as you start typing in Google, they try to predict your question?  This is a good indicator of what people are searching, but you need to still do keyword research as it can sometimes show that the competition for that keyword is too high for a new website, or there might be a better alternative.

For example, here is a screenshot of Google Instant in action:

google-instant-example-affiliate-marketing-for-dummies

So, I could have used “internet affiliate marketing for dummies”.  But the search term does not get searched that often:

jaaxy-example-internet-affiliate-marketing-for-dummies

Meaning, I can expect less than 10 visits a month…

That is why you need to get keyword research right to bring in an audience.

If you want to learn more about keyword research, here is our complete guide.

By combining keyword research and great high-quality content you will be well on your way to building up that all-important audience.  Now, we can start adding some affiliate programs to the mix…

#7 Promote your Affiliate Offers

If you are still with us in this guide, then it means you are serious and are ready to start promoting your affiliate products and to make money!

Once you have an audience coming to your website and you have gained their trust, you can start to suggest valuable products to them.

You have to remember to only promote relevant products that your audience would be interested in.  Otherwise you will risk losing the trust your readers have gained into you.

But there are ways you can promote these products in the right way and highlight the products and services that you believe in.

Banner Ads

Banner ads are a way of promoting affiliate offers on your website.  Most affiliate programs will actually provide you with their own banners to use on your website.  Placing banners in the right places where there is a lot of traffic and relevant posts is key to conversions.

People are more likely to click on an image as it grabs their attention.

Like This!

Product Reviews

Product reviews are a great way to promote affiliate products, especially as they are targeting people who are in the “ready to buy” stage.  You must remember to be completely honest, as your readers are after your genuine opinion.  Highlight both the positives and the negatives of any product and let them know your thoughts.

They are also good to help you centralise your affiliate links.  Keeping your affiliate links to your reviews, with other posts leading to your reviews has a positive impact on your rankings.

If a website has affiliate links everywhere on it, the search engines will not see this in a good light.

In-text Content Links

This is one of the more common and easier ways to promote affiliate products.  Whenever you see a link within the text of a website, it will lead you somewhere.  People will click on it if it is relevant.  For example, we used one earlier to go through to our step-by-step guide to building a website.  This is an internal link and not an affiliate link.  It just takes you to another page on our website that is relevant to building a website.

But the idea is the same to take someone to an external link that is an affiliate link.

As long as the link is relevant and helps the user, they will be inclined to click on it.

Use Your Email List

Once you have started to build up your email list, then you also have an audience of people that are interested in what you have to say, and you can use this to promote products via your emails.

Remember to keep it genuine, relevant and not have every email selling stuff.  Include some useful hints and tips related to subjects in your niche.

I am sure you have signed up for an email list from a company and can see examples of what they send.  Not every email is a plug for a product.

Top Tips to Double or Triple Your Success Rate in Affiliate Marketing!

You will find that most people fail at affiliate marketing when they do not follow the advice, we will go through in the points below.  They walk away too soon as they think it isn’t working, but the reality is they just didn’t give it enough time.

Here are our top tips to improve your success rate!

Treat it Like a Business

Affiliate Marketing is a Business Model, it needs to be treated as such.

What we mean by treating it like a business is having a plan and working that plan.  Set yourself daily, weekly and monthly goals.

You cannot expect to put in the odd hour here or there and realistically expected results.  The problem is people do that all the time.  They put in effort for about a month and then expect there to be results, when that isn’t how it works.  Remember that you are working for the long run and not the short term like in a normal job.

Remain Consistent

If you are anything like me, we can relate this one to visiting the gym.  Everyone signs up in January to the gym to get fit.  The gyms are really busy in January.  But are they still busy in March?

The same could be said for an affiliate marketing business.  If you remain consistent and work at it at least an hour or two a day and be productive in that time, you can see success.

But the same needs to be said about learning.  You need to keep learning through your affiliate marketing business.  We are still learning now.  As you gain more experience, you can then start learning how to implement email marketing better or how to improve your sales funnels, etc.  (Here is our top recommended training program review)

You Need A Lot of Patience

You have to understand that affiliate marketing will not make you rich overnight, it is definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme.

I am guessing you will have already seen plenty of adverts for programs that make those promises.  They claim you can earn thousands overnight with a simple system.

People get scammed out of a lot of money through these programs, only to find out they are talking about affiliate marketing.  They provide only basic information and conveniently have already taken your money.

Don’t get fooled by gurus who claim they can help you earn it quicker, as they are only after your money and not to help you.

You cannot expect to see results within a few days or weeks.  If you remain persistent and motivated (and we can help you there, along with our community), you will see those results as long as you follow the right step-by-step plan.

Remain Patient and Determined and you will see those results…

Find a Mentor

Having a mentor and support is a massive step towards success.  Someone to help and guide you when you feel lost or demotivated.

But how can you find a mentor without paying a huge fee?

Don’t worry, we have got you covered.  Like we have mentioned a couple of times in this guide, there is a community where we like to hang out.  There are a lot of successful affiliate marketers in many different markets on there, ready to help you out.

This community is a great resource for any budding affiliate marketer, and we have a number of different mentors from whom we are following and learning from.

All you need to do is create a FREE account HERE and you will be able to mastermind with other like-minded affiliate marketers very soon.

How Can I Learn More About Affiliate Marketing for Beginners?

I hope you have found this guide for beginners useful and you have a good understanding of what affiliate marketing is.

Affiliate Marketing is THE best way to make money online.  Affiliate Marketing is only going to grow as more and more people go online to do their purchases.

If you really want to become successful with Affiliate Marketing, you are going to Love Wealthy Affiliate.

This course is how we got started with affiliate marketing and are now earning a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income thanks to their training and support.  They offer you a Free membership to get you started with fantastic training on Affiliate Marketing, a free website with hosting and they also provide you access to a huge community of over 2 million affiliate marketers and direct access to the owners to ask for their help and support at every step of the way.

If you are ready to take the first step into building your own affiliate marketing website with our support and the support from the team at Wealthy Affiliate, then all you need to do is click the button below and sign up.  We will be there on the inside waiting to help you out.

wealthy-affiliate-banner-ad

Are You Ready To…?

  • Do something once and get paid over and over again
  • Make money whilst you sleep
  • Work anytime and anywhere you want
  • Have more time to be with your family
  • Plus, many other benefits…

We have tried to cover as much as we can with our Affiliate Marketing for Dummies guide, and we hope that you have found it useful?

If you still have any questions, we encourage you to write them in the comments section below and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

We hope you are really considering starting your own affiliate marketing business and can start building for you future with what you have learned.  Wewe are here to help anyone who needs it, all you need to do is ask

All the best

John & Gem

Get It Now!!

Get Your FREE Affiliate Marketing Blueprint

Learn How to Create Your Own Passive Income Making Machine – 4 Steps to Success

54 thoughts on “Affiliate Marketing for Dummies: A Complete Guide for Beginners”

  1. What a pleasant site to visit. Affiliate marketing for dummies is indeed what I need to read on now. As an aspiring blogger myself, it can be overwhelming reading on so many different approaches to affiliate marketing available online. I like the fact that you have shown what you earned initially $3! It might not be much for some but to be honest it feels good. I earned my first 0.25pence yesterday and I could not be happier. Well done for putting this together as it is very inspiring for people new to affiliate marketing like myself. I will be coming back to read on your progress 🙂 To success! 

    Reply
    • Hi Flo,

      Well Done on achieving that first sale!!  It definitely feels awesome doesn’t it?

      Glad you found our post useful, we wanted to ensure anyone who wanted to understand affiliate marketing got the information they needed without feeling that they couldn’t achieve it.  Anyone with the right mindset can achieve that first sale and then move on to making it a full-time income!!

      Good luck with the rest of your enterprise, if you ever need any help.  Just drop us a note…

      All the best

      John & Gem

      Reply
  2. I believe that affiliate marketing is a great business. The kind of money that can be made along with the benefits is so amazing. The names that you called and the kind of money they are earning are so great this is why so many people are interested in this business because of the kind of freedom they can have provided you can generate a good income. Your post is filled with valuable information that will help those who are looking for a way to make passive income.

    Reply
  3. What an absolutely brilliant article. Such a lot of in depth knowledge that is really simple to understand. This is very well written and extremely professional but what I liked the most is that it comes across in a very genuine way which is what I really liked. You have gone into so much detail that will enable people to make a good choice if deciding to do a business from home. 

    I know I am really enjoying my affiliate marketing with Wealthy Affiliates because like your article their training is phenomenal and so in depth. Also the community of people that are around really allows you to help improve yourself and in turn make money on line through hard work and effort.

    I think if people are seriously interested you have provided them with every aspect of what to expect, why and how. I think this is so well written.

    Thank you so much  

    Reply
    • Hi Imelda,

      thanks for checking out our guide and for the great feedback.  We wanted to ensure we included as much info as we could to help aspiring affiliate marketers.

      All the best

      John & Gem

      Reply
  4. Your article really is a complete guide to what you need to know to become an affiliate marketer and have your own business online. The only thing missing is the person to come on in and get started.  You have as complete a guide as I have seen for someone wanting to learn affiliate marketing.  The resources are many, the examples are there, the steps are laid out in a very orderly way.  Anyone who is wondering where to go to learn all the business of affiliate marketing should be ready to take the step.

    I think that it is important to be open and forthcoming with information and the steps necessary to be successful in affiliate marketing.  For me, as I learned and built my first site, knowing that the process had an end and that there were people who had been successfully doing this was important.  With the first site, you are afraid to start, then afraid when you get your site built that it isn’t done right.  “That was too easy,” you think.  Lots of unknowns, but so reassuring that you have a network of people who are doing exactly what you are to take to, to ask questions of.  These make a difference.  

    Reply
    • Hey Sami,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  I think you have touched on some great points.  Knowing if it will work when you haven’t seen yourself earn anything yet is something hard for many to get their head around.  People often become wary of any claims until they know it works.

      But it so does, and there are plenty of success stories within Wealthy Affiliate that show it does happen for many people who follow the right strategy.  Having that community to fall back on is a huge advantage WA members have when they are feeling a little low and need a pick-me-up!!

      All the best Sami

      John & Gem

      Reply
  5. Hello folks. Good to see you share this insightful and indept article explaining what Affiliate Marketing truly is and how one can get started with Affiliate Marketing. I love purchasing stuffs online; especially gadgets. It is much more convenient and easy too. I love it because an article once published is capable of generating hundreds to thousands of dollars over the years. I love it because I don’t need to own my own products; I simply promote others people’s product and get commissions when any sale comes in through my links. Wealthy Affiliate looks like a great place to get started for free.

    Reply
    • Hi Tush,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  Often people think you need to have your own products to sell online, but affiliate marketing done away with that need.  Just promote someone else’s product and you can still make money.

      That is one of the great things about affiliate marketing!!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  6. Nice review on affiliate marketing for beginners. I am actually new to affiliate market, i heard of it for the first time last year and since then i have not really looked into it.I like the fact that affiliate marketing give financial freedom as you make as much as you work compared to working for somebody. I want to be a boss so i am considering going into it.

    Reply
    • Hi Iheanacho,

      it can bring you financial freedom if you are willing to work for it.  It does require a lot of time and effort to ensure that you see the results you are seeking.  But when you are working on a hobby or passion, it becomes one of the most enjoyable things to actually do.  Especially when it does start making you money…

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  7. Affiliate Marketing is definitely one of the best opportunities the web has to offer. You can literally build a business without even selling your own products (which can bring a lot of complications). I like that you listed all fundamental stages of the affiliate marketing process and explained each stage in detail. I couldn’t agree more with your last two statements: “treat it like a business” and “be patient”…. these are probably the biggest misconceptions about Affiliate Marketing. Sure, the initial costs are trivial compared to a physical business but the work you have to put in it is similar and you can’t expect immediate results. You have to work hard week after week, month after month before you can really profit from Affiliate Marketing. 

    Reply
    • Hi Horatius,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  Building any business requires hard work and time.  Whether that is a bricks and mortar business where you are spending tens of thousands of dollars to an affiliate marketing business where your initial spend is minimal.  It still comes down the the same thing, if you are passionate about building a future for yourself, you will treat it like a business and patience is really important too.

      Those are succeed and earn financial freedom are those that follow these steps to the letter and keep persevering.  Hopefully our guide helps people get the right mindset as well as the help they need.

      All the best

      John & Gem

      Reply
  8. Hello there! this is an amazing review you have got here on affiliate marketing. As a newbie in the game, it is very much possible to use this post as a guide to achieving success in affiliate marketing as it carries up to date information business. 

    Thank you very much for sharing this with me, Its helpful!

    Reply
  9. This is probably the most thourough post I have read about what affiliate marketing is. You really cover every single aspect of it. It is a jungle out there of different affiliate marketing programs. Some are great and legit others are scams and quickschemes that will not last for long. I can reassure any beginners that Wealthy Affiliate is the real deal and the best way to start if you want to start with affiliate marketing. I am a member myself and the training you get with WA really works. This guide is superb for any affiliate marketing newbie.

    Reply
    • Hey Hilde,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  It is true, there are so many get-rich-quick schemes all claiming to do the work for you.  But they really do not.  They often are touting information from decades ago that might have worked back then, but will achieve you nothing these days.

      Wealthy Affiliate is our top recommended training as they have a proven success record, offer so much support and you do feel like you are part of a community of people who all want to help each other achieve.

      It works and there are so many members who can attest to that!!

      Thanks again Hilde

      John & Gem

      Reply
  10. John, this was by far one of the most interesting and understandable articles about Affiliate Marketing that I have come across. So often people use all these fancy and confusing ways to explain it that I usually end up leaving more conflicted than when I started.

    Your article helped me a lot.

    I have concluded that Affiliate Marketing is an online referral. Just like I would refer someone to my favourite coffee shop and get a free cup of coffee. Right?

    What is very appealing is the opportunity to earn income passively. I am now learning and building out a foundation to earn passive income for my retirement years and you have given me some good food for thought.

    Thank you.

    Cassandra

    Reply
    • Hi Cassandra,

      that is exactly what affiliate marketing is.  When you think about it as a “refer a friend” type gig, then you start to appreciate that this has nothing to do with sales, which can put many people off.  This is about helping your friends with their questions and decisions.  

      In affiliate marketing, helping will bring much more sales than any pushy sales techniques.

      Glad you found our post useful!

      All the best

      John & Gem

      Reply
  11. Hey John, Hey Gem,

    Really loved reading this article. Thanks for putting it together!

    It sounds like affiliate marketing is a pretty big commitment in time and effort, but it can pay off in spades in the long run.

    Very interesting article. Love the title!

    Michael

    Reply
    • Hi Michael,
      thanks for checking out our guide.
      It is like any business, time and commitment are what are needed if you want to reap the rewards. Anyone who plays at it, will not really reach the heights that can come with affiliate marketing.
      Thanks again
      John

      Reply
  12. A really detailed article and some great content. I’ve only had my online business up and running for a few weeks now and have certainly made some mistakes along the way. I think planning was one of the key ones but I also think I got caught up on all of the noise on the internet these days. Too many unrealistic ‘get rich’ type promotions when the reality is that we all have to invest genuine time to become subject matter experts and really offer our audience some value. Your write up would be a good place to start for any aspiring affiliate marketers though so I’ll keep it in mind for any friends that really want to give it a go.

    All the best – Jason.

    Reply
    • Hey Jason,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  There are plenty of shiny objects out there that can distract us from getting on with the work needed.  I have been guilty of it.  You do get a bit impatient at times and you look to see if there is a way of speeding things up… and you know what?  

      All the do is slow you down. I share my experiences to help others avoid the pitfalls.

      Keep going Jason and you will make it, I am sure

      All the best

      John & Gem

      Reply
  13. Hi John, Hi Gem,

    Thank you for writing this wonderful post on affiliate marketing.

    It sounds like affiliate marketing takes a lot of hard work on the front end, but it can really pay off in spades in the long run.

    I’m really glad I read this article.  I’ll have to look further into affiliate marketing as an extra income stream.

    Michael

    Reply
    • Hi Michael,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  It will take hard work, there is no other way of saying it.  But there is a difference between working hard on a proven strategy, then working hard with no clear direction.

      That is why we created this guide and recommend Wealth Affiliate as their comprehensive training plan has a proven success record – as long as you put the work in the make it happen!!

      If you want to try them out and see what they have to offer, their starter membership is totally free.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  14. It was a real pleasure to read this article, the layout is very appealing and it basically covers every aspect for beginners to understand what affiliate marketing is about. And I think you have done very well in being realistic when it comes to how much work you will have to put in and to stay consistent. It is essential also to know when you have to apply for affiliate programs because I have done that too early – I think I need at least 50 good quality posts on my website before I can apply. Thank you very much for this piece of information. I will read and study this again and have marked it to share with others.

    Reply
    • Hi Angelika,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  It will depend on the niche, but 50 posts is a great target and shows the affiliate programs you are serious about this.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  15. This is a very superb article about affiliate marketing and how you can succeed if you put in the work. It tells what affiliate marketing is and how you can make a living by selling other people’s products. This article is very honest by stating that it is not a get rich quick scheme and requires input and patience. The rewards can be very lucrative as many affiliate marketers have gone on to make a very good living by earning commisions from other people’s products.

    Reply
    • Hey Bill,

      thanks for checking out our guide. It does require time and effort, but is totally worth it in the long run…

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  16. Such a nice article John! This is truly a beginner guide to affiliate marketing. The way you explained everything step-by-step is easy to follow and understand. I loved your Uber’s example and yeah we never notice but at some point in time, all of us have been involved with affiliate marketing in some way. And yeah it is definitely not easy or get rich quick scheme but with time and efforts it is possible to get the right skills and money.

    Reply
    • Hey Vinayak, it hit me as soon as I learned the term.  I had never heard of it, but had done refer a friend for years never realising it was the same thing.  I find it funny now.

      thanks for checking out our guide

      John

      Reply
  17. This a very thorough explanation about affiliate marketing. I have my own blog but some of my posts do not have any affiliate products to promote. Your very detailed explanation made me realize the potential revenue my site can generate using affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing for dummies is an excellent read for beginners and experts alike because of tons of information offered. Your reviews about Wealthy Affiliate is extremely helpful to anyone who wants to start an online business. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article. 

    Reply
  18. In my opinion this article is the most beneficial for beginners who want to embark on this journey of the affiliate marketing industry.
    Reading your article I realize that the future of online is affiliate marketing. A big advantage is that you not only make money from it but gradually you manage to learn how to become a successful entrepreneur, in the field in which you are passionate.
    Thanks a lot for this opportunity of reading your words. Good luck!

    Reply
    • Hey Nagy,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  Affiliate Marketing is definitely growing, as more people shop online (especially when they cannot leave the house at the moment) the opportunity for people to get started is only getting better.

      thanks

      John

      Reply
  19. Just like you mentioned in this how-to guide, was researching ways to make money online and blogging is the one that keeps coming up as a top recommended way. Affiliate Marketing is easy to do, just needs time and dedication. I hope this article reaches many who are wanting to learn affiliate marketing, as your guide really did help me with putting my website blog together. I will be sharing your guide on social media.

    Reply
    • Hi Janette,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  Affiliate Marketing and Blogging are great ways to make money online!!

      Glad you found our guide useful

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  20. Hi, I joined Wealthy Affiliate just over 2 and a half months ago, I started with the free membership and it was a great way to get started. The support from the community is amazing, any problems you just ask and theres always someone to help you out. I never thought in a million years I would be able to do anything like this as I’m the least technical person on the planet, but the training issue easy to follow. you can do it in your own time and before you know it you have your own website with 30 articles! I still need to get traffic to my site so I’ve found your guide really useful, I need to produce more content still, and maybe cross link within my site. 

    really enjoyed reading this, it compounded the fact I made the right decision going with WA and to keep working hard to achieve success.

    Reply
    • HI Amy,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  It looks like you have already found the best training platform on the planet and you are well on your way to building your own passive income stream.  Glad you found our guide useful!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  21. Thank you for the overview here and I really appreciate this here. Seriously, this is very good here because you have given a lot of things and I am quite more clearer about affiliate marketing. This actually seems like the perfect one for me and I’m delighted that I read this Herr. Thank you for the overview

    Reply
    • Hey Darmie,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  We are so glad you found it useful.  Affiliate Marketing is a great way for someone to make money, especially as you can incorporate a hobby or something you love already.  There are certain aspects that do require some learning, and then time to put it into action.  But for those who are willing to work hard and achieve financial freedom through it, there is no better way of making money online!

      All the best,

      John

      Reply
  22. This is a very good one for me to learn as you have just shared tips on how to do affiliate marketing which I thought before that is not something that a person like me can do because it is not beginner friendly. Now I see that it is more than that and with a good training platform I would be able to become successful with it.

    Reply
    • Hey Jackie,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  It can seem really complicated, or out of reach when you don’t really know enough about it.  But it is actually a lot simpler than a lot of people make it out.  It does require a level of training to get started, if you don’t currently know much about online marketing, but when you have resources such as those on Wealthy Affiliate, it becomes really simple and the main ingredient is your hard work and perseverance.

      To many people get bogged down by the fact that they don’t know how to build a website or they don’t feel their writing is that good.  But let me tell you, before I got started I didn’t have a clue either.

      With the right training and support, this is something that you can achieve and turn into a passive income stream you are proud of.  Affiliate Marketing is totally beginner friendly, with the right support.  We are here to help anyone who wants to get started…

      All the best,

      John

      Reply
  23. Hello John, 

    Affiliate marketing is a very good means of earning money online and most people do all they can to get the best knowledge of it so as to make progress while in business. I have seen some very good guide and this is a very good addition for me. Some newbies have issues understanding the basics and this would be very helpful 

    Reply
    • Hey Reece,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  With how quickly the online world changes, it is always good advice to keep on learning even if you feel you have a good handle on anything.  That goes for affiliate marketing.  This guide is ideal for beginners just starting out, but as you progress through your journey, don’t think the learning ever stops.

      There are always ways of doing things smarter or better, so anyone reading this needs to know that learning is integral to success with it, alongside hard work and perseverence.

      All the best,

      John

      Reply
  24. Earning income from the internet has become a gold mine. About some times ago, when the online world was virtually seen as a luxury, a place where some one can make it big. no individual could believe that it would be easy and simple to earn so much money from home, making use of your computer at your free time at home. Today, this blog-post has placed us a shortlist of the trendiest directions that can always assist newbie and beginner earn income on the internet from home.

    Reply
    • Hey Joshua,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  I agree with you to an extent, although people also believe that it can be as easy as clicking a button and earning money and that unfortunately ends with them being scammed or losing loads of money.

      There is a degree that it is simple to earn money online, and affiliate marketing is one of those avenues.  But I wouldn’t say it is easy.  Only because it requires hard work.  It is simple enough to do, but you have to sit there and understand that it will require you to do research and help people.

      Once people have the right mindset, I think it is the best way to earn money online.  But it is also a mindset people struggle with…

      All the best,

      John

      Reply
  25. Hi,

    From my online research affiliate marketing is referring people or recommending a product or service to people and getting a reward for it which is called commission, there must be a form of learning or training to be an affiliate marketer, it involves skills, experience and energy because is not a get rich quick source of making passive income online.

    Thank you.

    Aluko.

    Reply
    • Hi Aluko,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  Fundamentally, affiliate marketing does work like that.  Many people wrongly assume that easy means instant profits.  That’s how they end up falling into so many scams.  It is often because people are desperate or eager to resolve their money issues.

      But they can also lose a lot of time chasing shiny objects that end up being scams, when they could resolve their money problems sooner by putting some hard work and effort into building themselves an affiliate marketing business…

      All the best,

      John

      Reply
  26. What a great post! I love how detailed you are on it and I love all of what you said, it’s a great one for a newbie to read as well! 

    And I like how you have links to sites as well. 

    Thanks for the great post on this, it’s great to know about this before I joined! 

    Reply
    • Hey Rebekah,

      thanks for checking out our guide!  We’re so glad you found it useful… If you ever need any help, we’re always here to offer help and advice…

      All the best,

      John & Gem

      Reply
  27. Hi guys. What an impressive article! I’m just starting my adventure with affiliated marketing and posts like these (and whole your blog to be fair) are huge help. It’s such complex topic with so many sites, programs and platforms that your advices are precious for every beginner. Thank you very much for your work, every time Im visiting your blog Im learning something new.

    Reply
    • Hey Cogito,

      thanks for checking out our guide!  So, glad you found it useful!  It does appear like it’s really complex, but when you break it down, just remember it’s all about helping others with their questions, concerns, problems, etc. 

      Don’t try to overcomplicate it, as long as you’re providing content that helps them with those queries, then you’ll be well on your way.

      If you ever need any help or advice, we’re always here to help.

      All the best

      John

      Reply

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