Want to know how does affiliate marketing really work? It’s a common question, and you’ll be surprised at how simple the answer is…
A lot of people make it sound like it’s a really complicated process, just so they can sell you an expensive tool, or something to make you believe they have the answer to making you money really quickly…
Today, we’re going to break it down and go through the basics of affiliate marketing. That way you’ll have a full understanding of the process, and how simple it is… But also, actually how much effort goes into it.
That way, you should also be able to avoid the thousands of scams out there pitching affiliate marketing as a get-rich-quick scheme…
You ready to get started? Let’s go…
Like I said, Affiliate Marketing is a very simple process… but that doesn’t automatically make it easy to do. There are many examples of people earning thousands of dollars a month through affiliate marketing, but there are also examples of those people who gave up too soon, thinking that it doesn’t work.
Our guide will help you get a full understanding of how does affiliate marketing really work. It’ll also take you through what it takes to be successful. I’ll also show you how you can get the best start, through the best training on the planet.
But you’ll also have to figure out if you have the patience, and tenacity to make this work for you… Let’s start with the basic process of affiliate marketing.
Table of Contents
How Does Affiliate Marketing Really Work?
What might surprise is that, you’ve probably already been involved in the process of affiliate marketing loads of times, and may not have always realised…
Ever used an uber? Did you get a “how did we do” text and a code to share with a friend for a discount off your next ride?
That’s affiliate marketing…
When online shopping, did you check out a review before you bought something, and clicked on a “check price” button on that website, then bought something?
That’s affiliate marketing…
There are many examples of where affiliate marketing, or a type of affiliate marketing is used. It basically comes back to the idea of a “Refer A Friend” type process.
Now, let’s go through the basics of Affiliate Marketing…
The Affiliate Marketing Process – The Basics of Affiliate Marketing
When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are 3 parties. There is the affiliate (you), there is the affiliate program (the company/product owner) and there is the customer (the buyer).
As an affiliate, you choose to join an affiliate program – this gives you the ability to promote a product or service via a blog (website) or social media.
When you join an affiliate program, they give you the ability to share products with a special link. This link is what tells the company who referred the customer to the product. It is like a stamp that says “I am the one that introduced the customer to that product”.
If the buyer follows that link to the website offering the product or service and they make a purchase, you then earn a commission. This commission is either a flat rate or a percentage of the sale price, depending on the affiliate program.
To make it easier, let’s have a look at the flow chart below:
One of the easiest affiliate programs to join and use as an example is Amazon.
More and more people are using Amazon to purchase items and they offer an affiliate program called Amazon Associates.
They offer over 500 million products (yep, that is a lot of products). This also helps show the opportunity that affiliate marketing offers as there is a niche for anyone to explore.
Whatever your interest, hobby or subject you can help others with – they will typically have products for you to promote.
If I drive someone from my website, social media account or even an email sent out to a mailing list with affiliate links included and they make a purchase, say a kitchen appliance like a coffee machine, I earn 6% commission on that. So, if the coffee machine cost $100, I earn $6. (Please note, Amazon has recently changed their commission structure).
That might not sound a lot, but there are 100,000’s buying kitchen appliances every day on Amazon. If you managed to sell 100 kettles a day that is $180 a day that you could be earning.
The thing to consider is that if you were selling a more expensive item, say $1000 flat screen TV and you managed to sell 30 of those that is $1,800 commission.
A huge market to go after is the weight loss or keeping fit niches. Another good example is pets. These are good evergreen niches, as people will always be looking for help and support with those subjects.
Starting an affiliate marketing business around these areas, could easily end up with you having a full-time income just by helping people make purchasing decisions.
That shows the reality of Affiliate Marketing with only a couple of examples.
Now you know what the Affiliate Marketing Process is, let’s talk a bit about what that means for You, the Affiliate.
Related Post: Why Do Companies Use Affiliate Marketing?
Who Can Become An Affiliate Marketer?
Generally speaking, there is not usually anything stopping someone becoming an affiliate and it is usually free to join an affiliate program.
There are a few cases where they may charge a small fee, but that is usually to verify you are a real person. But, like I said it is very rare.
It is also a thing to look out for, to protect yourself from scams.
Affiliate Programs should be free!
The company is benefiting from you promoting their products and services so they do not have to have a huge marketing campaign budget.
They only pay out if someone makes a purchase which makes it a huge benefit to companies.
If you find they are charging what seems like a high fee, they are likely a scam or a low quality affiliate program and I would steer clear. When you have more experience, you might think otherwise. But for now, stay away from paid ones.
What is great about affiliate programs are they are (usually) free to join as an affiliate, you get to promote pretty much every brand, product or service going and get to earn a commission for doing so.
With Amazon alone, there are over 500 million products and services to promote as an affiliate.
But there are thousands of affiliate programs out there.
Many Affiliate Marketers start out with Amazon, but when you do the research required – there are many companies and affiliate networks that offer an affiliate program. They also offer a much better commission rate than Amazon does.
Some even have a 50% commission rate, but are usually harder for you to join as they want you to have some good traffic flow to your website first.
That is why Amazon is so good for beginners.
You will find there are endless possibilities when it comes to affiliate marketing and the affiliate programs that come with them.
How Do Affiliate Programs Work?
Simply put, an affiliate program is a piece of software that allows affiliates (you) to promote merchants and earn a commission. The affiliate program tracks all clicks, sales transactions and calculates all the commission automatically.
It will also allow you to manage payment details and personal details. They also give you a dashboard that allows you to track your own progress.
Affiliate Program stats are automated and accurate. They are always getting technological updates all the time to allow Affiliates & Company’s to get better data to improve the processes.
It is especially important for an Affiliate to know which links are converting better than others and which sources you are getting better results with to capitalise on them.
Affiliate Programs also offer promotional materials – banners, widgets or even plugins that help you leverage the offer on your website or social media.
The better the affiliate program is, the more the affiliate has on offer to promote products or services.
What’s An Affiliate Network?
Whilst there are many independent affiliate programs, sometimes it is easier to go with an Affiliate Network.
For example, Awin is the largest Affiliate network in the world and you would gain access to promoting 6,000 different companies and their respective products with one account.
There are plenty of affiliate networks out there, with 100,000’s of companies and brands within those networks. Joining a couple of affiliate networks could save you a lot of time and effort, as you would only need to manage a couple of accounts rather than doing it independently with each company and having loads to worry about.
Some of the most popular Affiliate Networks are:
- Awin (see related post: Everything You Need to Know About Awin)
- Amazon Associates (see related post: How to Make Money with the Amazon Associates program)
- eBay Partners
- CJ by Conversant (see related post: What is CJ Affiliate by Conversant?)
- Clickbank.com (see related post: Can You Make Money with Clickbank?)
- ShareASale (see related post: What is Share A Sale About? A ShareASale Review)
- Rakuten
- MoreNiche.com
Getting Paid with Affiliate Marketing…
Affiliate Programs do not make it difficult for you to get paid. They want the process to be seamless to encourage affiliates to join them.
Of course, they all pay differently, have different pay schedules. It is also typical for them pay in US Dollars, regardless of where you are in the world.
There are some that will pay you in your own currency, but don’t be surprised if you find it to be US dollars.
There are also payment gateways, such as PayPal that will convert it into your own currency.
Depending on the affiliate program, you could receive payment via:
- Cheque Payment
- PayPal
- Bank Transfer
- Payoneer
- Cryptocurrency
As an example, Amazon associates offers the option of Amazon gift cards or bank transfer. Or Wealthy Affiliate (Which I am a member) pays primarily through Paypal, but there is the option of Cheque payments or if you are earning enough they will do a bank transfer.
Affiliate Programs would shoot themselves in the foot if they made it difficult to pay affiliates… Would you promote a company that made it difficult for you to receive your money?
What’s The Opportunity With Affiliate Marketing?
The opportunity with Affiliate Marketing really has no limit!!
The number of people who are buying online is growing by the day.
But when people buy online it is so different to when they go to a store.
If you go to a store you get to see the product, feel the product and check it out. Online, people are resorting to researching reviews of products.
What did other buyers think, is there an in-depth review of the product online?? That is your opportunity, regardless of the niche you pick.
If you know a lot about digital cameras and could share your knowledge and experience of how to use cameras, which would be a great camera for a starter and the prospective buyer gets a great amount of information from you and they trust you through what you write.
There is your opportunity to earn commissions.
However, do not just focus on selling to people. It is the one thing that will actually get in the way of you making any sales.
Think of it this way, if I had already made my decision to buy a particular product – why would I be searching for a blog with some information on that product…?
I wouldn’t, I am searching online because I am looking for some help with my purchasing decisions:
- What products are there?
- Which particular product is the best?
- Why is that particular product the best?
- Is it right for me personally?
You need to help people with their questions, before you lead them to the right product for them. It is by far, the best strategy for affiliate marketers.
My biggest piece of advice for wannabe Affiliate Marketers is help the reader, do not sell to them.
Write Product Reviews, How to Guides, Share Your Experiences With the Audience and you will have yourself the foundations of a great affiliate marketing business.
If you just put a load of affiliate links on your website and sold things to them too hard, they will switch off very easily and you will get impeded by the search engines (Google) as they don’t like to see a website full of affiliate links without helpful information.
Does Affiliate Marketing Really Work…?
This is where I just want to clarify a few things you might have heard about when doing some research into Affiliate Marketing.
Does it really work…? Yes is the short answer.
However, there are many that state it doesn’t work and that is normally because of their expectations.
There is no magic formula that will make affiliate marketing work overnight. Regardless of what some crappy products tell you.
This is an online business model that requires you to work hard and will not earn you a return on that work straightaway.
I do not want to sugar coat it, you will not be earning money within a couple of weeks with affiliate marketing.
But, these gurus want to sell you products that claim to do the work for you and guess what? They don’t work. All they do is get that “guru” some more money in his pocket and that is all he cares about.
Affiliate Marketing is awesome, but it is NOT:
- A Get-Rich-Scheme
- A Pyramid or MLM Scheme
What Affiliate Marketing Requires:
- (A Lot of) Time to Learn
- (A Lot of) Time to Invest into your Business
- Hard Work (and more Hard Work)
If you feel that you cannot wait for this to work, then affiliate marketing is probably not for you.
But if you want to invest into your future and think back in a couple of years, this was such a great decision (like we do).
Then Affiliate Marketing can be a great business plan towards working from home and working towards financial freedom.
With the Right Mindset, Affiliate Marketing Definitely Does Work!
If you want to get some expert help and support with your affiliate marketing business plan, then carry on reading!
Where Can You Get The Best Training, & Start For Your Business?
If you think you have the patience, and belief that you can make affiliate marketing a success, I would advise you start researching into the best training platforms there are out there to teach you affiliate marketing.
My personal favourite is Wealthy Affiliate. Thanks to their training, tools, and support we’ve been able to Create a 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income Stream from Affiliate Marketing.
It wasn’t easy, it took a lot of time and effort. But we wouldn’t be where we are today, without their support.
The best thing about them is their honesty and transparency. There are too many programs out there claiming to help you get rich, and they all end up being scams or not worth your money.
But with Wealthy Affiliate, you’ll find a supportive hand whenever you need it, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs all eager to provide advice too.
Their step-by-step training guide is designed to take anyone (regardless of your technical skills, or lack of) through how to choose your niche, build your own website, and start helping others with your content.
If you’re serious about getting started with Affiliate Marketing, you’ll find no better training platform out there.
What’s even better, is that you can try them for free (no credit card is required). Their free starter membership will take you through ten lessons. By the end of those lessons, you will know if affiliate marketing is the right choice and direction for you.
If you would like to learn more about this amazing training platform, then here’s a link to our full review.
Affiliate Marketing is honestly the best way to make money online, and thanks to Wealthy Affiliate, we are well on our way to achieving our goal!!
Conclusion
There you have it, the basics of how does affiliate marketing work. Hopefully, you’ve found our guide useful? If you have, let us know in the comments. Or, if you still have some unanswered questions, please write them in the comments section below too.
Before you go, you might find our Affiliate Marketing blueprint guide useful, fill in the form below and make sure you get your copy…
Get our Affiliate Marketing BluePrint to Success Guide to Making Money Online
If You’re Serious About Wanting To Make Money, You Need This Guide…
Hello John
As someone who is looking for a passive income(and who isn’t), I found your article both exciting and informative. There are so many bloggers suggesting different companies and even more people calling everything a scam. Which has left me wondering if there are really any legitimate and honest ones?
I’m going to give WA a checkout and see what happens.
Thanks so much
Paul
Hey Paul,
thanks for taking the time to read my article – I am so glad that you found it useful! Unfortunately there are too many people out there calling everything a scam to try and seduce people into their chosen product. They key to being an authority in a niche is honesty. Just because you do not like a product doesnt mean it is a scam
I created this site to help people with affiliate marketing and the many different tools out there too. I am also a big advocate for Wealthy Affiliate only because of the positive experience I have had with them, hence why I recommend them.
Thanks again for your comments
John
Thanks for adding the list of popular affiliate programs, I was wondering about that not long ago. I’d heard of Amazon, eBay and Clickbank, but none of the others. How long approximately were you creating content with Wealthy Affiliate before you started making money? Are you able to do this full time, or do you have a full time job?
Hi Jolene,
thanks for taking the time to read my post!
It can be quite surprising how many affiliate programs there are. I started making money after about 6 months following Wealthy Affiliate’s training and at the moment it is a part time income as I continue to scale up my business.
Many have started affiliate marketing as a side gig to pay off debt, earn some extra money and then there are those who have been able to ditch the day job. I haven’t as of yet, but I am definitely driven too.
Thanks again
John
I personally am doing affiliate marketing and though there is a learning curve, I think that it gets easier with time and practice. As with anything that is new to us, it can seem pretty daunting and hard. But if we receive the right training, the right tools and the right kind of support, as is what is available with Wealthy Affiliate, then living the laptop lifestyle is not too far off.
It won’t make people rich overnight but give it a few months to a few years and you could quit your job… 🙂 I still have not quit mine yet as I’m still learning, but I can see that affiliate marketing has HUGE potential. I mean, there’s 8 billion people in the world, most people that have access to the internet and who are hooked to online shopping more than ever. This is only the start to the affiliate marketing age.
Hi Reyna,
thanks for taking the time to read my post and write a comment.
I agree, there is a steep learning curve and I am not sure I would be there without the help and support Wealthy Affiliate and the community offer. Affiliate Marketing is growing more and more popular with many companies coming onboard. Keep at it, and I am sure you will get to the point where you can quit your job.
All the best
John
Thanks for this John, thats a very clear explanation that I can share with others. I am of the mind that affiliate marketing is getting more and more popular and some new companies are choosing to make it their main marketing method, that way they don’t have to spend lots on a marketing department, and affiliates are highly motivated, as you can imagine. Also thanks for the list of Affiliate Networks. I was wandering if you could tell me the best affiliate network for finding new product launches?
Hey Lucy Lee,
thanks for taking the time to read my article and share your thoughts. I do agree that affiliate marketing is booming. Marketing campaigns can be really expensive and as more company’s look into affiliate marketing it is a great opportunity for those involved.
Awin.com is the biggest affiliate network going and is going to attract attention from any companies coming onboard. I would also keep an eye on Amazon, as they have over 500,000 products and is growing all the time.
It would depend on your niche, but these would be the 2 I would keep an eye on.
Thanks again
John
Hello John,
Thanks for your encouraging post! I am also embarking on doing affiliate marketing and find it inspiring that you were able to earn money after about 6 months following Wealthy Affiliate’s training. Was that with this website or another product or targeted niche website?
How can I find out how much competition there is before choosing a niche?
Thank you in advance, John
Hey John,
thanks for taking the time to read my article and found it useful. I actually started earning with a different website, but found it was a little too generalised and want to focus on what I really wanted to do and help people with affiliate marketing.
First thing I will say is do not worry too much about the competition! If you can write a better article than the one that is at the top
If you did a broad search in google, you would see 59 million results come up. One of things I will always remember from the Wealthy Affiliate Training is, when you check out these results at the top – they might be there as google couldn’t find anything better to put there. If you could create better content to the one that is there, you could easily rank for it using the ‘low hanging fruit’ technique.
Not all niches have been explored fully, so google will just fill the gaps until they find content that truly answers the questions the reader was after.
If you wanted to truly explore the niche you want to invest your time and effort into, I would recommend a tool like Jaaxy. Using their competition search, you can see what there is in that given niche.
I’ll give you an example, I run my wife’s wedding stationary website. Weddings are highly competitive, and yet when you target keywords correctly, research and write articles that are engaging and get people using your website it shows what Wealthy Affiliate teaches is invaluable. Even if you are launching a new website against one that has been there for years.
Hope that helps, any questions get in touch
John
HI John!
Great article here on Affiliate Marketing. All the information you shared here is priceless. Wealthy affiliate seems like a pretty legit site. With so many scams going on what made you believe in WA? how long have you been using the affiliate marketing model? Do you think it is the best option for the beginner?
Hey Jamie,
thanks for taking the time to check out my post and I appreciate your comments!
Experiencing the Community and Training first-hand is what made me believe in Wealthy Affiliate. The chance to spend 7 days with the features as a starter member without any commitment. It shows how much Kyle & Carson (the owners) want people to make up their own mind about Wealthy Affiliate and the best way is by experience.
Just before joining WA, I had come up against a number of roadblocks (scams) and it unfortunately paints a picture online – too many sites claim you can earn a million sitting on your sofa doing nothing – the Second reason I joined WA was they were honest. It takes real time and effort to build an online business.
I have now been with WA 2 years and that was my first experience with Affiliate Marketing. Is it right for a beginner, that depends. If you are patient and are willing to invest time and effort in learning everything you need to know, putting into practise and realising it will not be an overnight success (it took me 6 months to earn anything from Affiliate Marketing) then yes it is the right option for a beginner.
Thanks again for your comments
John
Hey i really enjoyed this article, it was very informative. Affiliate marketing is a good way to make good money if its done right and if you can bring in the traffic. It does take a lot of time though to build up to that. I am not a fan of click bank, i dont think they have any good products really to promote. I mainly only use amazon right now and Wealthy Affiliate.
Hey Justin,
thanks for your comments and taking the time to check out my post!
Affiliate Marketing is a great way of earning money online, but you are so right that there are too many products that do not promote the right way to do it and people end up failing and losing trust in both the process and other affiliate marketers.
I agree, there are too many scammy products on Click Bank, but do not write it off. Depending on your niche, using these products to warn people of them can also help build up your authority.
People need help online and knowing which products they can trust. What are the signs about these products that show they are too good to be true, etc.
Amazon is a great starting place, and Wealthy Affiliate is an awesome platform for teaching people how to build and scale an online business.
Wish you luck in your business Justin
John
Hi Gemma & John.
I like your Affiliate Marketing basics review, simple and clear. I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate University like you since August 2015. Actually, I am on Internet Marketing for about ten years, and it was ups and downs, but last three years I created an authority site mainly to promote Amazon items about GPS navigation. It works, not easy money, and it is hard work. Yes, and to be Amazon Affiliate is the real way to earn online.
Hey Andrejs,
thanks for taking the time to check out my post and give us your opinion. Wealthy Affiliate is an awesome platform and teaches you everything you need to know and provides some great tools to help you with your online business. But one of the key things they teach is that it does take some real time and effort for it to work. But when it does work, it can be very rewarding too – not just with revenue, but helping people has it’s own appeal. Seeing people learn and progress is also an awesome reward. I am so glad your business is going well. Amazon is a great partner, I am just in the middle of a post about Amazon Associates. I’ll share it when it is ready.
Thanks again
John & Gemma
Internet (affiliate) marketing has always interested me somewhat due to the freedom of lifestyle that it apparently brings with it…but the education curve has always put me off. I’m not the most academic of individuals so I don’t really have the confidence to take on a subject with so much to learn.
It’s great that you’ve included the training you took in this article…but how hard did you find the learning curve?
Did you receive plenty of help at the Wealthy Affiliate and was it a straightforward enough journey? Also, how much do you need to know about computer coding before you take on internet marketing?
Hi Chris,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
Affiliate Marketing is a great way of earning enough to live the lifestyle you want, but like anything there is the bit where you need to learn how to do it effectively. I also understand that everyone learns differently and this can sometimes put people off as they think they need to become a website designer to be any good at it.
First off, you are right there is a learning curve with it – but I have to say my journey with Wealthy Affiliate has been nice and smooth. Before I started I know anything, but their training is set-up with this is mind. Tutorial Videos showing you how to do something, a nice task system which you can tick off as you go. It is the only platform i would recommend for newbies due to the support you get to get started and their honesty about being realistic about timescales.
Compared to other ventures I have tried, Affiliate Marketing has been one of the easier ones and that is down to the training and support you get with Wealthy Affiliate. To your point about computer coding, I would still say I do not know a lot – but with WordPress you do not need to, it is used by about 51% of websites online due to its ease of use and versatility too. WordPress hosted on Wealthy Affiliates hosting is a great combination.
Thanks again for your comments
John
Hi guys, I have had a good read of your article and I can say I’m very impressed with the way you keep the points on track and the use of pictures to illustrate your points are great. I also am looking to gain traction online and create different revenue streams. I will visit you again for more information. Thanks so much.
Hey Kenny,
thanks for checking out our post and leaving some comments.
I appreciate your feedback on the layout of the post – we are here to help anyone learn and get the right support with getting started in Affiliate Marketing.
Good luck with your future ventures
John & Gem
Hey John, thanks for this informative post on affiliate marketing. You do a great job of cutting through the clutter and confusion surrounding the subject, and set everything out very clearly.
The payment side of things can be a bit tricky, especially if you don’t live in the US. Paypal is cool, but I’ve also heard of quite a few problems with it. I just wanted to make your readers aware of a payment system I use called Payoneer. They give you a charge card that you can use in the shops just like any other card (it’s actually a MasterCard).
Just Google Payoneer and you’ll find it immediately.
Thanks again, I enjoyed your post immensely.
Hey Les,
thanks for checking out our post and leaving some comments.
You are right, PayPal is not always available everywhere and Payoneer is a great alternative. A number of the big affiliate networks use them and the ability to choose a charge card option makes it more suitable to others.
Thanks for the shout about Payoneer.
John
Thank you for this very informative article on affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is really one of the best ways to earn online. The best thing for me is the fact that you don’t need any start up investment. You can literally start with $0, today.
However, there is a lot to learn, and it’s great you think the Wealthy Affiliate platform is excellent. I agree. There is step by step training in affiliate marketing that is rivaled by none.
People need to bare in mind that this is not a get rich quick scheme. But, if you work hard and apply yourself to the training and the work on your online business, the earnings will come soon enough.
Affiliate marketing is the best way to go work online and achieve financial freedom.
Hey Alenka,
thanks for checking out our post and leaving some comments.
I agree with you on every point – Affiliate Marketing allows you to pursue a business in a subject you actually enjoy with very little start up costs. You need to learn it so you can pursue it correctly and Wealthy Affiliate will give you the tools to achieve this too.
But it needs to be treated like a business to work, it will not be overnight thing – even if programs out there promise this, it will not be the case.
Work hard and you can achieve it.
thanks again for your comments – you have some great points.
John
Affiliate marketing has been around for decades, and it’s certainly here to stay. It is a great way to earn passive income, especially if you learn to do it right.
That are many platforms out there that teach you the skills, but the only one that stands out, as you have already mentioned, is Wealthy Affiliate because they have embodied everything in one place, to help you get started from scratch and build a robust presence online.
I’ve been with them for exactly 1 year now, and I love the way I’ve been transformed from someone who didn’t even know what WordPress was, to someone who has successfully affiliated with dozens of companies.
Great post!
Hey Nsoh Alieh,
thanks for checking out our post and leaving your comments.
Affiliate Marketing has been around for years and yet I only came across the term a couple of years ago. after experiencing a scam online I stumbled on a review about Wealthy Affiliate and the rest is history.
You are right there are plenty of platforms out there teaching the subject, but not all of them have up to date information, strategies or the tools – Wealthy Affiliate is a platform that puts its community at the heart of everything they do and help people succeed.
Well Done on your accomplishments so far, even small successes like learning WordPress will result in larger successes further down the road.
Thanks
John
Affiliate Marketing has a HUGE potential to give you a lifestyle everybody wants. That’s why I think everybody wants to be part of it. But, some of them don’t understand that behind it has a lot of hustling involved.
I myself am in affiliate marketing, I have just started and on the process of learning and applying what I learned. For that I would like to thank you for sharing some of your Affiliate Networks. I could visit and have a look on it.
You did a great job on explaining your topic.
Wishing you success!
Hey Mina,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
You are welcome around the names of some affiliate networks – We are always here to help anyone with affiliate marketing. It is a sound business model, but no one gets anywhere without a little help sometimes.
It does take a lot of work at first when you are building up your business, learning all the topics and scaling your business – but when the rewards come in (finding out you are helping people find legitimate opportunities) then you will see it is totally worth it.
Thanks again
John
Great breakdown of what affiliate marketing is. It is true that it is simple in theory but to really make it work takes quite a lot of effort.
I agree that some training and step-by-step guidance is almost necessary to succeed. I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate as you mention myself, and totally agree it is an amazing place to learn these skills.
Thanks
Hey Mike,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. Anything requires time and effort – there are no ‘push-button’ systems that will do the work for you and if they promise that we know they are scams.
But people also shouldn’t worry about feeling like they are going back to school to start again. Affiliate Marketing training is awesome and takes all technical knowledge into account. I didn’t even know how to create a website before I started, let alone add it to Google and add affiliate links.
The step-by-step approach at Wealthy Affiliate is truly awesome for people wanting to learn Affiliate Marketing in a safe environment with help and support.
Thanks again
John
Thanks for writing this, I definitely like affiliate marketing because it makes possible to work from home and any place around the world with internet connection! Do you think an affiliate program is better than an affiliate network? or do you suggest to be part of both?Greetings and continue with the great job :)Rique
Hey Rique,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving a comment.
That would depend on your niche really, it is easier to join a network as it has a number of products and services to choose from – but if none of them are relevant to your niche you might be better off targeting a number of affiliate programs (keeping a spreadsheet of all of your details just in case) and going from there.
An Affiliate Program like Amazon houses a lot products which could be the one you have with only one account to worry about, then target a few services and research the programs or networks that best suit you.
hope that helps
John
Hey there! Affiliate marketing is definitely one of the best ways to make real consistent money online. I enjoyed your explanations, they were very detailed and easy to understand. I feel better informed about affiliate marketing and hope that you continue to inspire others to use it to better their lives.
Keep up the good work,
Marlinda
Hey Marlinda,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. I am glad you feel like you know more about Affiliate Marketing – I am always here to help people get started with what is an exciting online business opportunity. Building a business in a subject you actually enjoys beats almost anything.
thanks again
John
Its hard to believe that almost anything you buy nowadays there is someone at the other end making money off it. I have been buying from Amazon and E bay for years and never realized this was happening. So if I didn’t know then there are obviously thousands if not millions of others who do not have a clue. It sounds like Wealthy Affiliate is a great way to learn how this works. This is something Im going to read a bit deeper into and is definitely a must read for others.
Hey Dale,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. Online shopping is completely different to shopping instore. Instore you get to look at the product and have a feel, in some instances.
But online, people only see a picture and a description, so obviously they want to know what other people think. That is where reviews come into place and that is the starting blocks for affiliate marketing.
But you are right, I live in the UK and people always say “What’s that?” when I talk about Affiliate Marketing. But once they understand the premise and that it earns me money, they are really interested.
Affiliate Marketing is growing fast and it is really helpful to the retailers as they do not need to spend as much on advertising – they just follow the customers
thanks again
John
What I like the most in the affiliate marketing is that you can earn passive income. That is really a dream of all internet marketers that have online business. Do you think that in one year successful business can be established? I heard that it took some people even 2-4 years to succeed.
Hey Daniel,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
I firmly believe the groundworks can be set in one year – but I will say everyone will see different timeframes due to the amount of time you can invest into your business. If someone has a full-time job and family (my scenario at first) it means I will not be able to invest as much time into it as someone who can spend double the time into it.
So I can believe that it took 2-4 years for others.
But the other point is everyone has a different perspective on what Success is – Some are looking for some part-time income to supplement their income and achieve this after 6 months and are happy. If you are looking for something that becomes a full-time income that is earning a lot of money, it will take longer.
In short, the amount of time you can invest on a weekly basis will determine what financial goals you should be chasing in the short term.
hope that helps
Thanks
John
Hi John,
Really liked the video explaining how Affiliate Marking works in general. This is very good for someone who is new or does not know all the in’s and out’s yet.
In your example; making $6, by someone purchasing a coffee pot through a link of thiers, how long should someone new to Affiliate Marketing expect to wait before seeing any sales?
The idea of making money from home; it is so good that it can push towards that goal. Just need to stay focused and do the work.
Thanks for sharing this information,
Have a great day!
Chad
Hey Chad,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
I will say it depends on how much time you can invest into it. Someone who can invest more time in the initial stages will possibly see results earlier than others – I would say that someone following the training at Wealthy Affiliate and creates great content that is posted regularly should start seeing results within 6 months.
But it can also depend on the niche, some might see results sooner as their content is better than what is already out there. Hard to put a firm date in, but I started earning from Affiliate Marketing by month 6.
thanks
John
Your post is very informative and also a good promotion for Wealthy Affiliate. At this moment the affiliate marketing is one of the best options to earn from home. It is not easy but not impossible. It requires a lot of hard work and time in front of your PC. Thank you for this post and for letting us know how to identify a fake affiliate program to steer clear.
Hi Maria,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
Appreciate your comments about my post – time and effort are needed to achieve anything, whether it is learning a new skill (like the piano) or building an online business which means you can quit your current job. Believe that you are working towards your future and you will be set to turning this into a success story.
thanks again Maria
John
I also get this question so many times, that I decided to make some research on it, to see how other people who work in affiliate marketing explain it. I am glad that I bumped into your blog, you write and explain in a very understandable way, it is all very well organized and anyone who reads it gets a clear picture of it and will see that anyone can succeed who is ready to work online.
I am sure now, that this is the one and only way how you can have income in a longer term without having to work on a fix hourly rate. You have to work, it can be a long process, but worth every minute, as you always learn, but at the same time you decide when you can and want to work and you will have results and sooner or later you can quit your main job.
Hey Kisumu,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. I am so glad you found the article useful. The freedom that an online business gives you is the main reason why people choose to research ways to earn money online.
It will take time, many will not earn money in their first 3 months – some take 6 months – it all depends on how much time you can invest into it. But even if you can invest 1 hour a day, you will definitely reap the rewards of it.
thanks again
John
I have looked into this before. You actually do affiliate marketing and make money doing it? It is just so overwhelming and there is so much information on it. I start to look at it and then I put it aside because my brain just goes numb. You guys seem to know what you’re talking about.
I might just have to take a closer look at this again. Thanks for the great info
Hey,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. Affiliate Marketing done right is an awesome way of earning money from passive income. The problem is there are so many scams out there claiming to be affiliate marketing, i can understand how many people feel all affiliate marketing opportunities will lead to the same way.
I created this website to help people spot the signs of a scam, find genuine affiliate marketing leads – networks, training, etc.
Wealthy Affiliate is a safe genuine training platform that can benefit anyone looking to work for themselves online from home.
Anyone who is interested in joining, can join for free (no catch) and check it out for themselves and get coaching from myself. If it isn’t for them, then you carry on looking elsewhere – no hard feelings. I am here to help, that’s all.
thanks
John
Awesome breakdown on all of the components to starting an online affiliate marketing business. With so many “get rich” schemes and people claiming to help people start an online business in no time, I believe that people really need to know about Wealthy Affiliate as it is nowhere near a scam and I feel that it is one of the best places to learn how to start a marketing business online – especially with no prior experience.
Whether someone just wants to learn how to create a website for their own business or product, or they want to dive into the world of affiliate marketing, there is no better platform and community than Wealthy Affiliate – and I’m not even getting paid to say that lol
Hey Nicki,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments.
You are so right, when I first started out online I was shocked at how many schemes claim you can ‘get-rich’ overnight with a system that does all the work???
Well, I have yet to find one that does – they are all either low-quality products that don’t work or scams. Either way you end up losing money.
Then I found a platform called Wealthy Affiliate – and my first impressions were “they are real people who are honest”. I have never looked back from signing up with Wealthy Affiliate and their training does work.
They can benefit anyone with an online presence or who wants an online presence.
thanks again Nicki
John
A very comprehensive article.
Yes, there are the usual affiliate networks mentioned like Amazon but I really enjoyed your review of Awin which is a network I have no experience in.
Many people will find different nuggets in this article, but for me it was Awin.
Many thanks and have a great day.
Paul
Hey Paul,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. Appreciate your thoughts.
Awin is great, it is slowly growing in status in the US, but has been around the UK for a while.
Thanks
John
Affiliate marketing seems to be a great way to make an income online. Thanks for the information and the things we should look out for like an affiliate with a high charge. I did not know about Affiliate networks. I am very interested in knowing how they operate and I definitely will be looking at the Awin affiliate.
Hey Juliet,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. You are welcome, I am glad you found it useful.
Affiliate Networks are easier in a way, as you only need one log-in. Awin is a great platform to work with, and easy to use (with great guides to get the most out of it). I’ve wrote a post about Awin “Everything You Need to Know About Awin Affiliate Network“, you might find it useful.
Thanks again
John
You mentioned that Amazon has one of these affiliate programs and that they are typically free to join? Are there any other well known companies that people shop at that offer these type of programs?
I ask because I didn’t know there is an opportunity to make money from these companies.
Hey Jessie,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. You will be surprised at how many companies actually offer an affiliate program. Some you link with direct, like Amazon. Others connect to Affiliate Networks.
eBay has an affiliate program, (will be writing about them soon). But the best way to find out is – in google type “company + affiliate program” or “product/service + affiliate program” You will see either a link to their affiliate program or a link to the network that manages their affiliate program.
the opportunity to benefit from affiliate marketing is huge, any niche can be profitable, as long as you get the right help and support.
hope that helps
thanks
John
Thanks John, I’ve bookmarked that and put it on my list of things to do!!
Hey Lucy,
thanks for checking out my post and leaving some comments. You are totally welcome. I am here to help!!
thanks
John
Hi John Crossley,
Thank you for sharing such great information about affiliate marketing. I was searching for article like this one that can give me with some insight on AM itself. As a newbie blogger i am grateful for all the information that i can get.
If you do not mind me i would like to discuss a little bit further on the matter. Actually, i am an young blogger, started around a year and half ago cause i wanted to write on stuff. The only monetizing methods i accepted were adsense and infolinks which kept me going but they are simply not cutting with the quality/effort i am putting in. However, i have built a nice traffic and strong following that makes me feel like i should now integrate with affiliate market now and start monetizing further than google ads.
The thing is i have no insight on any program that can help me out with multi niche products and accept me as new comer in the market. My current platform is wordpress so according to my rookie research i’ll be needing CMS tools too to make the process easy i guess. I have been searching and came across a few programs out of which one caught my eye cause of their 100% commission rate, this revglue program is different from the ones you mentioned and since i am UK based this might be good for me, they are selling data of stores with free plugins and tools for social monetizing as well. Here let me address you the list of their plugins revglue.com/free-wordpress-plugins if you can help me out with some insight on this program or the matter itself and recommend me something, that would be great and really appreciated.
Thank you
Hey Dave,
Affiliate Marketing is a great of monetising your site and if you are already getting traffic, it does make sense that you are looking at introducing it.
But you are asking me about Revglue and I have only just heard of the program.(from yourself). If Revglue is something that you are interesting in using, then i suggest you check out some reviews to get an idea of people who are using the program. I would not be in a position to recommend a program, that I have no knowledge from.
But the first thing I would do is think about what your website is about, and how relevant it is to your customer base. There are plenty of affiliate programs out there, that do not cost to join. So you could easily write content and add affiliate links.
The tools on Revglue, just having a quick look – seem to not necessarily follow this rule.
I am also based in the UK, but this doesn’t mean my market is just in the UK. I get more traffic from the US.
I highly recommend you to do your research before using anything. Check out some Revglue reviews and see what others are thinking.
thanks
John
This post is an informative and educative one because I’ve been seeing affiliate marketing as one of the ways you can make money online but I have been so much concern about how it work,how I will earn my money from it and reading through this post my thirst for knowledge about affiliate marketing has been quenched ,now I think I can go ahead.Thanks for this impact.
Hey Lok,
thanks for checking out my post. Whilst there are a few scams out there pretending to be affiliate marketing. True affiliate marketing is an awesome way of earning money online. Getting the right advice and training is the best way of ensuring you start the right way, and that is where Wealthy Affiliate comes in to play.
All the best
John
Hey there,
This is exactly what I was looking for. I had heard of affiliate marketing before and wasn’t sure where to start. Your video has made it easy to understand how it works and your list of affiliate networks complete the set!
I always hesitate into taking anyone’s opinion when it comes to recommendations since I have been burned before by a bogus review that sent me to a website that actually took my money and sent me on a wild goose chase without any results! I see that you recommend Wealthy Affiliate and it’s free to start. How long is this trial period for?
Thanks
Hey Denis,
thanks for checking out our post. I understand where you are coming from, there will always be a small contingent who give you a fake review. But you will always be able to spot those as they try and get you to join something that costs money to join, and the program will not give you any trial.
Wealthy Affiliate is free to join, and you can remain a free starter member for as long as you like. It isn’t a trial, it allows you to experience some of the premium features for 7 days, but it doesn’t mean you have to upgrade. The starter membership is free and you can stay free for as long as you want to, with access to some training and 2 free websites. No catch, no pressure to upgrade.
hope that helps
John
Hi John! This is a great introduction to the affiliate marketing world. I’m thankful I came across your site! I have learned a lot from this presentation.
One of the things I appreciate is that you cover the most important affiliate networks. And that you have specific posts to enter into details concerning each one of them! I’ll continue reading those posts! Thank you very much!
Hey Henry,
thanks for checking out our post. Helping people learn genuine information about affiliate marketing is what we are about. Glad you found the information useful, and we will always endeavour to keep creating helpful information.
thanks
John
Hi John,
This was a great article, filled with so much information! I have actually been with Wealthy Affiliate for almost a year now and I love the community within this program. No question goes unanswered, and you learn so much every single day with all of their trainings. I am now hoping to get much more knowledgeable about other affiliate programs including Amazon, and you have inspired me! I look forward to reading through some of your other articles.
Thanks again,
Ciara
Hey Ciara,
thanks for checking out our post. Glad you found it useful. Wealthy Affiliate is such a great platform for anyone wanting to learn affiliate marketing with great support included.
thanks again
John
Dear John,
Thanks a lot for another informative and helpful post. Every Single Time I read an article of yours I learn so much new stuff!
You have given an in-depth and detailed answer to the question How Does Affiliate Marketing Really Work? Being an full-time Affiliate marketer your post means a lot to me and you have really given a lot of value here.
“Affiliate Marketing has made Businesses Millions & Ordinary People Millionaires.” ~ Bo Bennett
I am a fan of Affiliate Marketing and your post can be used as a guide for Affiliate marketing and your post is going to provide a lot of value to the beginners.
Indeed, WA is the very best place to learn Affiliate Marketing and I am a full-time Affiliate Marketer because of WA only. All I did is just followed WA training. Thanks for guiding people to a great training platform.
Much Success!
Paul
Thanks Paul,
I appreciate your comments, love the quote too.
thanks
John
Great article about affiliate marketing. This article is very useful for someone who likes to learn about affiliate marketing. Before joining WA I thought affiliate marketing is a very hard journey but with the help and training provided by WA I was able to start my online business. We can not compare WA with any other training programmes out there. WA training is amazing.
Hiya,
thanks for checking out our guide. The Wealthy Affiliate University Review – My Own Experiencese is a great partner to have with starting an affiliate marketing business.
The training is awesome, and we love that people can truly learn to start their own online business.
thanks
John
Affiliates marketing is for anyone who is passionate to kill it online legitimately. You did a nice job in your content post and I like it. It’s good to enlighten people who don’t know or understand what affiliate marketing is truly all about. And the best platform so far to undergo affiliate marketing training is Wealthy Affiliate.
Hey Kenechi,
thanks for checking out my guide. We try to help people whenever we can.
thanks
John
Hey there! I just finished reading your article about affiliate marketing and I thought I would drop you a quick comment to say thanks. I have been into affiliate marketing for quite a few years now and I have certainly had my ups and downs with the whole process.
I started out trying to learn the ropes from ebooks and YouTube videos, but the information was either outdated or just outright rubbish. I have learned over the years that there is a ton of misleading information out there that leads people down the wrong path completely. So thankfully websites like Wealthy Affiliate exist!
I joined Wealthy Affiliate a couple of years ago and I’m still really pleased that I found it. I had just about given up when I discovered WA. Thankfully, 2 years later I’m still there and making some good money!
So if anyone out there is wondering if this stuff is real, the answer is yes! Take the advice on this page and go for it.
Great to see some affiliate networks in this article that I’ve not tried too. So thank you for that!
Thanks Andrew,
Wealthy Affiliate has helped a lot of people get started and build sustainable businesses online!
We are glad you found the information useful.
thanks
John
There is a lot of outdated understanding of how affiliate marketing actually works. It is important that we always are updated so we know exactly what is currently working. Affiliate marketing is still one of the best ways to earn money online and I think it is going to keep on getting better as the year goes by.
Amazon is a reputable place to earn affiliate promotions and it is well known worldwide. I actually heard that Amazon started issueing payments into accounts but I think it is done to few countries. Is this information true and do you have any idea about the countries that are eligible for this?
Amazon is a great affiliate partner, easy to work with and have more than enough products for affiliate marketers to promote.
They have started introducing the ability to pay into bank accounts, here is some great information about paying into bank accounts with your amazon associate account.
thanks
John
Thanks for explaining about this – a good friend has suggested that I promote a few affiliate products on my blog but I had no real idea where to start.
My main worry is the fact I have to write about the products that I am showcasing – is there any free information or education online that you know of to handle this? Somewhere that could maybe teach me about product reviews and marketing?
Hey Chris,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.
Product Reviews are an important part of an affiliate marketers campaigns. I wrote in the post about how training is really important in learning how to effectively do affiliate marketing and the same training will include some great details on how to write a captivating product review.
You need to know how to stand out against the crowd and Wealthy Affiliate will do that.
It is the most comprehensive platform I have found around the world of online marketing and definitely worth a look.
hope that helps?
John
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn a full-time income online, as literally anyone with a work ethic, patience, and determination can do this. There is work involved and it will take time, persistence, a little bit of trial and error, and of course, willingness to learn both from successes and mistakes.
For those who wish to spend time on working toward their future during days and hours they’re off work or school, or for those who are retired and wish to embark on a new endeavor, affiliate marketing is for them. Platforms like Wealthy Affiliate provide perfect tools and step by step training on how one can become a successful affiliate marketer in time.
Best yet, it’s a fun endeavor where anything can become a niche, allowing us to work in a place we’re passionate in.
Hey Todd,
Thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. I love how you have put that!
If you can truly believe in yourself to make this work and work hard at it. You will be successful. It can definitely be fun and great to engage with a large community of others who want the same thing!
All the best
John
I left an MLM a couple of months ago when I realized I couldn’t keep up with all the product sales talk and team motivational stuff. It was a bit disheartening because I am really looking for a way out of the 9to5. I have since started a blog and seriously thinking about going with the affiliate marketing route. The idea of offering something of values especially knowledgable information appeals to me. It feels more comfortable too that I can get involved in a niche I like rather than promoting supplements or beauty products that are such a norm with the MLM industry.
Your explanation helps me to understand this choice in a better perspective so thanks.
Hey Cathy,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. MLM is just basically recruitment and it is very salesy and that is why it doesn’t tend to fit everyone. As we are not all naturally a salesperson.
Affiliate Marketing is a lot more natural and you can choose what you want to promote. With MLM you typically only get to promote one thing. I have also found a lot of the techniques trained by these MLM programs are involving paid routes. Which is not very beginner friendly.
Affiliate Marketing sounds like it might be more of a natural fit for you. Glad we were able to help you?
Thanks
John
Thank you for this great overview of what affiliate marketing entails. Firstly, I am a rookie blogger and just getting started to monetise my blog through affiliate marketing but then, I heard that you need a certain level of traffic to become an affiliate with some affiliate programs such as Amazon. How true is this? Also, thank you for the overhaul enlightenment on this post. By the way, I’m also a premium member on wealthy Affiliate too. Further, I accept the fact that the sole aim of an affiliate should be to help only and not for self benefits alone.
Hey RoDarrick,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. You definitely need traffic to make your affiliate sales, whether you do this by Paid ads or organically – you need traffic.
You can join amazon straightaway, but if you do not get any qualifying sales within 6 months they boot you out. You can reapply straightaway, but I feel this is a faff, and if you are not getting any real traffic after 6 months it is not really worth it.
Focus on building up your traffic levels, then you can worry about your affiliate links. This is about the long game. No one wants to hear it, but you are building something for the future. If your articles are high-quality and helpful, the traffic will come. Then you can hit your blog with product reviews and affiliate links and make money.
No point being part of an affiliate program, if you have no one to show it to.
hope that makes sense?
John
I am a newbie in Affiliate Marketing. I must say I was reluctant at first because literally, I don’t know anything about this. When I decide to join as a starter, I looked upon the given training and that’s when I thought this could be good for me. It is not easy but I feel encouraged to do Affiliate Marketing because of the warm and helpful community. I decided to go premium because I believe I have as future on this.
I have learned that affiliate Marketing is a now a big thing in online business. To go forward, I must learn all the trainings, use necessary tools which are readily available and provided in Wealthy Affiliates. Which do you think is a better to promote? WA recruitment or product promotion? I’m really having a hard time choosing. Plus, I also have limited time due to my work.
Thank you for sharing this. I hope everyone can see the goodness in Affiliate Marketing instead of risking themselves to scams believing they can earn money in short amount of time.
Hi MissusB,
thanks for checking out our guide and for writing some comments. It does fell quite daunting when you first step your toe into the water. But soon you feel like it is the most natural thing to do. So I wish you luck!
The MMO sector is really competitive and is more for more advanced marketers, which you will be after creating your own niche website and learning everything there is to know about the market.
I personally suggest beginners start with their own niche site, rather than jumping into what is a really competitive market.
Thanks
John
Thank you for this great easy to understand guide on how affiliate marketing really works.
There are so many mixed messages out there with lots of quick fixes that don’t work, targeted at desperate people.
It is very refreshing when you find a guide that sets the record straight like this post. Like in any business, affiliate marketing is to be approached with the readiness to put in the work and effort to hone the skills.
Everything is easy when you know how to do it but most people seem to think to have an online business comes without any cultivation of skills…
Wealthy Affiliate has definitely helped me to focus my efforts and build a real business brand that will serve generations to come. Thank you.
Hey Kimberleigh,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.
I totally agree, there are too many mixed messages out there and it can be really confusing and misleading to someone who lacks the knowledge to make the right decision for them.
That is why we want to help people who want it to achieve what they want to achieve.
The first step is getting the right training in the subject, rather than believing in any guru who states you don’t need to know anything.
Education is so important and Wealthy Affiliate offers some great training.
All the best
John
I recently started my first online affiliate marketing business and I have to tell that I have difficulties creating content for my website.
Does this Wealthy Affiliate you mentioned have any training on how to speed up the process of writing content as well as how to write that content the right way?
Hey Harry,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. One of the hurdles most people feel most nervous about is writing content.
We all feel we are terrible writers when we first start out, but after going through all the Wealthy Affiliate training on creating content I feel confident in saying their training on creating quality content is awesome. You will find that it is ideal for you!
John
Affiliate marketing is so open to everyone even a friend of mine with MS, who uses a computer with Voice Command and Speech to Text software has an affiliate blog that helps buy things his disability income doesn’t cover.
If he can you can. I too am mentally and physically disabled and work entirely from home where I have not held an outside job for 7 and a half years.
Affiliate marketing is a growing income stream from blogging which is also a form of stress relief and therapy for my bipolar and social anxiety.
Product sales commissions are much easier to get than people think because mistakenly they think you have to know sales or be a willing sales person.
Not true at all, you just broker information between people with needs and companies that address those needs. It’s fun and lucrative and once you make one sale you can make more.
Hey Andy,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. The only barrier to doing something is the one you put up yourself. Nothing should get in the way of achieving what you want and Affiliate Marketing is a fantastic example of this.
You don’t need to be an expert, you don’t need to be computer savvy. You just need to put your time and effort into believing and learn from the best and you will achieve fantastic stuff.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, all the best to you Andy
John
Nice article. Very informative and straight to the point. I am pretty new to this affiliate marketing though i already started building mine. I use Amazon Associates and CJ. I haven’t really maximised my website and i haven’t really monetised it.
You mentioned couple of good recommendations and will give wealthy affiliate a try. I read a lot of good reviews also for WA.
Since i already started my journey with affiliate marketing, would WA be able to guide me still? Or is it focused on how to start your online business?
What i need to learn is how to monetise my website. Let me know. Thank you.
Hey AJ,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. Wealthy Affiliate offers fantastic resources for those just starting out or those that are looking for the right way to gain traffic.
You talk about wanting to monetise your website, but the key to that is traffic. If you have no or little traffic you will not be able to earn any money from your website.
The WA training is worthwhile because you may have missed some important steps towards getting traffic to your website – the sooner you realise and fix it, the sooner you are to monetising your website.
There are some fantastic classrooms dedicated to these subjects and you will learn a lot.
Definitely worthwhile for any affiliate marketer who is struggling to get traffic!
Thanks
John
You’re right in what you say in your first sentence, John. Some people make affiliate marketing out to be far more complicated than it really is.
Having said that, ‘simple’ does not necessarily mean ‘easy’. Nothing truly worthwhile is ever easy, and nor should it be. The due diligence and the work have to be done first.
The downside of the ‘information age’ that we live in is that there is so much information overload out there and it is often difficult for someone who is new to it all to separate the good info from the BS, which is why your article here is so helpful.
There are many affiliate programmes which people can join and earn commissions from but what many don’t realize is that there’s more too it than just signing up and away you go. There is, as you rightly say, a learning curve to go through if anyone wants money to be not only worth the effort in the beginning, but sustainable long term.
Finding the right training programme to make this happen isn’t as daunting as it may sound either, and the Wealthy Affiliate programme you refer to here sounds like the way to go for anyone looking to get into this very lucrative industry.
Hey Richard,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.
Appreciate you sharing some good points there! You are so right, there is a big difference between simple and easy.
Often people are looking for the easy road – but after years of chasing the easy road and finding there isn’t one, they soon regret wasting all that time when they could have been putting time and effort into a system that works!
Wealthy Affiliate offers such a fantastic and supportive starting place for those who are willing to put the effort in and hopefully people take it.
All the best
John
When I first started with WA I didn’t have a clue what affiliate marketing is or how it works. Frankly, I didn’t even know it existed. This article explains these concepts very clearly without the advertising to be too “in your face”.
I truly appreciated the step-by-step approach taken. It is in a logical and intuitive order that explains in plain words how exactly affiliate marketing works and also what it is not (a get rich quick scheme).
I, too, am a member of Wealthy Affiliates and let me tell you that I went into my free trial with an abundance of skepticism. However, after going through the very easy to follow step by step tutorials, building my own website and getting IMMENSE support from the community, I not see the immense potential of this program.
I would encourage anybody that is willing to put the work into affiliate marketing (everything worth while takes work!) to give the free trial a test and see if it is for you!
Hiya,
thanks for checking out our blog and for adding your experience too. I totally get what you mean about feeling sceptical at first. How is this affiliate marketing going to work and can we really get started for free.
But the guys at Wealthy Affiliate are great at making you feel at home and your scepticism soon disappears as you realise you CAN DO THIS!!
thanks again for sharing your experience
John
I am fairly new to affiliate marketing having only been working toward creating an online business for a few short months. I was blessed enough to find Wealthy Affiliate early in my search for a quality learning platform. I too have had a very positive experience with Wealthy Affiliate.
I am amazed at the vast amount of training available within WA and even more amazed at the many marketing experts in the community that have gone out of their way to help me learn and overcome any obstacles I have encountered along my journey.
Thank you for including a list of affiliate networks. I had not heard of some of them. I will certainly check them out. I have not yet run across any affiliate programs that charge for participation. I was surprised (and curious) to see this mentioned.
I have your site bookmarked and I visit often to read new posts. I would love to see a post detailing some of these paid networks/programs if you find the time. Thanks once again for the great information!
Hey Shannon,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. Wealthy Affiliate is a fantastic starting place for those looking to get started with affiliate marketing and with the support and tools they offer, you can see why members are still there years after making it work too.
You are welcome, these are the biggest affiliate networks out there. Some networks will charge you to make sure you are a real person, Awin does it. They charge you £5 or $5 depending on where you are. It kind of proves you are in it to do it properly, and then you get the money sitting ready to be with-drawled with your first paycheck.
Glad you find our blog useful, we will keep on working hard.
thanks
John
Hello John,
Thank you for this frank and revealing information on affiliate marketing.
You make it easy to see why so many people are trying this as a way of making an income. I would also like to thank you for supplying a list of affiliate companies that I can work with.
Derek
Hey Derek,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. Done right, Affiliate Marketing is a fantastic way of earning money from home. Glad you found our post useful.
Those affiliate networks are just a small selection, when you start delving into the number of affiliate programs there are it is a great sign that affiliate marketing is here to stay…
All the best
John
Hi John,
I feel very happy to see your important post. I am a newbie of WA. Recently I do my site comments. But I have a little knowledge about affiliate marketing. I really enjoyed your post because you have shared a detailed information about affiliate marketing including what is affiliate marketing and how does it work.
I read many other websites about affiliate marketing but I think your post is simple but gorgeous and amazing. I gather great knowledge on it. But I have a question that is affiliate marketing business as like as MLM?
Thanks a lot dude.🙂
Hey Snigdha,
thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments. Thanks for the feedback, we try to help out whenever we can.
In some ways Affiliate Marketing and MLM are similar, but I wouldn’t say they are the same thing. Affiliate Marketing is typically about promoting products. MLM is normally worked like a ladder, where you are encouraged to keep paying more to climb to higher levels.
A prime example of an MLM is where you have 3 different levels of membership – but you can only promote the top level if you have paid for the top level. That is normally how they sell it to you, you have to be a top member to be able to earn the highest commissions.
Affiliate Marketing does not work like this. Some MLM’s are ok, but the majority do require you to do a bit of research to ensure you are signing up for the right thing.
Hope that helps
John
Hi, thanks for sharing this informative article, I enjoyed reading your post it added more knowledge to me, I was about to search for affiliate programs to know the one one that will suit me for my marketing campaign, as a result I found so many informations that has answered my questions. Now I can make a better decision and I like the way you layout the truth and how best they can be utilized.
I will look forward to seeing more of this review from your site
Hi,
thanks for checking out our guide. There are plenty of guides that make affiliate marketing sound complicated, but with the right training and support it is one of the most simple ways online to make money. It requires time and effort, but working on something based on something you love is such a joy that it doesn’t (always) feel like work.
Glad you found our guide useful!!
John
Hi! Nicely said and described what affiliate marketing is – and yes expectations for 90% of people are unreal as they believe they will earn a hefty fine within days or weeks. Reality is at least couple of months, but a big BUT- once you have content on the internet, it always stays there, so eventually a success could come.
Cheers
Primoz
Hi Primoz,
thanks for checking out our guide. Affiliate Marketing is such a fantastic way of earning money online, but when people realise it is not a get rich quick scheme, they all of a sudden decide it is a scam. When in reality, if you go into it with the right expectations in the first place, you are fully aware of what is required and can make a great go of it.
Affiliate Marketing does work, and there is plenty of proof and with the right training (like that at Wealthy Affiliate). You will not go wrong.
All the best
John
Hello there thanks for the review it is really of great value. Well for me Affiliate Marketing is for those who are looking for a passive income. It is an online business that can be done at the comfort of your home and the interesting thing about it is that you actually get to work whenever you feel like. Affiliate marketing has really helped me a lot in achieving my goals.
Hey Phil,
there are plenty of advantages to starting an affiliate marketing business, including the flexibility. But I would still say that it does require a lot of effort. The reason I say that is, there is a huge difference between those that commit to it seeing their results end up being success and those that only do a bit here and there and find that it never gets anywhere…
All the best
John
so thoughtful of you to write on such an informative review on how affiliate marketing actually works….. affiliate marketing over the years has been one of the most lucrative means of making online cash and it’s pretty easy as explained… all you need do is just for steps where’s your blog, sign up with an affiliate program, sell products and earn income…..
thanks for sharing I look forward to share this information on my blog
Hi Evans,
thanks for checking out our guide. I think the bigger problem is the many marketers that make it out that it is really difficult and they need a magic formula to achieve success. But we don’t, we just need to roll up our sleeves and work hard to make it happen. Follow a simple guide and you will be surprised where it takes you.
thanks again
John
Thank you very much for articulately pointing out the basics of how affiliate marketing really works. It’s interesting reading this from your own perspective. I am sure learning from guys like you will go a long way in improving my journey and helping settle fast in the world of affiliate marketing. I have seen several very helpful trainings and articles at wealthy affiliate and am so proud to have joined this platform, it’s so encouraging to see posts such as these, it goes to show I am on the right track.
Hey Sam,
if you are going through the Wealthy Affiliate training guide, you are definitely on the right track. Their training has helped thousands of affiliate marketers achieve their goals and if you keep going and stay consistent, you will achieve your goals!!
All the best
John
Hey nice article you have there, your thoughts are indeed invaluable. My quest to become an affiliate marketer has made me to engage in research of its framework. However, I am overwhelmed with the points highlighted in this article, I have gotten the background knowledge anyone would wish to have before engage in any business. Thanks for the insight, warm regards
Hi Edah,
thanks for checking out our guide. Glad you found it insightful and useful!
All the best
John
HI John. Thank you for very interesting review. Im just starting my adventure with digital marketing but I already learnt that its not as easy as it may sounds. It require lot of work and learning, and I couldn’t agree more that wealthy affiliate platform is best place to start. With tons of trainings, supportive community and webhosting its great site for all beginners. Highly recommended !
Hi Cogito,
thanks for checking out our blog. It does require a lot of work, but if you want to achieve financial freedom then hard work is going to be what needs to be done.
But trying to do it all in the dark makes it much harder, that is why we recommend Wealthy Affiliate as a place to help beginners, or those that are struggling to get the help and support they need.
All the best
John
As someone who does affiliate marketing, I found this article useful and very detailed. You’re right about not being easy to make money at first and you have to put hard work into it, but it will pay off eventually. It’s definitely not for those who wish to make cash fast as possible. Wealthy Affiliate is a good platform with great training program and support as well.
Thanks for your post!
j.
Hey Reka,
thanks for checking out our guide. Glad you thought it was useful!! I’ve seen plenty of those “get-rich-quick” schemes and they never (ever) work.
So, putting your time and effort into something that does work and will help people achieve financial freedom would always be the better option.
Wealthy Affiliate is a great place to learn what is needed, and it clearly works!!
All the best
John
Thanks for writing a detailed explanation about Affiliate Marketing. I was told by my friend that this is a good way to earn passive income, but he didn’t explain the process clearly. I’m glad it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme since it will be sound as a fraud. I have a question though. I work really hard to build my website, how long (by average) it will show the result?
Hey,
thanks for checking out our guide, glad you found it insightful!! Timescales really does depend on a number of factors. If you are are writing great quality that works for the reader, and write lots of it, then you can start seeing the search engines starting to trust you within 3 to 6 months. Traffic is the start of where you can start monetising your website, and therefore start seeing results.
Getting your target audience right and then doing the right niche research for content ideas can help with that.
But my advice would always be to give yourself a year, by doing that you can ensure you fill your website with great content and plenty of product reviews to help your TA out.
I’ve seen some see results in 3 months, and I’ve seen others that didn’t see anything for 9 to 12 months. But they persevered and were so glad they kept with it.
Hope that helps?
John
I really like your article on affiliate marketing and how to get started. I know this personally as I own and run a blog website that is centered on dogs. I wholeheartedly agree that Wealthy Affiliate is the best place in which to set up and get a website running. In fact, I am already a member of Wealthy Affiliate and have been for just over two years now. But, just so you know, Wealthy Affiliate won’t make you rich quickly – unlike the many scams that are out there on the internet.
Hey Michael,
thanks for checking out our blog! A dog website sounds cool!
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways of earning an income from a hobby or interest you have, and Wealthy Affiliate has the best training we have seen to help make that happen.
You’re right though, it still is down to the individual to take what is taught and take tangible actions to see their dream become a reality.
Anyone willing to put that effort in, will see the results. All those scams do is convince you it is easy, and then charge you money to show you that it’s not as easy as they first thought.
Even some programs that are technically not scams, but clever marketing on them, still do the same.
Thanks again Michael,
John
Affiliate marketing is an incredible opportunity to earn an unlimited amount of money. But it also requires hard work, persistence, and patience to attract traffic on its website. It also means that you must come up with quality content in a regular pace and satisfly your audience. So that they will trust you and buy from you. Nice article!
Hey Angel,
yep, it’s a fantastic opportunity to earn money online. But like anything that does that, it will require some hard work to achieve it.
But when its doing something you love, it is totally worth it!!
Thanks
John