What is Online or Affiliate Marketing? A Pathway to Earning Money Online!

You are probably looking into how people are making money online through affiliate marketing and wondering exactly what is online or affiliate marketing?

Affiliate Marketing, combined with Online Marketing is definitely something that you will want to learn and put into practise because it is a great way of achieving financial freedom.

Affiliate Marketing is a really appealing route to making money online, but know that you will need to invest some time into learning everything you need to know before working towards achieving your goals of giving up your day job and enjoying truly passive income.

What is Online or Affiliate Marketing?

What is Online or Affiliate Marketing?

Now, people are definitely earning money from affiliate marketing and we are too.  But there is an important thing you need to know before truly understanding what affiliate marketing is:

  • It is not a Get Rich Quick Scheme
  • It is not some kind of Pyramid Scheme or MLM
  • It takes Time & Effort

There is no secret technique to earning money online from affiliate marketing.  Many people get drawn into all of these programs that profess to having the magic button that will make you earn money really quickly through affiliate marketing.

Guess what?  None of them work, but the key ingredients you need to make Affiliate Marketing is:

  • Realistic Expectations & Timescales
  • Determination
  • The Right Training

Learn everything there is to know and put it into practise, that is the way to learn money with online or affiliate marketing.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing allows you to choose anything you are really interested in to build an online business.  It can be a hobby or an interest, or something you are really good at and that is your starting point for an affiliate marketing business.

The big advantage with affiliate marketing is the fact you do not need any products or services of your own.  You will earn money by recommending other people’s products and services in return for a percentage of the sale.

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

That is as simple as affiliate marketing is.  You do not need any products, no need to ship products to customers, or deal with any customer service queries.  In fact, you do not need to be on hand to handle any transactions.

I have written a more in-depth guide here if you want to learn more about the details around affiliate marketing and you can read it if you click this link.

But I think the graphic below does a great job of showing you the process you will follow to be successful with affiliate marketing.

4 Steps to Affiliate Marketing Success

Done right, Affiliate Marketing will lead to a passive income.  This is possible because you do not need to hand-hold the transaction like a traditional business model.

I am not creative at all, so I rely on Gemma for our wedding stationary business.  But with affiliate marketing, you can choose any subject you want to be your starting point.

Consider your interests or passions and this can be what you choose to get started with your affiliate marketing business.

Here are some examples for a possible niche to get started with:

  1. Get Fit
  2. A Sport you like
  3. Laptops
  4. Gaming Laptops
  5. Video Games
  6. Books
  7. Knitting
  8. Crochet
  9. Trading (Forex, Stocks, Futures, etc.)
  10. Musical Instruments
  11. Business Coaching
  12. Health Food
  13. Getting Fit
  14. Losing Weight
  15. Health Foods
  16. Yoga
  17. Massage Therapy
  18. Medicinal Herbs
  19. Fiction Writing
  20. Song writing
  21. Photography
  22. Poetry
  23. Etc.

I could go on, but the list is endless… You will find that there is always a need when it comes to any niche.  You will find people are always looking for help.  And that is your opportunity when it comes to Affiliate Marketing.

It is one of the best, and most profitable ways to make money online.  It is also the way most people start their online business.

If you are planning on making a living online, I highly recommend you start learning affiliate marketing first before venturing into other online marketing methods.

Online Marketing involves combining affiliate marketing with many other methods of marketing online.  This can include Video Marketing, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, etc.

Is Affiliate Marketing Really Worth it?

In our opinion, it is one of the best ways of making money online.  Yes, it requires hard work but anything you decide to choose to make money will require you to put hard work into it.

But to help you decide whether it is really worth it for you, we have listed the pros and cons of Affiliate Marketing Below:

The Pros of Affiliate Marketing

Here are the advantages around Affiliate Marketing:

  • No need to design or create your own product – this is a massive advantage, as it can take months or even years to design a product or an online course and you can make money by just promoting it.
  • No need to maintain or update that same product – You may need to update your review or your blog to reflect the changes, but things like an online course will require you to keep that updated every time there is a change in technology, etc.
  • Proven Brands help your Credibility – As you are just offering an opinion about these products and many of these products will have a proven credibility or brand that the customers will trust, it helps your trust factor too.
  • There is no need to operate an e-Commerce site – Think about this one, there is no need to worry about how the customer is going to pay, or how it is going to be shipped. You don’t have to worry about the legalities of running an online shop and selling products.  Is there customs to worry about.  You just write about products and services and the owner of the product worries about all of this.
  • It is Passive Income – what we mean by this is that you do not need to hand-hold the transaction. Your blog will be open 24 hours and if a reader clicks on your affiliate link at 2am in the morning and buys something, you do not need to be awake to earn that money.  You will just have a nice email to read in the morning, stating “You made a Sale!”
  • No Recruiting – Many people have experienced or seen an MLM opportunity which turns out to show that the recruiting of new members is more profitable. But the pressures and the fact that 99% of people in MLM’s lose money, that is why we recommend Affiliate Marketing and there is no such pressure to recruit.  Promoting Products is the main vibe.
  • Free to Get Started – There could be some costs associated as you grow your business, but affiliate programs are typically free to join, and you can get a free website too.

The Cons of Affiliate Marketing

Here are the disadvantages around Affiliate Marketing:

  • It is NOT a Quick Route to earning money online – We have yet to find a legit way to earn money quickly, but many see this as a con of affiliate marketing as you cannot expect success within a couple of days or even a couple of weeks. Having said that, if you were to build a “bricks and mortar business, you would not expect to turn a profit within the first year and it has a huge outlay.  Affiliate Marketing is typically FREE to get started and if you follow the right strategy, you can earn money earlier than a year, depending on the niche you have chosen.
  • Motivation is Key and Often Gets in the Way – Think about how you get paid at your current job. You work for an hour and get paid for that hour.  That isn’t how it works for affiliate marketing, and this can really impact your motivation until you start earning.  I am not trying to put you off, but that is how we think when we are an employee.  WE need to start thinking about ourselves as an entrepreneur and that is how we stay motivated until it comes to the point where we start earning money.

I picked the top two, as the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.  But the main thing to consider at this point before we explore how affiliate marketing works is that you need to get out of your head that this will earn you money quickly.  It can earn you big money if you follow our strategy and the training we recommend.  But if you think this will be a quick route to giving up your day job, then sorry that will not be the case.

But, if your day job is a problem or you need to earn money, then use that motivation to work hard and you will see results.  The harder you work, the more you could earn with affiliate marketing.

How Affiliate Marketing Works?

These are the steps to complete to get started with Affiliate Marketing.

Pick a Niche

This is often the stage that people get wrong.  Don’t get influenced by anyone who states that a particular niche is the mostChoose a Niche - Target Audience profitable, because any niche can be profitable if you provide the right information on your website.

Think about this, you chose Forex Trading because someone said it was profitable.  But you haven’t got a clue on how it works.  How could anyone have confidence in what you are writing…?

Now, consider you are really interested in keeping fit.  You have a lot to offer when it comes to helping others keeping fit.

That is a great place to start with.  Imagine trying to write about a subject you love compared to a subject you detest or lack the knowledge needed to help people with; which one do you think can keep you motivated and can help you become the authority within that chosen subject.

Don’t get drawn into a subject, just because you think it is profitable.

As Affiliate Marketing takes time to become successful, picking something you love will definitely lead you onto a more successful path.

But once you have chosen a subject for your online business, you still need to narrow down it to what is called a Niche.

If we go back to the keeping fit category, that doesn’t speak of a target audience really as there are too many different ways people are looking to keep fit.

If I think about keeping fit, the target audience I could target might be:

Those looking to lose weight, but then I could still narrow this down again and get to:

  • Losing Belly Fat
  • Losing Weight from my arms
  • Diets for those looking to lose weight
  • Exercises to help people lose weight
  • Running aids
  • Running routes
  • Best home gym equipment
  • How to keep fit whilst in a wheelchair
  • Keep fit activities for kids, disabled, elderly, etc.
  • Diet Supplements.

There could be hundreds of niches within the keep fit.  When picking a niche for you to start with, you will also need to consider who your target audience is going to be and really narrow down on what you are going to start with for your content on your website.

By targeting just one of these topics and really becoming the authority in that chosen niche is where you will start, and we can really help with this too. (Read on for more information).

Once you have finally decided on what your niche is going to be, your next step would be to create your own website

Create a Free Website

Build a Free Affiliate Marketing Website

This will be the foundation for your affiliate marketing business. It will allow you to explore all other avenues of online marketing, but with a property that will be your own.

The problem with only focusing on a social media channel is… what if that platform doesn’t exist in the future (like Google +) or has a security risk and you lose your data.

What if that specific social media channel not really fit with your target audience, how do you attract an audience when they are not on there…?

By having your own website, you control the flow and choose what you want to promote.  The other factor is social media has a love/hate relationship with affiliate links and that is not great if you are looking to make a living from affiliate links.

To create your own website, we highly recommend SiteRubix.  The website hosting, they offer is top notch, and it also comes with some great training to aid someone just starting out with affiliate marketing.  But we will cover this later in the post.

For now, you can use the great tool below and see if your chosen website name is available for you to start a free website.

Create High Quality Content That Helps

Now, this is a really important step, and this is something you need to understand to be successful at affiliate marketing.

Selling doesn’t Work!! Helping People Does!

Have you ever been into a shop where the salesman has been that pushy and annoying that you have chosen not to make the purchase and left the shop?

It is the same online, you need to consider that not everyone will be ready to buy.  They are looking for some help and some information on a certain product or service before making their decision to make a purchase.

You need traffic to make money online, and the way to get that traffic is by creating quality content that helps people.

You might create some high-quality how-to guides, with some explanation posts about certain subjects and then also include some product reviews too.

If you are leading the customer along the path of giving them the relevant knowledge, helping them understand what the product is and how it can help them and then lead them to a product review you have done (which includes an affiliate link).

That is a much more natural way to promote affiliate products than just pushing them straight to affiliate links.

If people are not ready to buy yet, they will just click away from your website.  If they are ready to buy, but feel you are not helping them. They will probably go the same way.

So, my advice is the ensure you have a good mixture of content on your website that includes:

  • How-to guides
  • Explanation Posts (i.e. What is Online or Affiliate Marketing)
  • Product Reviews

And always remember to help people who are also interested in your chosen niche.

What Does High Quality Content Mean?

I would also like to give you some clues as to what high quality content means. Some will teach you that you need to write content to keep the search engines happy, so that it ranks.  That is not the case.  You need to write in a casual way, as if you were talking to a friend and you need to make sure you answer the specific question you are targeting.

You need to be in-depth and that normally means between 1000-1500 words.

Use images, people are visual by nature and by using images you can help people understand the concepts you are trying to answer.

People are often put off by the fact that they feel they are not a writer, but we are not talking about writing an essay for college.  We are talking about writing as though you were chatting with a friend and the more practice you put in, the better you will become.

When I first started, I struggled to write 500 words and now I regularly top 2000 words.

But the key thing to remember is – it is not the amount of words you write; it is the relevance of what you write.

If people are looking for you to answer a question and you state, you are going to answer it in the title.

But when they click on your website and see that you don’t, it can really harm your reputation and they will typically click back and go elsewhere.

You can do this, and we will help you do this if you feel you are ready to get started.  We write this to help you and not to make it out as though affiliate marketing is difficult.

It is really enjoyable; it is hard work but so is any job.  We love it, and we know that if you have the right mentality, you will love it too.

Writing this high-quality content with some keyword research (we can also show you how to do this too) will lead to that all-important traffic.

What is Traffic?

Traffic is as it sounds, how many people are coming to your website.  If your content is insightful and helpful, the searchWebsite Traffic engines like Google will rank you higher up the search results and then you will have people start clicking on your links.

Without traffic, no one can click onto your affiliate links.

This is where our advice might differ to some.  We suggest people wait until they have traffic before applying for affiliate programs.

The reason is, you typically need to achieve a number of qualifying sales.  Amazon is a great starting place for new affiliate marketers.

They have a huge product range for you to choose from, but they also require you to achieve 3 sales within 6 months to stay in the program.

Well, you won’t achieve any sales if no one knows about your website, so what is the point of applying for the program before you have traffic.

Once we have a few people starting to explore our website, that is ideally when you want to start applying for affiliate programs and adding the affiliate links to your website.

Applying for an Affiliate Program – Amazon is Great for Beginners!

Amazon offers over 500,000 products online, so this is a great place to get started.  At this point, you should have some traffic coming through and you can start adding some product reviews with affiliate links included to start making some sales.

Typically, you will be accepted into the Amazon Associates program (their affiliate program), but like we said you will need to make a few sales.  If you don’t, they will typically close your account.  Now there is nothing stopping you re-applying.  But we feel that is a faff.

You might as well wait until you have some traffic and not have to worry about your account being closed and having to reapply and change your affiliate links.

Exploring Online & Affiliate Marketing

Being able to have your own affiliate marketing business is really liberating and is such a great way of earning money online.  But your website is only be the start.  You could incorporate video marketing, social media marketing and start to really scale your business into a full-time income.

Once you have started getting some sales through from Amazon.  You will be able to explore other more lucrative affiliate programs in your niche.

Once you have become the authority in your niche, you can always then start to broaden your reach and target other subjects related to your niche and include other products and helpful guides.

But these steps we have listed above are only the start, and we would really like to help you get started but with some expert help and support that can really help you transform your aspirations into something that is a reality.

Affiliate Marketing Training + Expert Support

By using Google and searching you can find out some information about affiliate marketing and getting started, but in reality, it doesn’t give you the support you really need to see this through.

If you are really motivated, driven and want to make this work you need a training plan that can-do justice to what you want to achieve.

If you are looking for a quick way to make money online, then my suggestion is not for you…

When we were starting out and looking for a way to earn money online, we had never heard of affiliate marketing but I read a really useful guide on how it works and they also suggested I read a little more about a training platform called Wealthy Affiliate.

Wealthy Affiliate - Awesome Platform for Beginners

So, I read a little more and was amazed at what they offered to people looking to get started with affiliate marketing.

A complete step-by-step guide on creating an affiliate marketing business, it offers websites and web hosting and some amazing tools to help someone starting out with affiliate marketing.

But what really shocked me was the abundance of support that was on offer.  It feels more like a community that is always there to help when you have a question that needs answers.

Combine the Training and the Expert Support, you have something that is truly awesome and as long as you follow the training to the letter, I know you will succeed in your dream of becoming a successful affiliate marketer.

Read more about Wealthy Affiliate or read my Wealthy Affiliate Review.

But if you think you are ready to take the first steps to getting started with affiliate marketing, with some expert help and support plus our support too, then click on the button below to sign up with a free Wealthy Affiliate Starter Membership.

It is totally free to join and will not require any credit card details.

Free WA Starter Membership

If you do decide to accept our invitation, then we will see you inside and we will be ready to help you get started on an awesome journey to your own affiliate marketing business.


Thanks for taking the time to read our guide, if you have any questions please do not hesitate in writing them in the comments below.  We will always respond to you.

If you have any experience in getting started with affiliate marketing and want to offer any advice to those looking into affiliate marketing, please write the

56 thoughts on “What is Online or Affiliate Marketing? A Pathway to Earning Money Online!”

  1. I really like that you start off with the main point that is not a quick get rich scam. I have been looking for something that will keep me going. You talk about right training, what exactly is the right training? It’s free that is great! Is there any hidden fee? 

    Reply
    • Hey Claudia,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.  Many people get caught out by flashy products that state you can be earning thousands over night and then they find out they are out of pocket and nowhere nearer to earning anything.

      The right training is a program that has proven success.  It takes a complete novice from the very beginning where they are not completely sure what they are doing and takes through every step needed to be successful.

      Wealthy Affiliate offers that training.  There are no hidden fees.  There are two memberships.  I highly suggest the free starter membership because it allows you to see whether it is truly for you before you hand over any money. The free membership will remain free with no catches.  If you decide you are serious and want to go for it, you can upgrade whenever you are ready.

      This is about you fully immersing yourself into the platform to see if you are happy.  This means you do not have to worry about losing any money if it is not for you.  You only invest if and when you are ready.

      Thanks again Claudia, if you still have any questions please let me know

      John

      Reply
  2. Hey John,

    Excellent illustration of affiliate marketing covering all key aspects a beginner (or sometimes even an intermediate level marketer would need to know on the subject). I am on the Wealthy Affiliate journey as well and completely agree when you say they provide an awesome education for success as an affiliate. 

    I would also like to know your thoughts on PPC ad campaigns. Do you feel it’s better to run campaigns for email list building or should it be for selling specific products?

    Thanks

    Joshi

    Reply
    • Hey Joshi,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.  Affiliate Marketing is an awesome way to earn money, but there are many that believe they can take short cuts and in reality, there are none.  But the right training is an excellent starting point for anyone, and that is why we recommend Wealthy Affiliate.

      As to PPC Ad Campaigns.  Used right, they can be an effective way of bringing people who are ready to buy to your affiliate offers.  Personally, I feel using it to build an email list might not always work, as there is still no guarantee of them being the right audience for your affiliate links, but that is just my opinion.

      PPC is also trial and error, it is best to build up an organic following.  That way you know what works and what doesn’t and that will be valuable information to nail your PPC campaigns.

      Hope that helps?

      John

      Reply
  3. Affiliate marketing is a more than legit path to making online passive income and yes, it IS possible to make a full-time living on it. 

    Let’s face it, most of us would love to live the laptop lifestyle, but the climb to the top takes work, a lot of work, time, sacrifice, determination, and willpower. 

    But I will say this: Stick to it, and you will see your online businesses grow to new heights, eventually earning you such income via affiliate marketing. 

    Down the road, you’ll thank yourself for sticking to this avenue in life and never giving in, never giving up. Pick your niche and aim for the sky. 

    Reply
    • Hey Todd,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for sharing your experiences.  You have it spot on.

      You have to work, work and work some more to be successful. But with it being about something you enjoy, it just allows you to immerse yourself into something you enjoy making the work much easier to handle.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  4. Thank you for this great and informative post!

    Affiliate marketing seems to be a great option to building a sustainable long-term business online.  It’s kind of amazing that you can turn a hobby or passion into an income stream.  It almost makes it fun rather than work.

    It’s nice to know that I can create a free site to get started.  I’m always leery of forking out cash in the hopes to make a buck myself.

    Who’d have thought that Amazon would be something I can refer people to and make some money by doing so.  Heck, half the world shops there already anyway.

    Thank you for recommending Wealthy Affiliate as a platform, not only for training but, for support as well,

    Scott

    Reply
    • Hey Scott,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.  Affiliate Marketing allows you to choose anything and I think that is why it is so popular and appealing.  Being able to work on something that is a hobby definitely makes it fun.

      You are right, with such a huge audience it would be silly to discount Amazon.  Consumers will have trust in Amazon and this will help you when you are promoting products on Amazon.

      Wealthy Affiliate is definitely our top recommendation and the support available is a major plus for us.

      thanks

      John

      Reply
  5. Hi John,

    This is a very good post and I was interested to learn about Amazon.  You are right, it is important to have some traffic and sales first before applying to Amaazon as my account was closed.  It was still early days and I did not have traffic at the time..

    Using social media for traffic is still new to me as I am used to using PPC methods.

    Affiliate marketing is simply posting content about products you want to receive commission for and also sharing to your target audience for sales.

    Quite a lot of techy stuff is included, but Wealthy Affiliate have made it easy for us with step by step courses.

    I am glad I joined as I have learnt a ton of relevant and interesting information about affiliate marketing practice with ethics.

    Well done for a great review!

    Reply
    • Hey Stella,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.  Social Media can be a great way of building up a following, although not necessarily that great for affiliate promotions.  

      Wealthy Affiliate does provide a great number of tools and training ready for any level affiliate marketer.  Glad you found it useful.  

      John

      Reply
  6. You’ve got a big thumbs up from me on this excellent piece of article. 

    Firstly, you have given a total overview of what affiliate marketing entails to which I believe is the best means of generating income online these days. 

    Getting the niche selection right is also an area to which I like well because I got stuck there while trying to get things rolling with myself. 

    I just couldn’t break down my niche to see any firm of monetisation options possible there. I also commend you for sharing wealthy Affiliate as an option to getting well detailed tutorial. 

    I believe its the best platform when it comes to getting affiliate marketing trainings.

    Reply
    • Hey RoDarrick,

      thanks for checking out our blog and for writing some comments.  We love affiliate marketing and with the right support anyone can get started if they truly believe in themselves and commit to the hard work and time required to make it successful.

      A lot of people get stuck with the niche selection, it can be really difficult to narrow it down to the right level.  

      With my first niche choice I was stuck.  But Kyle (the owner of WA)was the one that helped me narrow it down.  

      That is something I love about the WA community, they will always help you.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  7. Affiliate marketing definitely looks like the way to go. Anyone can do it provided they are willing to work at it, and the great thing is that you can sell anything you like. So starting a hobby website that you enjoy won’t feel like work at all.

    There are just so many opportunities to make money online nowadays that there shouldn’t actually be unemployment anywhere in the world. Even pensioners can make an extra income for themselves and get a new lease on life if they are willing to learn how to work a computer.

    Reply
    • Hey Michel,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  You are right, as long as people are willing to put in to the time and effort to learn and then take action there is an opportunity for everyone.

      thanks

      John

      Reply
  8. I have often been asked what is online or affiliate marketing (something I am involved in so people naturally want to know more details) and I do describe it as a pathway to earning money online. Normally a deep dive into all the technical pieces is not something I will do, as it will take too much of their time.

    Much better to refer them here and have them read through your thorough explanation. They will be able to read through the article at their pace and be able to then make an informed decision if it is something they might want to get into. It is not for everyone, but everyone can do it if they have a plan and work at it.

    The platform that you highlight is one that I also use and I can say that it is the best place to learn that I have found since starting in the business. Readers will be well-advised to try it out and see for themselves. There is no cost to try it which is really nice, not even a credit card is required! Good post and thanks!

    Reply
    • Hey Dave,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  Wealthy Affiliate offers a great safe environment for people to learn affiliate marketing and many other aspects of the online world and as it is free to try, it is a great way of people seeing if it is really for them.

      thanks again

      John

      Reply
  9. This is really cool. It has always been a dream of mine to quit my regular day job that I have now and make a full-time income online. The thought of never having to leave your home to got work and making money while you sleep just seems so awesome to me. But like most things worth having, that is easier said than done. Its just that I don’t know the first thing about affiliate marketing or making a website which is why I am glad I came across this article. You inspired me to actually take action towards achieving my dream of making a full time income online. What program do you recommend that can teach me the fundamentals of affiliate marketing? Great article, very helpful and definitely going to share it on my Facebook page.

    Reply
    • Hey Garrett,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  If you really want the best platform for learning affiliate marketing we highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate.  It offers a step-by-step guide that takes you from building a website all the way to getting traffic onto your site to be able to make money online.  It is by far the best training platform we have found and it is even free to get started with .

      If you want to learn more, check out our full Wealthy Affiliate review here.

      Reply
  10. Definitely agree with you that affiliate marketing is a sure way to generate income online, if done right. Affiliate marketing has become a hot in demand way of making money online because of its cost effective nature and the fact that anyone can do it by just picking their area of interest and talking about it to provide solutions to peoples problems. Making money through affiliate marketing is also free so far there is enough traffic on one’s website and they are clicking through to buy something on affiliate programs using one’s link.

    Such a great way to make money online and I can definitely say that I am a beneficiary of this system because I am an affiliate marketer too. Thanks

    Reply
    • Hey Tracy,

      thanks for sharing your experience with affiliate marketing.  It is a great way of making money but also getting more involved in an interest you have.  Turning a hobby into a business is actually a lot of fun and so the hard work doesn’t feel as bad as the hard work you do in a job you really don’t want to do.

      thanks again

      John

      Reply
  11. Wow! I have heard a lot on affiliate marketing and how lucrative it is. This article above here has given every bit of information to me concerning affiliate marketing and how it operates. Seriously, this is the best information I have read about it. Getting to pick a niche is simple for me since I know my area of interest already and the one I would be very happy to talk about every time.
    Your suggestions and tips are very much welcomed and I will make sure to make judicious use of this offer to make money through affiliate marketing. I will bookmark this page since I know it would be my guide in the coming months. Thanks

    Reply
    • Hey Rodger,

      thanks for checking out our blog and we are so glad you found our guide useful. If you ever have any questions, just let us know and we will be more than happy to help

      John

      Reply
  12. Dear John

    This is a very great and exciting article. It is helpful to new affiliate marketers as well as people interested in affiliate marketing. I am really impressed with how you explained about the content, of course creating content is really hard work but you have provided detailed information about content creation. Thank you very much for helping me too as a new affiliate. All the best

    Baraka

    Reply
    • Hey Baraka,

      thanks for checking out our blog and we are so glad you found it useful.  Many people are put off by the unknowns, but as you break it down you actually start to see the huge potential behind affiliate marketing and there is no need to invest huge amounts to get started either.  It is a fantastic business model and I wish you well on your endeavours.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  13. Awesome write-up John. Affiliate marketing was the breathrough to financial freedom for me, even though it took time. I could remember before I went fully into online marketing, I would wake up at an ungodly hour. Drive to the office through total gridlock, streets jammed with other half-asleep commuters. Slog through email after mind-numbing email until the sweet release at five o’clock. It was terrible then. Thanks to this great platform “wealthy affiliate”. It was my secret to financial freedom.

    Regards!

    Reply
    • Hey Jordan,

      I think many of us can relate with that awful commute to work and the job that doesn’t really do it for us.  I am glad you were able to find financial freedom and it does show that anyone who commits the time and effort to escape the normal job can and will find financial freedom and Wealthy Affiliate makes that happen for people who are willing to invest time and effort into learning and putting into action.

      thanks again Jordan

      John

      Reply
  14. Nice and informative article about online marketing and affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is great pathway towards maintaining sustainable passive profits. It is NOT get-rich-fast stuff, it takes usually lots of time and effort. As most activities and working marketing strategies does. However, thanks for a good and thorough article about affiliate marketing, This kind of honest and educative help is more than welcome. 

    Reply
    • Hey Jesse,

      no, affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme but as more and more people are constantly looking for a get-rich-quick scheme they find that they have wasted time looking for something that was never there.  You could look for another year for one and never find one or put a year’s effort into an affiliate marketing business and be earning good money from it.

      That is the choice people need to make when they are looking for ways to make money online.

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  15. Affiliate marketing is a really great way to make money online. For me, it is the best way to make money from home. If i am to give any other information, i will only be repeating what you have said here. I am also an affiliate marketer with wealthy affiliate and i would recommend this model to anyone. Nice post here.

    Reply
    • Hi John,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  We tried to be thorough, so it is good to know that we covered all the bases.  Wealthy Affiliate offers a fantastic platform for those wanting to get started with affiliate marketing and it is tried and tested with loads of success stories coming out of it.  I have never known such dedicated owners too!!

      Definitely a great place to be…

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  16. What i like most about this is the fact that you have said here that affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick way of making money online. I have seen people fail in affiliate marketing and all they think is that it doesn’t work. Your details here is very good and i like how you have explained and given a good platform for training on affiliate marketing. Great post!

    Reply
    • Hi John,

      I totally agree, a lot of people slam affiliate marketing but when you review how they came to that conclusion it is because they didn’t earn anything within a couple of weeks.  It doesn’t work like that, it is such a shame when you see people walk away from their hard work and you know that if they had kept at it a couple of more months they would have been onto a fantastic earning business.

      Anyways, all the best

      John

      Reply
  17. You have written a comprehensive guide that answers many questions that folks are looking for when they want to start an online business.  You have shown me that affiliate marketing makes the most sense, because it eliminates such things as buying and storing products and shipping, Just linking to the store who supplies the products seems much simpler.

    Creating a website is an exciting idea, and I am pleased to see that you have offered Wealthy Affiliate as the medium through which you can build it.  When you are starting, you have no idea where to begin, and to have a training system that lays it all out for you is very valuable.

    Thanks for writing this post.

    Reply
    • Hi Fran,

      thanks for checking out our guide.  We are so glad you have found it useful.  We found it really easy to get our heads round with the help of the guys at Wealthy Affiliate.  Being able to ask questions whenever we wanted to and having people ready to help and guide use was really good.

      I think with anything in life, when you do it on your own it can seem really daunting.  But when you are working on a business with people always there to help and support does make it much easier to do the work required to make it possible.

      That is why Wealthy Affiliate is our top recommended program!!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  18. Online or affiliate marketing can be some of the best ways to generate passive income for sure, and you really nailed it here with some excellent background information on the subject matter. Passive income is great as it allows us to earn income while at another job, while on vacations or even while sleeping. What’s more, it can even help us quit our tiresome day to day job and provide a better quality of life. I totally agree, though, that it takes time and effort to achieve success, and anyone who says you can make money overnight should be taken with a grain of salt. Great reference here with Wealthy Affiliate, which is a tried and true platform with a great community of support, highly recommended. Great post!

    Reply
    • Hiya,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  Thanks for adding your comments.  Glad you agree with our assessment of Affiliate Marketing and Wealthy Affiliate.  The community, training, support, tools are just awesome within Wealthy Affiliate and we feel it is the best place for someone serious about earning passive income.

      John

      Reply
  19. Excellent article, John. Thank you for the article you wrote so that it gives me an idea of how to make money online. During this time, I thought that the only way to make money was through a freelancer site. Where, as long as I was on that site for approximately 3 months. I did not get anything (even single penny).
    However, today I will try the recommendation that you give specifically about Wealthy Affiliate. But, because I am a beginner, what do you think is the reason Wealthy Affiliate is not a SCAM site?

    Reply
    • Hi Kylie,

      after spending 3 years benefitting from everything that Wealthy Affiliate has to offer, I feel like I am in the perfect position to tell you that Wealthy Affiliate is definitely not a scam.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is talking a load of rubbish.

      The main thing about affiliate marketing and wealthy affiliate is the fact that if you fail at Affiliate Marketing, it is not because of the business model or Wealthy Affiliate, it is because you have not taken action.  Many people believe there are get-rich-quick schemes out there and there are not.

      People get stuck in the normal job style pay idea.  That is where you spend an hour doing some work and you get paid for it.  That is not how an online business works, but people get lost with the normal way.

      So, they go and spend a week building a website and then expect it to pay them back because you put a week in.  that is not how it works, but people walk away and start calling it all a scam. When in reality, it is because they didn’t put enough effort in and they didn’t have realistic timescales.

      Nowhere within WA does it state that you will earn money quickly, in fact they are totally honest with you about the timescales and the amount of effort you need to put in.

      But there will be a few, who try WA for a couple of weeks, not really follow the training and then walk away and have an opinion that WA doesn’t work.  It is clearly not true.

      Back to the point, Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam and is the best thing we ever found!!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  20. Yes. Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. But it comes with a great price, and it boils down to this question, “Are you steady to put in the hard work?” Just like you said, affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick, pyramid or MLM scheme, it takes time and effort with determination to build a successful online business empire.

    Even this your website I believe was not setup in a day or a week. You went through hard work, patience, and lots to reach this level. This should be an encouragement to beginners, even to me.

    I must say that you have really covered a great deal of affiliate marketing and it is very educating to anyone that wants to go into this business model.

    Great article.

    Reply
    • Hey Kell,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  It does take time, but as long as you are realistic in setting your goals with realistic timescales, you will be surprised at what you can achieve.

      By the end of the first few lessons, you will have a firm grasp on what affiliate marketing is, you will have your very own website up and running, you will have created your first piece of content, etc.

      Those are all tangible goals and massive achievements.  If you can set yourself daily, weekly, monthly and annual tasks and goals, you will be surprised at where you will be in a years time.

      The only reason you will fail, is if you give up or don’t put the effort in.  Keep motivated and keep going, and you will achieve your goals.  You just need to go out there and get it!!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  21. Thanks for the instructions on this wonderful job. I found this marketing job almost, and every piece of advice gives me the impetus to go forward. I didn’t know that Amazon could make money on advertising their products. Marketing gives so many opportunities that one can make money but the hardest thing to choose is because everything is interesting.

    Reply
    • Hi Kozakiv,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  It actually saves Amazon money, as they do not need to spend a fortune on promoting their products or marketplace as they have a load of affiliate marketers who do it for them.

      There are plenty of opportunities with marketing, definitely

      John

      Reply
  22. Hello John.  Thanks a lot for sharing with us such an informative article and explanation given.

    I started to be part of this marketing affiliate industry since October 2019 and i can say that this was my best decision i ever made. I’m a premium member on Wealthy Affiliate and here I discovered how to own a business and make a lot of money online. With all this training’s here everyone can do their website and start to earn some passive income. You put here such an amazing descriptions and i really want to share this article on my social media account where i have a lot of friends who want to earn money online. 

    Thanks again for this and wish you all the best! 

    Reply
    • Hi Nagy,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  Glad you are reaping the benefits from a Wealthy Affiliate membership.  Affiliate Marketing is a fantastic opportunity online and the training and support available from Wealthy Affiliate makes it such a sensible business choice.

      Our goal is to help as many people as we can who want to take the first few steps towards starting a profitable online business with affiliate marketing.

      Feel free to share this post, the more people help the better we will feel!

      Thanks

      John

      Reply
  23. I truly need to initially value your exertion in assembling this incredible site and composing this article. I really liked your article. I am glad to see your article. I have been working in the online world for a long time. Your article caught my eye. I am working in the affiliate marketplace. I have learned a lot from your article. What I like most about this is the fact that you have said here that affiliate marketing is not a get rich quick way of making money online. I think this article will benefit everyone. Thanks for sharing a useful and informative post.

    Reply
    • Hi Sabrina,

      thanks for checking out our blog, thanks for the feedback.  We work hard to help people find success with affiliate marketing.

      It isn’t a get rich quick scheme, but anything that claims to make money quickly is definitely a scam. You need to work hard to achieve success!!

      Thanks

      John

      Reply
  24. Undoubtedly, affiliate marketing is a very good way to earn money online and sure enough, like any other worthwhile endeavor, It requires proficiency in some skills. When I decided to learn how to really make money online, affiliate marketing was the path that seemed more appealing. That being said, it is not as easy as it may appear.

    Great post 

    Reply
    • Hi Rhain,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  I wouldn’t say you need skill, you need perseverance.  You need to work hard at learning, work hard at putting it into action, work hard to keep going to see success.

      If you put your mind to it, you will succeed!!

      John

      Reply
  25. Many thanks to you for giving us such a beautiful article and after reading your article, I have learned a lot about affiliate marketing and I am even more interested in doing it. After reading your article, I realized how profitable Affiliate Marketing is to an online based business and if I have a store online, I can easily sell products from affiliate marketing online through various companies and as a result I can earn a commission. I’ve been very interested in affiliate marketing after reading your article and I want to

    Reply
    • Hey Arzu,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  Affiliate Marketing will take you time to learn and put it into action, but as long as you stay consistent and work hard, you can achieve great things!!

      But the thing is you need to get started to see any success.  The best place to get started is with Wealthy Affiliate and their training.  It is a great blueprint to get you started!!

      All the best

      John

      Reply
  26. Easily put, Affiliate Marketing is the Internet version of commission sales. You make a contract with a company where they consent to pay you some amount of money to advertise some type of ad to visitors at your site to get them to go to the company’s site and do something.

    That something may be as easy as clicking on the ad itself (Pay Per Click), identifying themselves to the merchant for further action (Pay Per Lead), or getting the visitor to purchase something, either on the spot or within an agreed-upon timeframe (Pay Per Sale). Thank you very much for this great article

    Reply
    • HI Magalu,

      thanks for checking out our blog.  It is easier to say that you promote other peoples products or services for a reward or commission.  There are many different ways, but going into Pay Per Click or PPL, etc. can be off-putting to someone just starting out and there is no need when you can learn how to get free traffic.

      My advice is to master Free techniques before going into paid leads, as you need a budget and you also need to know what works otherwise you just waste your money.

      thanks

      John

      Reply
  27. After reading your article I learned how to do affiliate marketing and I love it so I want to do affiliate marketing and after getting this information from you I decided to create a blog site because affiliate marketing does not require too much investment and there is no loss of product and no office rent.I found this important information in your article. Your tips will help me a lot in my life, and your valuable information has changed my life and I’m reading Allreddy Affiliate Marketing, but that is wealthy Affiliate Marketing.Thank you so much for providing such wonderful and important information. I want to affiliate marketing. Can you help me?

    Reply
    • HI,

      if you want to get started with affiliate marketing, the best solution we have found is the Wealthy Affiliate Training platform.  With a free starter membership, you will gain access to ten free lessons on how to get your affiliate marketing business up and running.  Find help with finding a niche, and you even get a free website too.

      If you do decide affiliate marketing is for you, then Wealthy Affiliate is the best choice.  If you accept my invitation, you will also get my personal help and advice along your journey.

      The last 3 years have been the best decision I ever made to become a WA member.  You can benefit too!!

      Click this link to become a free Wealthy Affiliate Starter Member, and I’ll see you on the inside 😉

      John

      Reply
  28. The most important things to define is a genuine interest in an specific niche. For me, the 2 key elements to ensure being successful are:

    + Having a genuine interest bin what matters to your niche (being part of it) 

    + Getting into a community that back you up and shares general market knowledge and updates.

    Once you get the platform set-up, not gathering your visitors emails would be missing a key opportunity. This opens several alternatives, all of them easy to integrate. 

    Thanks for a great recommendation, I’ve taken a look to the proposed platform (Wealthy Affiliate) and the key value I’ve found is that they have a very helpful and active community backing you up. 

    Reply
    • HI Juan,

      you are right, choosing a niche is an important first step.  You definitely need a subject you enjoy and will not tire of.  Many people choose a niche because they think it is profitable, but then they run out of material because they lack any real interest or knowledge in that subject.

      Any niche can be profitable, if you do it right!!

      Wealthy Affiliate has such an engaging community where positivity runs through it everywhere.  I think that is one of my favourite things about it and why beginners find it such a supportive platform when they first getting going.

      Everyone needs help and that is what you get in abundance, from the owners, other members and the training.

      Definitely worth a look if you are wanting to get started with affiliate marketing.

      All the best

      John

      Reply

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