On this page I’m going to give you a simple beginner guide on how affiliate marketing works. In short, it is the process of you promoting other peoples/companies products online and earning commissions on each sale. There’s more than one way to do it and if you’re a beginner, I’ll be showing the right steps you need to take to start seeing results.
Who I Am:
Before I explain this is in more detail, I want to share some quick info on who I am. My name’s Vitaliy and I do affiliate marketing for a living (and have for over 17 years now). I make a full time living at it and help others do the same, while avoiding the many mistakes and pitfalls out there. Here’s some of my income reports:
Affiliate marketing can be a GREAT way to make a part-full time living and it can also potentially make you an income 24-7, even while you sleep. But the truth is it takes time, work and the proper guidance to make it work. It is not a get rich quick scheme.
If you’re new/struggling, my BEST advice for getting started would be to try the Wealthy Affiliate program. This is the program I learned all of my skills in this business from. They help you create an affiliate business on ANY passion you have in life.
They’re also free to get started with, have MANY success stories and you are provided with everything you need to succeed. Get started with them for free here. Now more on how affiliate marketing works:
The details (how it works):
Affiliate marketing as I said earlier is the process of you promoting other peoples/companies products and earning commissions on each sale. There are countless places called affiliate networks you can sign up to promote their products, including:
- Amazon Associates (3%-10% per sale)
- Commission Junction (1%-10% per sale)
- AWIN (3%-10% per sale)
- Avantlink (3%-10% per sale)
- Viator (1%-10% per sale)
- Clickbank (10%-90% per sale)
- And more (there’s countless options out there)
Any network you sign up with (and get approved for), you will be given what are known as affiliate links which basically code your unique info and when someone clicks on that link/s and buys from it, you will earn a commission on each sale. I am personally signed up and approved for ALL of the above networks.
In some cases I make a little bit, in other cases I make a decent-full time income, but you can promote multiple things from muliple networks if you want (and even 1 network can provide you with a potentially great income source). For example:
- Let’s say you promote a mountain bike that’s $5,000
- Each sale you make earns you $500 in affiliate commissions (10%)
- You make 5 sales a month, which equals $5,000 in passive income monthly
The goal:
In order to make money as an affiliate, you have to intelligently promote your affiliate links and not just spam them (which a lot of people do). This can be done through sources, including:
- A personal website
- A YouTube channel
- A social media page (TiKToK, Facebook, Instagram, etc…)
- An email
4 steps to succeeding at affiliate marketing:
I’m going to showcase to you a simple model that got me to where I am today and the key is that you’re leveraging your passions AND helping people. This is what makes you sales in affiliate marketing:
- Choose a topic you love (let’s say it’s losing belly fat)
- Create a website, YouTube channel or social media page on that topic
- Create valuable content that helps people (this gets you visitors seeking help/info on the problem)
- Promote an affiliate product that (in this case) solves the problem of losing belly fat
Here’s a real life example:
- I chose the topic of hiking (I personally love this)
- I built a website on this topic
- I create valuable content (like which hiking shoes to buy, which trails to hike, etc…)
- I promote affiliate products on the site (like hiking shoes, winter jackets for the outdoors, hiking poles, etc…)
Here’s real life examples of people making money with this:
These are all real people who started as beginners and make money as affiliates thanks to the program I mentioned earlier called Wealthy Affiliate. They are free to get started with (try them here).
My #1 Recommendation For Succeeding At Affiliate Marketing:
Click here to get started with Wealthy Affiliate risk free
Questions/comments? Feel free to leave them below!