How do I get started becoming an affiliate marketer ?
How to ???
- Thread starter Jordan Nichols
- Start date
This is a big question @Jordan Nichols , let me see if I can help. Once you have gone through this post, start a thread as a follow along so that all of the members can see your progress and help you along the way.
First of all, you may already know some of this stuff as I outline it. I just want to be thorough.
Start by getting to know the essence of the business and the anchor words of the industry. You can do this by studying the contents of our Wiki.
Next, you need to determine what area of marketing you want to start with. Pick one, this industry has hundreds upon hundreds of opportunities for marketing and you must learn one before you can learn many.
Select one tracker, one vertical, and one traffic source most suitable for the type of marketing you want to do. This is very important. Just one of each. Once you master them (a couple of months) then you will be in a position to add more areas of marketing and more resources. Trust us on this point, we've all been through it!
Perseverance, dedication, and taking action are the cornerstones of the success you will obtain.
As a Newbie, you need to read, study, invest, and implement.
Read
Read through the various areas of the forum to learn about the types of marketing available for your new business. Make a list of all the types of marketing and take some notes along the way. Then determine which area of marketing with which you will start your journey.
Do this to select an area of marketing to start, as well, do this to select a tracker, a traffic source, and to select a vertical.
Then read up on the affiliate networks and select two to begin with that will serve your needs and the types of offers you would like to promote. Put your application in and they will call you for an interview. Be professional and be prepared to answer some questions about how you will promote offers, do you have a website, are you a Newbie, etc. Please note, if you join the Dojo, we have a thread there that can offer assistance in getting accepted to some of the networks.
Study
Now that you have selected a basis to begin, read all of the threads in this forum that relate to your initial selections so that you have a rudimentary understanding of their features and benefits.
Invest
You will require some investment. A VPS server, domains, traffic, landing pages, etc. You will need a budget for daily, weekly, and monthly expenses. This will change over time and you will need to update it often so that you know exactly what your costs and earnings are.
Implement
This is where it all starts to earn. You must now begin to implement what you have established as your foundation for your business.
Here is some advice and guidance that will help you establish your initial goals:
Make sure you complete the following first.
Every business needs:
1. A Plan - You are establishing a business, every business needs a plan.
2. A schedule for your research, your learning, and executing your plan, and your campaigns.
3. A Budget. You must establish your budget for all of your business expenses including your server, traffic expenses, etc.
Remember to read through our WIKI and get to know the basics as well as some of the buzz words in the industry.
I also recommend reading the following thread:
As a Newbie, What Stops You From Getting Started
Here is a set of immediate goals:
1. Get a VPS
2. Select a vertical
3. Select a tracker
4. Select a couple of networks and get your approval
5. Select a traffic source
6. Create a schedule for researching, learning (training), and working. This is a business, treat it as such!
7. Create a budget for every expense (daily, weekly, monthly)
8. Be very active in this forum by researching, asking questions, helping others when you are able.
As well, I highly recommend you join the DOJO as it is full of great tools and contributions for successful marketers. Click the banner below to learn more.
T J
Hi @Jordan Nichols you can make money having a website and sell the traffic to affiliate networks (webmaster) or buy traffic from adnetworks and resell it to affiliate networks (media buyer).
Hello, and thanks for the very informative reply, I deeply appreciate it !
I have read over the Wiki some and have stumbled on a question.
I only have a start out budget of $1,500 to use. As an affiliate marketer I would want to be a Publisher as it seems to fit me and what I have going on in life at the moment (full-time college student, Accounting major).
From my understanding the publisher connects with a network and basically advertises a certain product to potential buyers, correct me if I'm wrong please. To do this I must first buy a VPS server such as from VPS Hosting - Your Own Virtual Private Server | DreamHost – DreamHost right ?
And how many different domains would you suggest for someone new ?
How do I become appealing as possible for a network to take me in when I have no experience ?
When building my first web page, what contents would you include to make networks want to accept my application ?
Thank you for your time !
Also, how well do the affiliate programs through Amazon & Ebay ? Especially when considering yourself a 'newbie'
This is a reasonable ad budget to get under way. Keep in mind you will have ongoing monthly and annual expenses in addition to this. Server, domains, tracker, any out sourcing you do, etc.
As a publisher, you will promote offers made available to you through the affiliate networks.
It's better to see this as promoting offers. Sometimes you will be seeking the users to give information in exchange for something (zip submits, email submits, phone numbers, etc.), sometimes you may be presenting offers for web site sign-ups (dating sites, financial sites, health sites, etc.). There are more, but this gives you the idea.
Yes, you should start with a VPS. I''ve never used DreamHost, I did look at your link, I didn't see where they identify how many CPU Cores they give you, but these may be okay. Be sure they don't have unusual limitations for marketers in their TOS.
The domains are determined by the verticals being promoted. As time goes by, you will be collecting domains. For example, if you decide to promote dating offers then you will want to have some domains relevant to that vertical when possible. When I was in the dating vertical I had a domain name that was a woman's name. It was a seductive name. I used it for wealthy dating niches. For the blue collar dating offers I had several domains like pizza-beer-football-girls.com, and several others that were similar. For gambling I had one called real-sucker-bets.com along with a few others. I am out of those niches now and sold the domains and landers a few years ago. Hang on to your domains for a long time after you move on to other verticals (for at least a couple years) because you may return to that vertical at some point. I waited several years before deciding to sell those domains just to insure that I could go back to those verticals if I so wished.
There is a thread in the DOJO (my shameless affiliate link) where you can get assistance with your applications. We have a lot of networks represented in this community and they keep an eye on that thread. The importance is to present yourself as well as possible to be a responsible and capable individual. You should make yourself available to receive a phone call from the network where they will ask you how you plan to promote their offers, what your spending budget is per month, you want to be personable and appealing on that call and properly use this call opportunity to present yourself.
Just throw together a good looking blog (with your name as the domain when possible) and give it some reasonable content about your self and your life. Make it look good. Make it feel good. If possible, put together a second site about your new journey into affiliate marketing. These sites are not a necessity for approval, but it helps them see a positive element about you and your goals as well as your posture.
I do not recommend these as a beginners foray into this business. I highly recommend mobile marketing offers including app installs, pay per call promotions, etc.
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