What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing, my dudes, is like getting paid to recommend products you love. It's a rad way for regular folks like you and me to make some extra dough simply by sharing links and promo codes. I know, right? Far out.
Here's the 4-1-1. When you become an affiliate, merchants give you a special trackable link or promo code for their products. Then when one of your readers clicks that link and buys something – cha-ching baby! – you get a commission. It's that easy, my friend.
Now I know what you're thinking: “But Greg, I ain't got no audience or website.” Not to worry, young grasshopper! These days you can be an affiliate through all kinds of channels – your blog, YouTube, Instagram, email list, and more. Wherever you already have an audience, you can partner with merchants relevant to that audience and earn commissions promoting to them. How sweet is that!
Why Affiliate Marketing is Dope for Beginners
I'm telling you, affiliate marketing is way nice for beginners looking to make money online. Why, you ask? Well sit down and take some notes Sally because Uncle Greg is about to lay down some truth:
First up, it's easy breezy to get started. We're talking low barrier to entry here folks. You don't need to make any products yourself, which is a total pain in the tuckus. Nope, you simply partner up with brands selling products already and earn a cut when you refer customers their way through your unique link. Piece of cake!
Next, affiliate marketing works on autopilot. Set up those trackable links and promo codes once, and they'll keep working hard earning you commissions 24/7/365. When you're sleeping, when you're on vacay sipping margs – the money keeps rolling in on the regular. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
And lastly, it's incredibly scalable. Once you get your first few sales and learn the ropes, you can scale that thang up fast. The more content you create with your affiliate links, and the more readers you attract, the more bank you bring in every month on autopilot. Ca-ching, baby!
Choosing the Best Affiliate Programs
Now if you wanna earn that cheddar, you gotta pick the right affiliate programs to partner with. And Greggy is here to show you the way, my friend.
First things first, choose affiliate offers that align with your interests and audience. If you're all about that craft beer life, don't promote some random makeup company. Keep it relevant, ya dig?
Next, go with affiliate programs that offer nice sized commissions relative to the price of the product. You typically wanna see at least 20-30% commissions, my dude. Nobody got time to promote stuff for pennies on the dollar.
It's also crucial to pick affiliate programs with high-converting products. If nobody actually buys the product you promote, you ain't getting paid squat. So make sure people are buying before you put in work advertising for them.
And don't forget – Cookie duration matters! You wanna give people enough time to convert after they click your link. I'd recommend at least 15-30 day cookies.
Follow this advice from your main man Greggy and you'll lock down the crème de la crème of affiliate programs. Then it's just a matter of driving traffic to your content and counting that phat commission bankroll, baby! What what?!