So i have started getting into affiliate marketing and i think i have the basics of it but i’d like to get more knowledge and advice from people who are already doing it. If you have any words of wisdom… they would be greatly appreciated.
Posted on April 2, 2013.
So i have started getting into affiliate marketing and i think i have the basics of it but i’d like to get more knowledge and advice from people who are already doing it. If you have any words of wisdom… they would be greatly appreciated.
Understanding Internet Marketing
First things first, Internet marketing is a pretty broad term and can mean many things to many different people. Internet marketing in it’s broadest form is “marketing of products and services on the net”. You can read the wikipedia definition of Internet marketing if you want a complex response, but essentially that is all it is.
The thing that makes it more complex is (a) how you promote products (get traffic) (b) what your objectives or (are you the company or an affiliate).
The Vast World of IM
You may have heard terms like Search Engine Marketing, SEO, pay-per-click marketing, CPA marketing, article marketing, affiliate marketing, affiliate, merchant, tweeting, facebook, email marketing…the list goes on.
This is all encapsulated under the “Internet Marketing Umbrella”. That is the reason people get so confused when they go to get training. They really are unsure of the best way to achieve their objectives and in many cases, exactly what they need.
(1) Starting an Internet Marketing Business for your Yourself
If you are looking to become an affiliate marketer or become a merchant (sell your own products or services), this is what I consider starting a business for yourself. This could be anyone and if you are looking to start a business online without owning a product, you can easily do this.
There are many different business models that work. All you need is a website and in this day and age, it is very easy to get a website up and running (and ultimately earning you money).
Once you get a website, you need to find programs to promote (affiliate programs). Once you sign-up for these (free), your goal is traffic and building content on your website.
Sound a little difficult? It really isn’t and there are so many ways in which a website can be created, 100,000′s of affiliate programs, and quick and easy ways to get traffic (through various techniques)…that there is an opportunity for all of us. However, in order to succeed, you need to get an Internet marketing education. You need to get trained and learn the latest strategies. There are excellent Internet Marketing Training sites out there that provide University style training plans for very affordable prices.
(2) Promoting an Existing Business through IM Strategies
If you have a local business, offline or online, this is what I call promoting an existing business. If you fit into this category, you need to create a plan for attracting local traffic.
Say you are a “florist” company in Little Rock, Arkansas looking to create on online presence. Search Engine Optimization for Florist
There are many ways in which you can do this and it would start off with a solid Internet Marketing plan. Ideally you would want to implement a paid search campaign that would target the search terms that would be relevant to your site. You would also want to put some emphasis on getting natural search engine rankings under top search terms “buy flowers in Little Rock Arkansas” through a solid Search Engine Optimization strategy.
Can this be taught or learned and implemented in-house? Yes. If you want to save a lot of money and learn exactly how to market your business online, you will invest in getting trained versus spending money to get consulting from another company. An Internet marketing company typically charges out a percentage of your monthly ad spend (several $1000) an ongoing monthly maintenance cost (usually around $500 – $1000). You can easily see that a consulting solution could add up to $30K-$50K per year.
If you want to do it in house or training employees to do your online marketing strategy, there are Internet Marketing Training companies that are very affordable. You can usually get an education platform with tools and support for less than $200 per month, and often times this will include hosting, keyword tools, support, in addition to the training.
Its a steep learning curve but making money online can be done..
Spend some time on forums like warriorforum.com, there are cheap member authored tutorials in their WSO section that might speed thee process a bit.
Most people fail at affiliate marketing, in many cases because they quite too soon, even the seasoned professionals have more failures than successes, if using paid advertising, it’s common practice to spend twice the offer payout in a test promotion, if there are no sales after that, give it up and move on.