How To Become An Affiliate Marketer And Make Money Online

Affiliate marketing also offers simple techniques to make money from home which is a 'passive' income. Affiliate marketing works by directing internet users who are seeking information, products or services, through your individual affiliate link to the product. When a product sells, you make a commission. Commissions are high and can be up to 75% of the selling price of the product. This is because there are no storage fees or postage costs incurred and you are doing all the advertising for the product so they (the creators of the products) can afford to pay high commissions to affiliates.

The 'passive' side of this lucrative business is a very desirable side effect of affiliate marketing. What this means is that once you have created articles, blogs or simple websites and generated enough incoming links to your sites or affiliate links, customers purchase items due to the work you have done previously. It is all 'hands off' and your income is then automated. You continue building these free running income streams as long as you choose and there is no limit to how many you can build.

You can work whenever you choose and you have no boss. You have an automated business which sells products while you sleep. To run such a business 'offline' you would have to invest in buildings, employees, advertising and it would be much less convenient than an online automated business. Also to start your own internet affiliate business is incredibly cheap and it is within the reach of anyone who can afford a trip to the cinema! In comparison, an 'offline' business offering the same perks would cost thousands of pounds just to get started.

Affiliate marketing is also incredibly convenient, much more so than say an online shop where you have to answer emails and deliver products. All you really have to do is generate traffic for an already existing sales page and the work you do continues to make money long after you have moved on to the next project. You can work a few hours a day whenever and wherever you choose and affiliate marketing is completely flexible. Much of your work is already done by the product vendors who create banners, videos and links for you. All you need to do is place them on suitable sites or send them in emails. You can also run an affiliate marketing business completely free if you choose to. It might take a little longer but it is possible and you simply put up free sites, blogs and write articles much like this one. The internet search engines pick up the content in the articles and people link through to your affiliate products after reading your articles. You make commissions when people buy the products.

These products also sell very well through email marketing and you can set up automatic emails which send out your affiliate links on a regular basis. This is done through an opt in page and this form of advertising is also incredibly effective.

How to Find a Niche

If you ever wanted to learn how to find a niche, then this post is for you!

We want to share with you the process that we actually use to find a niche (or profitable micro niche) for affiliate marketing. It is the same process that has helped us to do well as an affiliate marketer over the last eight years. The good news is that it is a simple three step process. It has worked for us, and if you follow it to a tee, it will work for you.

Step 1: Write about a topic you like or are knowledgeable about: If you like a topic you are more likely to want to write about it. If you are very knowledgeable about it then you will have a lot of good things to say to your audience. The good news is, you can also undertake a lot of research on line, so you don't need to know everything straight away.

Step 2: Find out how much competition you have: The best way to start with this is to consider a general topic. Let's say it is Dogs, from there you can look at what niches exist for dogs. Examples could be dog training, dog grooming or diet's for dogs. Dog training, may be something that you know a lot about or are interested in. More specifically, you could find a micro niche on how to train specific types of dogs, or how to train dogs for specific actions or tricks etc.

Once you have found the niche or micro niche do a quick Google search to see how much is written on the topic. If they are only a few pages of good information then you may be onto a winner. Next check out forums (eg. pet forums) to see what questions people are asking. If they are a few questions relating to your particular niche even better. Also check out how many Google Ads there are. More than two and less than nine is a good range. It means there is some competition but not to much.

Step 3: Check out how many potential customers there are: You now need to see how many potential customers there are. Use the Google Keyword Tool to see how many searches there are on the topic. We recommend under 20,000. Simply type in your niche or micro niche keywords and see what comes up. You can then build your site based on these key words. Once you have done the above, see if there is a relevant product. Start in ClickBank as they are one of the biggest resources on the web. Once you find one start your site. The product is the last step. You have to find a niche that works first!

Yes... the above process does involve a fair bit of work, but it is definitely worth it and you will reap the rewards for the hard work you have put in. All in all it will help you find a niche that is profitable.