Anyone can learn it
In 2016, everything changed.
After 6 months of consistent writing on my blog, I’d earned $4.38 from AdSense.
I was averaging earnings of $0.10 an article.
Then I wrote up a review of some guitar software I loved.
I applied to the affiliate program, and within 2 weeks, I earned a $5 commission.
Woah.
That one article outearned the previous 47 I’d written.
I became obsessed with affiliate marketing. I spent day and night figuring it out until I was able to quit my job 18 months later to write full-time.
Affiliate marketing isn’t some weird hack. It’s a skill.
And if you learn it as a new writer, you can make money.
Cheat audience building and make money
When I made my first sale, my blog was getting around 500 views a month.
And my most profitable blog, which I sold for a six-figure sum, never crossed 25,000 views a month.
Earning money from programs like Medium or display ads is tough. You are always searching for more, and for every extra 1000 views you get, you might only earn an extra $20.
However, you can make real money from a small audience with affiliate marketing.
For instance, I recently wrote this article about Justin Welsh, which got around 1k views.
It earned $22 from the Medium Partner program and an extra $90 from his affiliate program.
That’s maths that’s hard to beat.
Or this article, which got boosted and earned $1,700:
Earned an extra $500 from the affiliate program I promoted inside it.
Affiliate marketing slots right into your skills
Writers are primed and ready to add affiliate marketing as an income stream.
Selling affiliate products is as simple as applying for a program and then writing content around the problem the product solves.
It’s a no-brainer. You’re creating content anyway, so why not start creating content that pays?
You don’t need to be an expert
Creating courses is great, if you have experience and expertise to offer.
But what if you aren’t the best in the world?
Simple, you can promote the products and courses of those who are. You leverage their expertise and unique products to make money.
For instance, I wouldn’t dream of creating a course around Twitter. I don’t even have a thousand subscribers.
But I can tell you that Justin Welsh’s course will teach you what you need to know.
It will teach you how to sell
It would be nice to write whatever you want and make money.
But it doesn’t work that way.
Mr. Get Rich Quick tells you that’s all there is to it, but the reality is that to make money, you have to sell something.
Whether you’re selling a product or a headline to get people to click your article, you need to learn to sell.
So let’s make it easier.
The basic funnel of selling looks like this:
- Get people to click to your article
- Get people to click to your product
- Get people to click to your checkout
- Get people to pay
- Profit
Each one is its own challenge, and I believe you can learn every step. But the magic of affiliate marketing is that you only have to focus on the first two steps.
You are selling the click of the affiliate link. It’s up to your affiliate partner to get them to check out.
This means you can master those first two steps before moving on. Otherwise, you become a jack of all trades and a master of none and never manage to make an income.
Don’t waste time building products no one wants
Building the wrong thing might waste 6 months and leave you with no sales.
With affiliate marketing, you can sell an already proven product. You don’t have to do market research or figure out how to make something. You can pluck an already proven business model and start earning 10-50% commission on it!
No more guesswork, no more failed launches, no more frustration at figuring out what your audience is willing to buy.
You can apply, and go.
Final thoughts
If you want to know where to start, a Google search of “your niche” + affiliate program.
Otherwise, look at products or courses you already use. A simple email asking about an affiliate program might be the most profitable move you ever take.
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