By Vanessa Lea
“Vanessa, what do you do, and how do you make money?”
I get asked this a lot.
I am an affiliate marketer.
Affiliate marketing allows one to earn commissions for marketing another company’s products or services.
It’s one of the most popular ways to make money online since it requires low overhead and no product creation or inventory management.
How Affiliate Marketing Works
Affiliate marketing is a simple concept.
A company, also known as a merchant, creates a product or service and wants to sell it. They offer an affiliate program to incentivize people to promote their products. An affiliate, aka publisher, promotes the merchant’s product using their unique affiliate link.
Affiliate marketing is a low-risk business opportunity. You don’t need to invest much money upfront to get started compared to other online businesses. You can start small, build your business over time, and scale up as you see success.
There are many benefits to the affiliate marketing business model for both the merchant and the marketer. For merchants, it’s a cost-effective way to reach new customers and increase sales. The merchant only pays the affiliate when a sale is made, so they don’t have to worry about upfront advertising costs.
For the affiliate, it can be a lucrative way to earn passive income promoting products they believe in without ever encountering issues with inventory, shipping, or customer service.
The key to success with affiliate marketing is to provide value to your audience. Establish yourself as a reliable source of information by creating informative and helpful content instead of just pushing products. By building trust with your audience, you’ll be able to increase your sales and earn more commissions.
Affiliate marketing also offers the opportunity to earn passive income. Once you’ve set up your affiliate links and started promoting products, you can earn money without actively working on your business. This means you can continue earning money even when sleeping or on vacation.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to expand your affiliate marketing efforts, many different products and services exist.
Here’s a Rundown of Some of the Most Popular Options:
- Physical products: These tangible items can be shipped to customers. Examples include clothing, electronics, and home goods. Many popular online retailers offer affiliate programs, such as Amazon Associates.
- Digital products: These can be downloaded or accessed online, such as e-books, courses, and software. Digital products can be an excellent option for affiliate marketers because they often offer higher commission rates than physical products.
- Services: Services refer to any work that someone does for someone else. This might involve tasks such as website design, writing compelling copy, and providing expert advice. Many service providers offer affiliate programs to help them reach new clients.
- Subscriptions: Subscription services are becoming increasingly popular, offering recurring revenue for the provider and the affiliate marketer. Examples include subscription boxes, online membership sites, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.
- Apps: Millions of apps are available for download, many offering affiliate programs. Whether you’re promoting a game, productivity tool, or health and fitness app, there’s likely an affiliate program available. When choosing which products to promote, it’s essential to consider factors like commission rate, audience fit, and personal interest. By carefully selecting and promoting high-quality products, you can generate a consistent income through affiliate marketing.
You are also open to more than one type of product. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you can simultaneously offer many products from any source. The potential for growing a massive business is unlimited.
Affiliate marketing offers the chance to work in various niches and industries. Whether you’re interested in fashion, health and wellness, finance, or technology, countless affiliate programs are available. This means you can find a niche you’re passionate about and build a business around it.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online while enjoying flexibility, low risk, and the chance to work in a field you’re enthusiastic about.
In my online experiences, I have done affiliate marketing in many areas. I currently have an Etsy store where I sell my designs on mugs and T-shirts. I am an affiliate for other physical products for Amazon and Walmart. In the past, I have created review sites for many digital products on JVZoo and Clickbank. I have had many eCommerce sites where I purchased physical products for dropshipping sales.
My passion is in the make-money-online niche because I believe so much is misleading and grossly exaggerated on this subject. I aim to provide authentic, real-time content to show others how it can be done. There is no such thing as getting rich quickly (unless you win the lottery). Just like any other business around the globe, it takes hard work and consistent effort to grow and prosper.
I have found the mentor of my dreams in Dean Holland (more about him later). In the short time I have been a part of his team, I have learned more from Dean than any other marketer online.
I want to help as many people as possible do this correctly.
If making a living online resonates with a lifestyle you could develop a passion for, don’t give up on your dreams – with patience, persistence, and hard work, you can achieve your goals and create the life you want.
If I could offer you one piece of advice, I would say always offer your customers good value and be as transparent as possible.
The bottom line is that you want people to like, know, and trust you and that you are not just out for the sale. You are better than that.
Being in business for yourself means that your character is on display. Your livelihood and reputation can be protected if you appreciate, respect, and connect with your customers.
If you’re curious about me and haven’t already, please read “My Story” to find my purpose and why I am here.
If you enjoy reading my blog, consider subscribing to my FREE NEWSLETTER to be notified when I write a new post. I promise I won’t spam you or flood your inbox with nonsense.
As a special gift for signing up, you will receive two free video training courses from my mentor, Dean Holland.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog post, please consider commenting below. I’d love to hear from you.
Until then, Stay Curious, Stay Inspired, And Stay True…
Reading this part of your blog, “If I could offer you one piece of advice, I would say always offer your customers good value and be as transparent as possible.” Value is only 5 letters long but a mile deep for success in this business is critical. I can assure you that you are adding value with your list of Affiliate Marketing options. Is there one that is working better for you at the moment?
HI Vanessa,
This is a good post, I believe if someone wants to learn about affiliate marketing, this post gives them a clear vision on the subject. Congratulations and thank you for sharing. I look forward to your next post.”
Hello Vanessa, not sure you could have laid it out any better. I think you gave an easy to read explanation . Nicely done.
Hi Vanessa – I love your site and I REALLY love how you explained Affiliate Marketing in an understandable way. I resonate with your passion statement, “,,, I aim to provide authentic real-time content to show others how it can be done. There is no such thing as getting rich quickly (unless you win the lottery). Just like any other business around the globe, it takes hard work and consistent effort to grow and prosper.” Thank you for this information and for keeping it real!
What an excellent breakdown of affiliate marketing. I think this is very well outlined and explained. I’m new into affiliate marketing and I found this to be one of the better articles I’ve seen.
Hi Vanessa,
You laid it out so well explaining what Affiliate Marketing is. So many people I talk to ask me what I do. They have no idea what Affiliate Marketing is. Trust means everything when it comes to your viewers. If there is no trust, then there is no business… Great job! Thank you for your post. It was helpful.
Meredith
Vanessa, that’s a really great blog. Thank you. You laid out everything very well and very clearly what affiliate marketing is and all the different types and options. Your audience will find this very useful. I was interested that you’ve got your own Etsy store. I’d love it if you could do a post around how you start what you learn what your experiences are and this is that something you’re going to continue doing or are you gonna stop now that you’re gonna be doing affiliate marketing.? Thank you so much, Atif
Vanessa,
I liked how you did a breakdown of how affiliate marketing works. Great advice to offer value and be transparent to your potential customers. They will eventually get to know, like and trust you. I look forward to your next post.
Sherri
Hi Vanessa, Wow! You have great experience in selling on Etsy and have also been an affiliate for physical products and digital products.
Love your layout and clear review of affiliate marketing. Right up your street!!
Awesome!
Will you be doing training on Etsy or reviewing digital products?
Vanessa, great post and informative. I read your About page. Believe for the best year yet, 2024, and accept that you are going to be the BEST YOU !!! Success is ours, as we embrace the process.
Blessings,
John
Thank you John… that means a lot to me.
Hi, Vanessa! This is a fantastic description of affiliate marketing. My sister asked me what I was doing this weekend. I’ll share this post with her.
I especially like what you wrote about empathizing with your customers. As an affiliate customer, your business depends on the trust you build with your customers. The first step is definitely to be honest with them, but then also to care and to be responsive to them.
Excellent post! Looking forward to the next 🙂
As long as we are here to serve, our leads will know we are authentic!
Thank you, Kate… I believe that as long as others perceive that you are coming from a place of service and goodwill with the value to back that up, they will know if it’s authentic.
yes as an affiliate marketer myself I agree that the know like trust is important, and it can take a while to build that up. one key to this i believe is making every offer super valuable…only promote stuff you have confidence in, and look for ways you can add additional valve to the offer.
Very nice layout with lots of pics and a very informative post. I look forward to your next posts.