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October 2016
People always want the secrets, the fast tips or the low hanging fruit as I prefer. Well I'm actually going to give it to you today. It's the one income source that makes so many more things possible. It's highly passive and can pay you for years. It is something anyone can do.
Affiliate marketing. Yes, that thing.
Affiliate marketing is really just selling for other people. And if you think about how the internet has transformed into an eCommerce, social-driven mega beast you'll begin to understand what I'm saying.
The way we communicate now with others…
The way we write and leave reviews…
The way we like, share, retweet…
You can see that our words have the power to persuade others. When people are shopping online there is nothing more powerful than a honest review.
So what does that mean for you?
It means that you may already BE an affiliate marketing and you just don't know it yet.
You may be recommending products that are offering affiliate commissions and you just didn't know it yet.
You may have a big enough network or social following that would provide you monthly affiliate earnings and you just don't know it yet.
What does affiliate marketing entail? How does it work?
Basically, companies and brands are starting to realize this network effect. Influence marketing is now blowing up and showing incredible results. Why buy “targeted” ads when you can just ask a blogger to promote it to their hyper-targeted audience? I used quotes because I just don't trust ad networks (cough FB cough) as much anymore.
Next time you are shopping online scroll to the bottom of the webpage and look for words like: partners, affiliates, revenue share, referrals. This indicates the company is looking for people to rep their products and they will provide you a unique URL that you can send people through. If they buy you will get a commission. I've been doing this for 5 years already. It just keeps building.
So what's the catch?
There is no real catch, but your success will be based upon your “traffic”. By traffic I mean how many people can you get to actually click on that link and then ultimately convert.
You should know that you don't have to get them to buy on the first click. You can often still get the commission up to 30 days later.
The real secret is building a targeted audience through blogging, videos, social media and real life networks. That way the products you promote will all be useful to that group of people.
I guarantee you there are affiliate products waiting to be sold in every market.
What does this have to do with Digital Nomads?
Well, I bring it up because that is a big part of my audience. You guys. I know a lot of you are entrepreneurial and would like to travel and work remotely.
If you want to be remote then you need a blog, website or youtube channel where you can grow your audience. Maybe a podcast or a cool IG account.
But in any case, wouldn't it be great to sit by the pool and listen to the sounds of affiliate commissions ringing in your inbox? Yes it would.
So why not give it a try?
If I had to start right now from scratch I would take the following steps:
- Pick my niche
- Get clear on my target audience
- Find some good affiliate products that audience would like
- Write 30 blog posts for that niche
- Promote the blog and improve search rankings
Traffic will start to flow and people will eventually start showing interest in the affiliate products if they are relevant.
Remember, the product you sell doesn't have to match the blog you right – they both just have to be relevant to your target audience.
Maybe you are a mom and you write about making organic baby food. But your affiliate products are amazon diapers and bottles. Get it?
Maybe you are a soccer star and love to share tips and tricks but your affiliate products are feet health related? You feel me?
Does this sounds doable to you? It was very doable for me. The great thing is you don't have to be successful from day one. Just keep building content, looking for better products and learn how to drive more traffic.
You can setup different websites for different niches. You can do it anonymously if you want. As long as you provide the reader value they will keep coming and you will eventually see some converting sales.
But you have to take that first step. You have to become a bit of an authority and build trust with your audience. But that doesn't necessarily mean blogging for years.
My best affiliate results came off of Youtube video that took me 20 mins to make with no preparation. I just shared what I knew about a piece of software and provided a link at the end for people to buy it. They went crazy for it. The video showed them how to be successful with it and they just had to buy.
That 20 minutes led to thousands of dollars in sales. WTF RIGHT?!?
I hope that whets your appetite for a bit more affiliate marketing. It truly is the lynchpin of my digital nomad lifestyle. It also sets the stage for you to start creating and selling your own products.
That's enough for today. It's all just a mindset guys.
