Best way to build your affiliate portfolio and have any chance of making money in a very competitive market
Let's start with the three basics
Whatever your business you want some universal applications and then narrow down the offering to be more exclusive.
Wealthy Affiliate is a premium WebHost and training program for building your website or blogging business.
Fiverr for those that are unaware is a recruitment center for getting things done on a budget price but with premium performance.
Fiverr has become more of a brand than a $5 price but it still represents the best value around. The range of offers is exhaustive and used by nearly every online marketer at some stage of life.
Pictory is a Video production operation where you build your videos. Did you know that conversion can increase by 80% when using video so a product that represents itself?
Use products that pay for themselves
All premium plans come with a cost which is only fair as we all need to make an income. However, that cost can be amortized by a few affiliate sales as you build up your portfolio.
The number of sales required is quite low because the commissions are reasonable so just a few customers can be your passport to income-neutral purchasing.
The best way to build your affiliate portfolio is with appropriate products
Back up your niche with appropriate products
There are affiliate opportunities in every niche so it is just a matter of hunting them out. You may even have competing products and give the reader the choice of what they want.
This could be writing a product review and comparing two different ideas, however having an affiliate link to both. It is surprising how many people will buy a product you don't recommend.
To find those affiliate opportunities type in Google your niche space affiliate and you will get a list of opportunities.
Many Niche aggregators handle all affiliate transactions for the company
- Wealthy Affiliate
- Amazon Associates. Not recommended due to low commissions
- ClickBank. Rough end of town
- eBay Partner Program.
- Commission Junction (CJ)
- GiddyUp.
- Impact. Used by me
- Awin.
- Rakuten Affiliate
Many companies are moving to places like the above to ease the workload of managing a large affiliate network.
How do you get accepted as an affiliate?
Sometimes it is automatic other times you need to qualify by showing that you have a track record.
By starting with the free access sites like those above you build a history of time and performance. Remember they can track your performance but by buying some leads you can show a high level of people coming to your site. Anyone can get traffic but the truth is in sales and that you never need to declare.
Pixel life will determine your success
If you go to Wealthy Affiliate your pixel life is a lifetime but at Amazon, it is a day. This is the amount of time that you own the customer after which it reverts to company profit.
For example, if you send a referral to Amazon and they decide to look around before making a purchase you will lose them as your customer after just one day, even if they spend a lot of money.
Normal is around 30 days but a Lifetime is always preferred
Is affiliate marketing hard
Like any other business it takes time and dedication to get results, you may be lucky with some early success but you may need to build a following before the money comes in.
It is not a get-rich-quick scheme nor is it like Multi-level marketing where the money is only at the top. You are limited by your efforts however the results have no restrictions placed on them.
Be an affiliate for more than one partner
The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you can have as many partners as you want, the only limits are the number of links on a page before you look like a spammer.
I certainly always have several links on a page. However, they are helpful suggestions included for a purpose and not just to make money.
Where is the best place to put links
The answer is where they will be seen. You can use static ones in a position around your post, a bar where a color highlights the link, imbed an HTML advert, or a simple link placed in a paragraph.
All images can also contain a link. Opportunities are everywhere
Best way to build your affiliate portfolio
Choose your partners carefully. They must work with your writing to assist the readers to gain a better understanding of their future
Conclusion
Your affiliate portfolio is like a tool kit where you introduce them when required. It is not a scattergun approach but a careful selection of helpful ideas that add value to your writing.
Overuse of affiliate links will detract from your success. Use them to help but not just build your success
