NOTE:  There are affiliate links in this post.  I may receive a commission if you click a link and choose to purchase anything.  This is at no additional cost to you.  I only promote the tools and services I have used and believe in.

Introduction

So you're interested in the affiliate marketing business. That's great! Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money from home, and it's something that anyone can do with the right tools and information.

In this post, we'll walk you through the basics of getting started with affiliate marketing. So keep reading! There is a lot in this article, so let's get going!

You will discover things like...

• How to pick a niche or category and why you need one

• Finding products

• Do you need a domain?

• What is an autoresponder?

• How to Find your audience

• Creating traffic

• How to get paid

I know that seems like a lot, but have no fear, my good friend, we are going to go through all of it! 

First, let’s talk about what affiliate marketing is! 

Digital or affiliate marketers promote the products of a company by driving their audience to the company's website.  When a customer clicks on your special affiliate link, they will be directed to the product you are promoting. That web link is unique to you and the company knows to attribute the sale to you. 

Where do you put your affiliate links?

Your affiliate links can be on a landing page that someone clicks on from your social media, or they could be in a blog or even an email that you send out to your previous clients.

This is how it works:

So now that we have the definition, let’s get started!

Define Your Niche or Category

The first step in starting your own affiliate marketing business is to define your niche or category. My business partner hates the word niche, so we are going to call it a category from here on out. I wanted to use the word in here so that if you are checking out other places for information, you will know it is all the same thing. Both mean the same thing. It is the type of product you are going to promote. They all need to be similar or in a category where the products go together.

There are three main categories that have been proven to have the best earning potential and will never go out of style. These three areas are health, wealth, and relationships.

These areas are way too broad to use as your category, but finding an area within one of them that interests you should be doable. I do suggest picking a category that you are interested in. As a marketer, the last thing you want to do is have to talk about something you don't care about every day. Be sure to pick something you are passionate about. This will make it easier to produce content that engages your audience.

Before you decide on a niche, you also want to make sure that there is enough potential for profit. Affiliate marketing is, after all, a business venture. Do your research and look up products that relate to your niche!

If you are feeling like a step-by-step approach that can guide you through the process might be more your style, the Tribe Guide can help you with that. It lays out the exact six steps to take to get started with your journey. If you want to check it out, Click Here!

Find an Affiliate Program

So now that you have your niche, you want to start affiliate marketing but don't know where to start!

The first step is to find a profitable affiliate program. There are a number of ways to find products that have affiliate programs. About 80–90% of companies have one! If you have products you love, reach out to the companies and see how to apply to their affiliate program. Some companies you can apply to right through their website. For some companies, you'll have to apply through an affiliate marketplace or network. An affiliate marketplace is also a good place to find products in your niche that you may not have known about. There are many marketplaces to find products; a few examples of these are

• Impact

• Commission Junction

• JVZoo

• Shareasale

These networks connect merchants with affiliates. On the network, merchants post their offers, and affiliates can look through them and choose the ones they want to promote. You can also try doing a quick Google search for your niche or category. In Google, put your niche plus "Affiliate Program" and see what comes up!

I would highly suggest trying out every product you promote. As a personal brand, you do not want to promote a product you don't believe in. Customers are looking to you to promote things that you like and trust. The last thing you want to do is associate your brand with a product that is subpar.

Research every product and make sure it aligns with your personal values and interests. Then, make a website or blog that will advertise the affiliate program's goods and services. Finally, start driving traffic to your site by creating valuable content and promoting it on social media.

Set Up Your Tech

Now that you have your business plan in place, it's time to set up your technology. There are so many different options for technology. You can use a lot of it or hardly any. This is where you need to decide what is right for you.

When first starting out, I would recommend using as little technology as possible. The problem with implementing too much technology when you first start is that it consumes you. Before you know it, you haven't done anything in your business because you are trying to figure out the technology.

In my opinion, getting started on the things that are needed to bring in money is more important. I will talk more about this a little later, so don't stop now! Let's just get through the technology!

The technology that is usually recommended is:

• Domain

• Professional email

• Autoresponder

• Sales funnel

I think the last two are negotiable in the beginning, and here is why: If you don't have an audience and you are not moving anyone to your link, there is no need for an autoresponder or sales funnel. These two pieces of technology only help you if your audience is going through them.

Start by getting your domain (website) and professional email. Don't worry, you don't have to build a website, you just need to own it for now.

There are a few things you need to consider when purchasing your domain. The first is your domain name. This will be the web address of your website, e.g., www.mywebsite.com. It will also become your professional email address ([email protected]). It's important to choose a domain name that's easy to remember, easy to spell, and relevant to your business.

You will need to purchase your domain. I highly recommend NameCheap. You can also purchase your professional email through NameCheap. I also recommend Google for purchasing your domain and professional email. If you are already familiar with Google and use all things Google, this might be the easier way for you to go.

An autoresponder is just a fancy name for a piece of software that automatically sends emails for you. There are a lot of options out there, from free for now to a lot! There are only a few I would recommend, so let's take a look at them and what the benefits and drawbacks of each are.

My top recommendation and the program I use is Lead Vortex. There is a 14-day free trial, so you can check it out. This program is $97 per month, which may sound expensive, but let me tell you what is inside. First, it comes with everything you need for your business. It has an autoresponder, a funnel, a place to host your website, a place to host courses, and training on just about every topic, from SEO to how to create content. There is also a weekly live Zoom call where you can ask questions and get help when you need it. You can also become an affiliate for Lead Vortex and earn a 40% commission!

If $97 isn't in your budget, System.io is free to get started. This is the system I used when I was first getting started. I was very budget-focused, so this was a great program to get started with. This program has an autoresponder included, and you can build funnels. This system can grow with your business, for sure!

So what do you do with all this technology?

Funnels are used to collect the email addresses of your clients who clicked on your link and move them on to the product they are interested in checking out. The funnel automatically puts your client's email address into the autoresponder, where you will follow up with them through email.

I want to start out by saying that email lists are huge! So don't take this part lightly. Your email list is probably the most important part of your business. It gives you a way to stay in touch with your customers, and for some of them, this is the only way they are going to hear from you.

Things also happen in social media, accounts get closed by the platform, and there is nothing you can do but start over. Having an email list of fans will help you reach out to them if something like this happens.

As an affiliate, your email list is what you own. It is your business.

So, while it is not important for you to have this set up immediately, it is something you will want to get moving on, but you can work on that as you are attracting your fans!

As promised, this is what brings us back to what I believe is the most important thing to getting started with, and that is content!

Your content

Building an audience, and if you are like the rest of us, you are probably starting from zero. I have used social media and email marketing to create my entire audience, and I started from zero on every platform.

One of the most effective ways to drive organic traffic is through social media. Mastering short-form video is the key to social media these days. Yes, this is scary when you first give it a try, but it is a skill you can master. Of course, if you are starting a blog instead, you will need to develop your copywriting skills, and this is a much longer game. Blogging is a long game and not as quick to develop as video content and you will still need to drive traffic to your blog

Master one social media platform when you are first starting, but you are going to want to create an omnipresence. That means, you want to continually expand where you post on social media. In my opinion, the two that are fastest growing are TikTok and Facebook Reels.

There are some things you'll want to do with your short-form content, one of which is repurpose it! When you get to this point, there are ways to help with repurposing, but they do have a monthly subscription. Make one piece of content and add it to multiple platforms! This can be done automatically through Repurpose.io!

Getting Paid

But before you can start earning a profit, you need to know how to get paid.

There are a few different ways that affiliates can get paid, but the most common is through a payment processor like direct deposit or PayPal (some have other options). When you sign up for an affiliate program, you'll usually be given the option to choose between these two payment processors.

PayPal is a popular option because it's quick and easy to use and because it allows you to receive payments from around the world. However, it does have some downsides, such as high processing fees and limited payment options.

Conclusion

So, you've made it to the end of this guide! Congratulations! Now it's time to put these steps into action and start making some money.This article guides you through the essential steps you need to take to get your business off the ground. If you are feeling like a step-by-step approach that can guide you through the process might be more your style, the Tribe Guide can help you with that. It lays out the exact six steps to take to get started with your journey. If you want to check it out, Click Here!

We'll start with the basics—picking a general niche, choosing a good domain, and setting up your email—and then move on to more advanced topics like creating a sales funnel, driving traffic to your website, and how to get paid.

And if you want to check out Group Juice, the same course I took when I was struggling to figure this whole thing out, click here. I went through a lot of training, but this is the only course other than my own that I will recommend.

Once you have these basic tools, you're ready to get started!

Don’t you think it is about time to get started making money from home in your very own affiliate marketing business?

Let's GO!