If you’ve been wanting to make money using the internet, then affiliate marketing with blogs is your best choice.
The thing about affiliate marketing is that it’s a versatile side hustle for digital marketers.
You don’t need to be popular and you can even remain anonymous if you don’t want to be recognized online.
Some marketers even start by doing it as a hobby and eventually do it full-time.
But what exactly is affiliate marketing and what do blogs have to do with it?
In this blog post, I will be talking about:
- What a blog is
- What is affiliate marketing
- How to do affiliate marketing with blogs; and
- What are the most common terms in affiliate marketing
I will also be answering the common questions asked about this concept to help you understand the topic more.
What is a blog?
Generally, blogs are a part of a website that typically includes text, images, and videos.
A blog may also serve as the website owner’s diary or journal to talk about their thoughts on a particular subject matter.
To put it simply, blogs exist for personal use and it’s often in a less-serious and conversational tone.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a popular strategy that involves an advertiser offering commissions to a publisher promoting their products or services.
An affiliate program is generally the agreement between the affiliate and the advertiser.
Once you’re part of the program, you will be introduced to the different commission structures set up by the different companies.
In case you didn’t know, big companies like ClickFunnels, GrooveFunnels, Systeme.io, etc, offer high commission rates in their affiliate programs.
There are even affiliate marketers who’ve turned this income-generating opportunity into a full-time business.
So if you want to know more about this strategy, keep on reading to learn more.
Affiliate Marketing with Blogs
When you think about making money online, affiliate marketing is probably one of the most-talked methods that pops almost everywhere.
It’s fun, easy, and you can do it even in your free time.
Affiliate marketing with blogs is probably the best way to earn passive income online especially when you apply the right strategies.
Some people say it’s how you guide prospects throughout the sales process the moment they arrive in your blog and click on your affiliate link.
This process makes use of an affiliate funnel, which is a step-by-step journey that the potential customer takes.
Most affiliate marketers create blogs to write reviews and apply search engine optimization to get more traffic.
Common terms in affiliate marketing
In this section, we will be talking about the common terms in affiliate marketing to help you understand the concept more.
And also to give you an idea of these terms that you will encounter in the future.
- Affiliate network – the affiliate network is basically the place where advertisers and publishers connect.
- Affiliates/ Publisher – these are the ones who are promoting an advertiser’s offer on different platforms.
- Merchant/Advertiser – they can be a person or a company that pays affiliates for every conversion.
- Conversion rate – this is the average number of conversions per click
- Offer – the offer is what’s being promoted which can either be a product or a service
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of optimizing blog content to rank high on search engines
- Cookies – these are stored in the user’s browser which also serves as a tracking link each time they click on an ad or an affiliate link.
- Affiliate link – also called the tracking link that is specially generated and includes the affiliate’s user ID.
- Affiliate manager – a person that communicates and guides affiliates to the different programs inside the affiliate network.
- Landing Page – this is the page where the user ‘lands’ after they click on the affiliate link which sometimes redirects to the advertiser’s website.
How does it work?
Affiliate marketing is actually a very simple process.
To give you an overview of how it works, here’s a sample scenario:
You become part of an affiliate program
You’re given your affiliate ID and you gain access to the affiliate marketplace
Inside the marketplace, you’ll see different brands offering their very own commission models (CPC, CPS, CPA).
CPC – Cost Per Click
CPS – Cost Per Sale
CPA – Cost Per Action
The most common commission structure that everybody loves is the CPS where some affiliate programs offer up to 50% commissions per sale.
Then you’re given an affiliate link that’s specially made for you to promote on your blog.
Whenever someone clicks on your link, a cookie will be stored in their browser and stays there within the cookie period.
If they are able to make a purchase with your affiliate ID, the merchant pays the commission which will be credited to your account.
Pretty cool, right?
What are the benefits of affiliate marketing with a blog?
Other than just being an excellent money-making opportunity, affiliate marketing also has surprising benefits that you probably never knew all along.
Cost-effective
Blogs are cost-effective and also have a very low startup cost compared to other platforms. You don’t need to create campaigns since the blog itself is the campaign – in a lowkey way of course.
Impressive ROI
When creating blog posts, always aim in creating evergreen content. The ROI will surprise you since it will last years online and it’s still making you more money than you expected. Just make sure to offer valuable content all the time.
Builds your email list
Surprisingly, using a blog to promote affiliate products may build your email list. See those opt-in forms on many websites each time they’re offering something for free? It captures leads and makes it easier to reach potential customers on the way. You can even send them emails to give them updates on a new blog post that has all your affiliate links.
Boosts your reputation as an affiliate marketer
Even if you’re only a beginner in this industry, you don’t necessarily have to be an expert in your niche. As long as you’re providing valuable content, people will always come back for you and eventually trust you.
It can be done part-time
Even if you have a 9 to 5 job that sucks (or maybe not), you can still be an affiliate marketer and earn money on the side. That’s because you can leave it on autopilot and it will make money for you. It’s that simple!
What products to promote in a blog?
Promoting products with a blog is actually very simple since you only have a few options to choose from.
If you want to become consistent as an affiliate marketer, always promote the products that you love.
The reason is pretty simple, if you love what you’re doing, it will keep you motivated as you get people to click on your links.
According to smartblogger.com, affiliate marketers often choose to promote four different types of products: Digital Downloads, Online, Hosted, and Professional Services, Online Courses, and eCommerce Stores.
Digital Downloads
Digital downloads are content that users can access instantly such as books or ebooks, software, mobile apps, checklist, templates, and more.
Online, Hosted, and Professional Services These are generally online services like ClickFunnels, Paramount Plus, Namecheap, and more that you can promote on your blog as an affiliate. Online Courses Another way to make money online is to promote online courses. Since more and more people are joining online courses to learn new things, the market for online courses is actually growing each year. eCommerce Stores Amazon is the best example of an eCommerce store that you can promote. You can either buy any product on the platform and write a review about it or simply compare different products from one another.
By the way, the golden rule of affiliate marketing is to disclose affiliate links all the time.
Which platform is best for affiliate marketing?
So I’m guessing you’re ready to kickstart your journey as an affiliate marketer but you probably have no idea how you can monetize your blog.
As mentioned, affiliate programs are created by advertisers and you can join one in a marketplace like the ones listed below:
- CJ Affiliate
- Amazon Affiliates
- Rakuten Advertising
- ClickBank
- ShareASale
- ClickFunnels
- Target Affiliates
- Skimlinks
- Tradedoubler
- GrooveFunnels
- AWIN
- Impact Radius
- Systeme.io
- JVZoo
These are only a few of the best affiliate marketing programs that you might want to join as an affiliate someday.
Start affiliate marketing with blogs today
If you’re interested to become an affiliate marketer and earn thousands of dollars a year, take a shot at this wonderful opportunity today!.
You’ll learn a bunch of things not only the different strategies but also how to set up your very own affiliate funnel.
I have tried the course myself and learned so much that I highly encourage you to take it.
I promise you won’t regret it!
It’s easy and has everything you need to know about affiliate marketing.
Don’t miss out on this life-changing course by clicking here to check out our affiliate marketing course today!
