If you’re wondering how to learn affiliate marketing, the answer is relatively simple. In fact, it’s quite possible that you’ve already learned some of the principles you need to make affiliate marketing work in your favor without even realizing it! In order to get started, read on to learn more about how affiliate marketing works and find out what you can do to increase your chances of success with affiliate marketing.
However, you must be careful because there are a lot of online courses which claim to teach you insider tips and tricks but end up wasting both your time and money. Make sure you check the reviews before signing up. Here’s a review of the Wealth System Webinar to give you an idea.
Start with free tutorials
Before you invest any money, search for free affiliate marketing tutorials on YouTube or Google and explore what’s available. While many will be out of date, some may contain useful strategies that are easy to follow and learn. However, keep in mind that even though a course is free, you should still conduct proper research before taking advice from it. Some of these videos may make false promises or present information in an incorrect way. Having said that, there are some courses out there that are both free and valuable. You might just have to do a bit of research yourself.
Sign up for free courses
The Internet is home to free courses, videos, and tutorials for any skill you could ever want. In addition to all of these free resources, there are also tons of online groups that are eager for new members. You can join Facebook groups and Slack channels focused on affiliate marketing or on any specific niche your business operates in. With a bit of digging, you’ll probably find an affiliate marketing group suited perfectly for your needs! (And if not, get in touch with us about starting one.)
Setting up an account on platforms like Coursera or Udemy is easy but will cost you money (usually around $30/month). It’s less expensive to sign up for free services such as YouTube and LinkedIn Learning, but there may be limited content available. If you’re looking for a quick way to learn while keeping costs low, we recommend trying out our #1 recommendation through Skillshare.
Join an educational forum
The best way to learn affiliate marketing is to join an educational forum and/or take a course, especially if you have no prior experience. There are several informational forums on affiliate marketing that will allow you get advice from experienced marketers and interact with other people who want to learn affiliate marketing. Another option is to take an online course or local class that teaches affiliate marketing, or look for guides that can help you through a specific aspect of it (such as PPC). One example would be Neil Patel’s free AdWords guide. Regardless of how you decide to do it, joining an educational forum and/or taking a course or reading a book is one of the best ways how you can learn affiliate marketing.
Build your portfolio
Building a portfolio will help you build your reputation as an affiliate marketer. Your portfolio will showcase your best products, reviews, and other work, making it easier for clients to decide if they want to work with you. Instead of showing clients only what you’re selling right now, show them what you’ve sold in the past and how well it worked out for your clients. You can even include mock-ups of projects or designs that have yet to be implemented. If a potential client sees real examples of your work—with contact information included—he’s more likely to contact you about future opportunities. The more solid your portfolio is, the better chance you’ll have at landing new clients.
Try sponsored posts
If you want to get involved in affiliate marketing, I highly recommend networking with others in your space. You’ll learn a lot from other affiliates, plus it helps strengthen your position with potential clients. Most professional affiliate marketers have a ton of contacts on social media and they’re active in communities related to their niche. In addition, there are plenty of resources available specifically for affiliates (check out my list of recommended books and websites). I’d also recommend blogging as another way to get started – once you start writing regularly, it’s easy to build up an audience and make money from advertisers. It’s very important that you still take care of your end-users as well; after all, they’re what will keep you in business!
Read books about how to create content from influencers
Not all influencers are full-time bloggers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them. With blogs created by top brands and advertisers, you can get some good ideas about how content comes together. A couple of places to check out are Copyblogger (which is owned by Rainmaker Digital) and Smart Insights. Both of these sites talk about how to create great content for your audience and should help inspire you to get started in affiliate marketing. Check them out! Read books about SEO: This won’t be an easy field to break into since many agencies like those at Netconcepts offer SEO services but it’s a good place for beginners who want more than just simple affiliate marketing experience.
Network with others in the field
To get a better understanding of affiliate marketing, you can start by reading up on its history and how it works. But what about an in-person approach? Your local Chamber of Commerce likely hosts networking events where you can connect with other professionals in your area. Search for affiliate marketing or marketing professionals on LinkedIn, too—this will give you a great idea of who might be able to help out. You’ll likely find that there are several groups both online and offline dedicated to people looking for guidance in affiliate marketing. Even if you don’t end up finding someone willing to mentor you directly, these kinds of networks can help keep you motivated and accountable when trying to learn new skills.
Conclusion
So you want to get started with affiliate marketing? There’s no one path or recipe for getting started, but here are a few tips. First, you need a niche. Start by identifying an interest that you have and then find out if there are any affiliate programs that cater to it—and don’t worry if they aren’t paying much right now; people start small and build up their affiliate marketing income over time. If you already have a website, it may be easier for you to grow your existing audience than trying to build a new one from scratch—especially if your site is part of an existing network or program. Another strategy is guest posting on relevant blogs within your niche and linking back and crediting them whenever possible.
