The following tips have helped me generate a substantial income solely with affiliate marketing.
1. High quality content
At the end of the day, web users want the highest quality content they can find. If everything else about your website is amazing, but your content is bad, your website will ultimately fail. I see so many beginners all the time who try to build a website without paying enough attention to the content that they are putting out there.
This is a recipe for disaster.
Look at the website Craigslist for example. No flash, no amazing layout or graphics. But the website is wildly popular and successful solely based on the value of the content it provides. Even if your site looks like something straight out of 1999, if your content is valuable, your users will always take notice. Content is King.
2. Focus on recurring income
Most beginners, when choosing a product to promote go one of two ways. Either they find the product that offers the highest commission, or they promote the popular product that they see others having success.
There is nothing wrong with either of these approaches, they both have their merits. However, why not look into promoting a product that will pay you more that once. Would you rather earn $50 one time, or $30 a month for a year? One of the best things about recurring commissions is that the sky really is the limit. You can effectively have a ton of money coming to you on autopilot, from work you did months or even years ago!
3. Pay attention to mobile
Mobile is an ever growing demographic, and simply cannot be ignored. Just think about how many people you know who own smart phone- basically everyone!
If you do not have a specific mobile-related strategy, you’re missing out. Most major companies now utilize mobile apps and email marketing to reach out to customers on their smart phones because they know how powerful it can be.
4. Take advantage of seasonal holidays and trends
Holidays can be immensely profitable if you play it right.
Google trend is a great tool that allows you predict consumer trends before they happen, and capitalize on them. The great thing about holidays is that a lot of people are in a buying mood. Take advantage of it and you might just strike gold!
5. Traffic diversification
Never become over reliant on a single traffic source. If all of your traffic comes from Google Adwords, what happens if your account ever gets banned or your keywords become to expensive?
I always try to have atleast 3 different sources of income for each of my sites. That way if one of those sources dries up, I can work on replacing it with a new without having to worry about my income, because I am still earning from the remaining two.
Traffic diversification is extremely important for those who want to survive long term. Think of traffic sources like roots and your website as a tree. The more diverse and far-reaching your roots are, the stronger and sturdier your tree will be, and the more income it will “grow”
6. Focus on one thing at a time
I remember when I first started out. I was desperate to start making money online ASAP. Because of that drive, almost desperation, I ended up trying something and when it didn’t work within the first week I would quit and go on to another strategy/niche.
I wasted many years in that pattern.
What I learned was that you are much better of sticking with one method, until it starts making money for you. This could take a week, or 6 months, depending on the work that it takes and hard you are willing to work. But once you start generating revenue you can scale it up, outsource it, and THEN move on to your next exploit.
7.Invest in email marketing
Email marketing is responsible for the majority of my online income. Why is that? Because email marketing allows me to market affiliate products to my customers continuously. Now, I’m not saying that you should gather a bunch of emails and spam them affiliate marketing links.
A well cultivated list of prospects is an invaluable asset for any affiliate marketers. The key is to provide your email subscribers with high quality emails that they want to read. Once you have established a trusted relationship with your readers, you can then begin to suggest products and services to them.