I've done a lot of Affiliate Marketing research in the past for some other websites I run, and I thought it was about time that I shared this all with you. I hope you'll learn as much from these resources as I have!
First, let's go over blogs. You can learn a lot from these guys:
- Lynne Terry of ClickNewz! has a lot of easy-to-read posts that will help you get started in Affiliate Marketing.
- Rae Hoffman-Dolan of Sugarrae Affiliate Marketing is another good website/blog with tons of reading material - check out the Affiliate Marketing post category.
- While not specifically targeted at Affiliates, CopyBlogger has lots of good information about Internet Marketing in general, and how to write well.
- Daily Blog Tips definitely has a place in your RSS feed.
- ProBlogger is another great Internet Marketing blog. Check out the "Tips" categories at the bottom.
- Remarkablogger has some good posts on marketing as well, with a lot of "How-To" guides.
- Smart Passive Income is truly awesome, plus he has a podcast you can listen to as well.
- Better Blogging Ways has some great info on blogging, linkbuilding, marketing and social media.
- Think Traffic is more focused on increasing your website traffic - something all bloggers should be working on.
Now that you're all inspired to create a blog and make money, let's see what options are there for creating a blog and hosting a website.
- WordPress is a popular choice because of it's powerful platform and the huge plugin database. You can't really go wrong here. Wordpress.com will host your wordpress blog for free, however they don't take too kindly to affiliate links. However, Wordpress.org is where you can download the platform for free, and then you can install it on any domain that you own. With your own WordPress installation you can use any affiliate links that you like.
- If you're going with WordPress, you might look into buying themes to make your site look more professional. WooThemes is great for the beginner. They even have some free ones, too.
- Thesis is very popular and has a lot of customization options. This is a great option for people who are already internet savvy and want more control.
- If you can't quite afford to buy a theme, check out this list: http://www.noupe.com/wordpress/50-great-free-wordpress-themes-from-2011.html
- http://www.fabthemes.com/ is another great resource for finding free wordpress themes.
- Blogger has less features but it definitely easier to figure out. This is a great place for new bloggers to start. It's free, plus they do allow you to use affiliate links. Yay!
- Weebly is the easiest website builder yet, with a drag-and-drop interface and lots of pretty layouts to choose from. You can use their free hosting option, or use your own domain.
You absolutely must have pictures on your website - humans are very visual creatures, and we don't like reading huge walls of text! Here are some websites where you can score FREE stock pictures:
Now, on to making money...
Obviously you're going to need to find some affiliate links. All you need to do is search for a specific brand, product, or just browse around until you see something you like. Then you blog about it, making sure to use an affiliated link. If your readers click on the link and buy the product, you'll earn a small commission. Here are where I get my affiliate links:
- Comission Junction
- ClickBank
- Google Affiliate Network
- Share-A-Sale
- LinkShare
- Amazon has an affiliate program, too
- ..and if all of this seems too overwhelming, you can always give Skimlinks a try - they will generate affiliate links for you!
One of the easiest ways to monetize your site without needing to write additional content is by the placement of ads. I recommend that you start with Google Adsense (there are plugins for Wordpress, Blogger, and Weebly that make it easy).
On the other hand, if you would prefer to write a sponsored post, Social Spark is a great way to go. They've been great to me so far, and I've heard nothing but positive reviews from my online friends as well. It's simple: they provide you with optional programs to promote, you get to pick which ones you want to do (or not!) and then you just write a blog post about the product. It takes a little more time than just having static ads, but you'll generate much more sales with a convincing post!
Here are some other tools you might find handy:
- PicMonkey is a great, FREE online image editor that comes with all sorts of additional styling options. You won't regret giving them a try!
- How to Start a Blog That Matters is an awesome 90-day action plan. I've never seen this sort of thing offered before.. if you're looking for details and specifics on how to start blogging smart, this is for you.
- Google Analytics is the internet standard for analyzing your website traffic and seeing where your visitors are coming from, which pages they visit the most, and much much more. It's free!
Whew.. this is getting long. But, I hope it's given you some great information to start you affiliate marketing adventure. Good luck and have fun ;)
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