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How to Start Affiliate Marketing For Free

Affiliate marketing isÌýaÌývery attractive option toÌýaÌýlot ofÌýpeople. There are good reasons forÌýthis. IfÌýyou establish aÌýprominent online presence inÌýaÌýniche community, affiliate marketing isÌýaÌýgood way toÌýmonetize it. With affiliate marketing, influencers, content creators, andÌýbloggers receive money forÌýpromoting products onÌýtheir platforms. These affiliate marketers receive payments based onÌýcommission stemming from theÌýnumber ofÌýpurchases made through their unique affiliate links.

Affiliate marketing isÌýaÌýgreat way toÌýadd supplemental income. The majority ofÌýaffiliate marketers doÌýnot make enough money off affiliate marketing alone toÌýsustain themselves. However, many successful affiliate marketers are able toÌýmake around . Combined with other revenue streams, that isÌýcertainly aÌýsignificant amount forÌýmost people.

SoÌýtheÌýquestion is, can you start affiliate marketing with noÌýmoney? IfÌýyou have limited funds, itÌýisÌýstill possible toÌýbreak into affiliate marketing andÌýstart earning. Granted, this will take some time andÌýhard work toÌýestablish your presence. But itÌýisÌýdoable, andÌýmany have done itÌýbefore. Here isÌýaÌýhelpful guide onÌýhow toÌýstart affiliate marketing with noÌýmoney.

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How toÌýGet Start inÌýAffiliate Marketing With NoÌýMoney

Find Your Niche

The first step ofÌýbecoming anÌýaffiliate marketer isÌýdeciding how you will grow aÌýfollowing. Affiliate marketers rely onÌýhaving anÌýengaged online audience. Payments are based onÌýtheÌýamount ofÌýclicks, views, orÌýpurchases stem from your designated affiliate links. IfÌýnobody isÌýfollowing you, there will beÌýnoÌýone toÌýclick onÌýyour links.

Your niche should beÌýsomething which you are already engaged with andÌýknowledgeable about. Maybe itÌýisÌýaÌýhobby orÌýlifestyle which you are passionate about, like running, gardening, orÌýboard games. Find other online communities andÌýmicro-influencers within your niche. Try toÌýidentify what unique voice orÌýperspective you can bring, andÌýwhat platforms you can use toÌýreach aÌýwide audience.

BeÌýActive InÌýYour Online Community

Once you have your niche, it’s time toÌýget involved. Find active communities devoted toÌýyour niche, activity, orÌýhobby. Try toÌýfind active message boards, servers, andÌýsocial media groups with aÌýhigh number ofÌýactively involved participants. You don’t need toÌýstart creating content right away, though you can ifÌýyou would like. You might instead start byÌýsimply joining theÌýconversation. You can try sharing affiliate links right away, but this strategy isÌýless successful ifÌýyou aren’t anÌýestablished presence.

However, theÌýmore active, engaging, andÌýfriendly you are, theÌýmore people will listen toÌýyou. IfÌýyou produce high quality content that keeps members ofÌýtheÌýcommunity engaged andÌýinterested, you will gain aÌýlarger platform. Then you can have more success sharing affiliate links with your community.

Choose The Right Affiliate Marketing Program andÌýProducts

One more crucial step isÌýchoosing anÌýaffiliate marketing program (and products) that are good forÌýyou. Not all affiliate marketing programs are theÌýsame, though it’s possible toÌýfind success with most ofÌýthem. Choosing quality products that you (and your community )Ìýbelieve inÌýisÌýusually theÌýmost important thing.

One ofÌýtheÌýdangers ofÌýaffiliate marketing isÌýthat audiences can find your promotions inauthentic. This can happen ifÌýyou are promoting products which you don’t believe inÌýorÌýhave anyÌýattachment to. This isÌýcalled “unattached affiliate marketing.” However, ifÌýyou choose products which are relevant toÌýyou andÌýyour audience, andÌýwhich you believe in, there isÌýaÌýlower risk ofÌýrunning into this problem.

Offer real praise, andÌýexplain why theÌýproduct isÌýuseful toÌýyou. This will enable your audience toÌýsee theÌývalue itÌýcan bring toÌýtheir lives asÌýwell. AsÌýaÌýresult, they will beÌýmore likely toÌýpurchase that product forÌýthemselves.

About Affiliate Marketing Programs

Affiliate marketers make money byÌýsigning upÌýforÌýaffiliate marketing programs. These programs are typically free toÌýjoin. After all, you are theÌýone providing aÌýservice toÌýtheÌýcompanies. AsÌýanÌýaffiliate marketer, you are promoting their products orÌýservices, andÌýgenerating sales forÌýthem. They doÌýnot want toÌýcharge people toÌýprovide this service forÌýthem.

With that said, itÌýisÌýstill very important toÌýpick anÌýaffiliate marketing program that suits you. There isÌýnoÌýuniversal formula toÌýchoosing theÌýbest affiliate marketing program. ItÌýultimately comes down toÌýwhat your goals are, andÌýfinding products that you believe in. However, there are some important distinguishing factors toÌýconsider when comparing affiliate marketing programs.

Commissions

Affiliate marketing programs have varying commission rates forÌýtheir affiliate marketers. Every program pays affiliates based onÌýtheÌýnumber ofÌýsales, views, orÌýsubscriptions their links generate. However, exact figures are not consistent. For example, has several notable advantages over other affiliate programs. However, one common criticism isÌýthat Amazon Affiliates has aÌýlower commission rate than most, ranging from 4ÌýtoÌý10%.

Product Variety

Having aÌýwide range ofÌýproducts toÌýchoose from isÌýalso very important. Most successful affiliate marketers don’t simply promote one orÌýtwo items orÌýservices. They promote aÌýrange ofÌýquality products which they believe in. Even when you are starting out, itÌýpays toÌýcast aÌýwide net inÌýorder toÌýfind theÌýproducts that are most appealing toÌýyou andÌýyour audience.

Returning toÌýAmazon Affiliates, this isÌýone ofÌýthat program’s biggest strengths. Amazon isÌýaÌýmassive online retailer, meaning affiliates can find just about anyÌýproduct they can think ofÌýonÌýtheÌýwebsite.

Amazon isÌýnot theÌýonly affiliate program with aÌýgood inventory, ofÌýcourse. Some other reputable affiliate marketing programs include , , andÌý.

Accessibility

You should also consider how user-friendly andÌýaccessible each program is, both forÌýyou andÌýconsumers. Amazon Affiliates isÌýhighly accessible because most users are already highly familiar with Amazon’s interface. Another highly accessible affiliate program isÌý. Instagram’s built-in affiliate marketing program isÌýaÌýnew feature that isÌýdesigned toÌýbeÌýextremely easy toÌýuse.

The easier anÌýaffiliate program isÌýtoÌýuse, theÌýeasier itÌýisÌýforÌýyou toÌýfind andÌýpromote products. InÌýturn, aÌýmore accessible interface removes anyÌýfriction which could prevent your audience from making purchases.

Affiliate Marketing Platforms

One last thing toÌýconsider isÌýwhich platform(s) you will use toÌýpromote your affiliate products. Many affiliate marketers use several social media channels toÌýsell products. Each has its own pros andÌýcons.

Facebook

Facebook isÌýone ofÌýtheÌýlargest social media platforms, soÌýitÌýhas theÌýstrength ofÌýcoming with aÌýhuge audience. ItÌýisÌýalso fairly good atÌýproviding linking opportunities forÌýaffiliate marketers.

However, Facebook does not appeal toÌýeveryone forÌýaÌýcouple ofÌýreasons. First, its organic search functions are fairly limited, which can make itÌýdifficult forÌýusers toÌýfind your content. Second, Facebook isÌýnot asÌýpopular with younger audiences asÌýother platforms.

YouTube

YouTube isÌýaÌýgreat platform forÌýcapturing aÌýwide audience, creating unique content, andÌýconverting sales. However, theÌýchallenges ofÌýusing YouTube forÌýaffiliate marketing are that it’s highly competitive andÌýdifficult toÌýbreak into.

IfÌýyou use YouTube, you will likely need toÌýpurchase some basic video production equipment andÌýteach yourself some editing skills. This can beÌýmore time consuming andÌýcostly ifÌýyou are trying toÌýstart affiliate marketing without money.

Twitter

Twitter isÌýanother highly popular social media platform with aÌýhuge built-in audience. Its text format also makes itÌýextremely easy toÌýpromote andÌýshare affiliate marketing content. However, Twitter’s strict character limit can beÌývery restricting andÌýlimits theÌýearning potential.

TikTok

TikTok isÌýconsidered theÌýbest platform forÌýreaching young audiences. ItÌýisÌýeasy toÌýuse andÌýisÌýdesigned toÌýmake itÌýeasy toÌýcreate compelling andÌýengaging content. However, TikTok isÌýalso highly competitive, andÌýitÌýcan beÌýdifficult toÌýshare affiliate links onÌýtheÌýplatform.

Instagram

Instagram isÌýone ofÌýtheÌýbest platforms forÌýsocial media content. Video andÌýimage content isÌýoften highly effective when used forÌýpromotional purposes. Instagram also has anÌýextremely large user base spanning multiple generations andÌýdemographics. Additionally, Instagram has its own built-in affiliate marketing program.

The drawbacks ofÌýInstagram affiliate marketing are that it’s highly competitive, andÌýitÌýcan beÌýdifficult toÌýgrow aÌýfollowing organically.

Learn more: How toÌýMake Money With Instagram Affiliate Marketing

Blogging

Blogging isÌýanother highly popular andÌýeffective tool forÌýaffiliate marketing. IfÌýyou’re trying toÌýfigure out how toÌýstart affiliate marketing forÌýfree, this may beÌýtheÌýoption forÌýyou. Starting aÌýblog does not require aÌýmajor financial commitment. And growing your following isÌýsimply dependent onÌýyou writing compelling content that isÌýuseful andÌýrelevant toÌýyour community.

Want toÌýlearn more about how toÌýmake money with aÌýblog? Read ºÚÁÏÃÅ’s guide onÌýHow toÌýMake aÌýLiving Blogging, orÌýhow toÌýcombine blogging andÌýecommerce.

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About The Author
Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at ºÚÁÏÃÅ. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs’ daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.

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