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How to Start Affiliate Marketing with No Money
Zero to Hero:
Introduction:
Affiliate marketing has emerged as a lucrative opportunity for individuals looking to make money online, and the best part is, that you don’t necessarily need a hefty budget to get started. In this guide, we will delve into the strategies and platforms you can leverage to kickstart your affiliate marketing journey without spending a dime. By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear roadmap on how to turn your zero investment into a profitable affiliate marketing venture.
Understanding Affiliate Marketing:
Before we dive into the practical steps, it’s crucial to have a solid understanding of affiliate marketing. In essence, affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where you earn a commission for promoting someone else’s products or services. The key is to drive traffic and generate sales through your unique affiliate link.
Step 1: Identifying Your Niche:
While it might not cost money, finding the right niche is the cornerstone of a successful affiliate marketing venture. Choose a niche that aligns with your interests and has a demand in the market. Tools like Google Trends and keyword research can help you identify trending topics and products within your chosen niche. In the book Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson, he explains there are three main markets. Those are Wealth, Health and Relationships and each broad market has sub-markets and then smaller niches. So in thinking about your own niche, it needs to be something that you can believe in wholeheartedly. For example, Wealth includes finance, investing, property or real estate, and money. Each sub-market has many niche markets.
For Example
Wealth – Online business – organic lead generation via TikTok
Health – Weightloss – Keto diets for new mums
Get the idea.
Step 2: Selecting Affiliate Products:
After choosing your niche, it’s time to find suitable affiliate products. Look for products that offer competitive commissions, have a good reputation, and resonate with your target audience. Popular affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ClickBank, and Digistore24 are excellent places to start, and they don’t require any upfront fees or any verification. Two other places are Warrior + and JVZoo which are platforms where affiliate marketers promote their softwares and other types of online digital programs, with these two platforms you do need to get verified in order to promote the products.
Step 3: Building a Platform:
While you may not have money to invest, you do have time and effort. Use free platforms like WordPress, Blogger, or Medium to set up a blog. You can even publish content on Google Sites. Quality content is crucial in attracting organic traffic, so focus on creating valuable, informative, and engaging articles related to your chosen niche. When using Clickbank and Digistore24 the vendors usually have a lots of free tools and content to help you promote their offers take advantage of the content they have created and model on what they have created.
Best Social Media Platforms for Promoting Affiliate Offers:
Once your platform is set up, it’s time to leverage social media to amplify your reach and drive traffic to your affiliate offers. Here are the three best social media platforms to kickstart your affiliate marketing journey:
- TikTok:
- Create eye-catching and informative 15 to 60-second videos related to your affiliate products.
- Post two to three short videos every day within your niche to expand your reach. You can do face-to-camera or faceless videos.
- Optimize titles and use keywords to enhance searchability.
- Post consistently and experiment with different types of content to identify what works best.
- Instagram:
- Create a visually appealing Instagram profile that reflects your niche.
- Leverage Instagram Stories, IGTV, and Reels to showcase your affiliate products creatively.
- Use relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts.
- Collaborate with influencers in your niche for shoutouts or features.
- Facebook Groups:
- Join and actively participate in relevant Facebook groups related to your niche.
- Share valuable content and engage with group members to build credibility.
- Avoid direct promotion; instead, focus on solving problems and answering questions.
- Occasionally talk about the affiliate products you are promoting when they provide genuine value to the group.
TIP
You can also repurpose your short video content on Instagram, Facebook Reels and YouTube to maximise your reach.
You might also want to read Beyond 9 to 5
Advanced Strategies for Zero-Cost Promotion:
- Content Marketing:
- Write SEO-friendly blog posts targeting relevant keywords.
- Utilize guest posting on other blogs within your niche.
- Leverage Quora and Reddit to answer questions and talk about your solutions.
- Email Marketing:
- Networking:
- Connect with other affiliate marketers in your niche.
- Participate in online forums and communities to share insights and learn from others.
- Offer to collaborate on joint ventures or promotions to expand your audience.
Conclusion:
Starting affiliate marketing with no money is undoubtedly challenging, but with the right strategies and dedication, it’s entirely possible. By identifying your niche, selecting the right products, building out a platform, and strategically using social media, you can start implementing strategies for a successful affiliate marketing journey. Remember, consistency and patience are key, and as you gain momentum, and start earning commissions, reinvest your earnings into scaling your efforts for even greater returns.
12 Useful ways to increase website traffic in 2022
1) Start a blog (if you haven’t yet)
No matter what industry you are working in, a blog is a great way to regularly publish valuable, unique, fresh, and share-worthy content. Search engines and users appreciate this, which immediately leads to traffic growth.
2) Use attractive headlines
One of the ways to increase website traffic is to write headlines that are catchy to the readers. Write headlines that give your visitors an idea of what benefit they will get from clicking on a particular post.
3) Harness the power of video marketing
A pdf report by Cisco says that video will account for 82% of traffic by 2022. Now is the time to consider video marketing in your traffic-boosting strategies. Try using videos on your website and on social networks that offer video publishing options.
4) Create educational content
Online courses, questions and answers, e-books, audio books, ultimate guides, tutorials, etc. will provide value to your audience. This will definitely result in a traffic boost, increase your session duration, and add to your credibility.
5) Hold free webinars
Webinars are a great way to increase website traffic. This can connect you to influencers and engage in a live conversation. Invite your audience to take part in the free event a week or so ahead of the planned date and do not forget to send the presentation or summary after the event.
6) Repurpose old posts
Take some posts that have performed well and republish them in a different format. As long as a particular topic has been successful with your audience, a podcast could become a blog post, a blog post could become a video, and so on, to gain more traffic.
7) Try historical optimisation
The term “historical optimisation” was coined by Pamela Vaughan, key marketing manager of HubSpot. When HubSpot embarked on a programme of historical optimisation they saw organic search views of their updated blog posts go up by 106% on average. It basically means updating old posts to make them fresher and more up-to-date, so they generate more traffic and leads.
8) Use guest blogging
A great way to generate backlinks from a reputable site is to offer to let them publish your blog. Ask their teams if they would be interested in particular topics and agree to post active backlinks. Note that it’s important to offer unique posts, not duplicate your existing one.
9) Examine Your Analytics Data
Google Analytics is an invaluable source of data on just about every conceivable aspect of your site, from your most popular pages to visitor demographics. Keep a close eye on your Analytics data, and use this information to inform your promotional and content strategies. Pay attention to what posts and pages are proving the most popular. Inspect visitor data to see how, where and when your site traffic is coming from.
10)Submit your site to search engines
Also helpful for SEO, you can request search engines to crawl and index your site, increasing your odds at appearing on results pages for relevant queries.
- For Google: Submit your site via Search Console.
- For Bing and Yahoo: Learn how to submit URLs her
11) Advertise via ad networks
If you have a budget (it doesn’t have to be big), tap into the opportunity of ad networks. Create digital ads that promote your website, target ads towards your ideal customer, and watch the traffic roll in.
Some ad networks to check out:
12) Reach out to reporters on Help A Reporter Out
Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a tool journalists and writers use to find and connect with sources for stories they’re working on. Publicists and brands use it to find queries for pitches for specific stories.
Sign up for HARO’s emails in your respective categories and look out for queries you can answer. Pay attention to any specific pitch guidelines to increase your odds at getting accepted. Many times, the writers will talk about your brand and include a link to your site.
10 Ways to Increase Your Conversions
Getting traffic to your website is great, however, if that traffic doesn’t convert, it’s almost useless. This article will outline 10 proven strategies to increase your conversions or getting your visitors to take action.
1. Include as few fields as possible.
When asking for information from prospects using an email opt-in form, ask for as little information as necessary. I usually keep it down to just two fields, name and email address. Some opt in pages ask for just the email, but then you can’t personalise your follow up messages with their name. Using the prospects first name in the follow up can get you a higher open rate.
2. Add a guarantee.
Include your no-questions-asked refund policy on all purchases. This reduces risk, and increased sales will usually more than make up for any returns. Make sure you have a strong guarantee, not the usual stand 30/ 60 / 90 days fluff that all marketers off on the sales page. Try this instead, “If for ANY reason you feel this training wasn’t worth your full time and attention, I insist you shoot me an email to ask for a refund. At ANY time, for ANY reason. There is no time limit on this guarantee.” Source CrazyEgg.Com
3. Use testimonials.
Testimonials provide social proof and reduce risk for your prospects. Use them on product landing pages as well as on your email opt-in landing page. If you don’t have any clients or customers who have tried your product or service, try doing a pre launch with a small group of fans or followers on your social media. Offer a low cost entry of free trial in return for feedback and testimonies.
4. Pay careful attention to your headline.
The headline is the single most important element on your landing page. Think of at least 10 different possibilities write them out then use them on Social Media posts before choosing the strongest one. You will see which headline got you more post engagement.
5. Use video to humanise your brand.
Including simple videos on your landing pages shows there’s a real person behind your product or service. You can use a short welcome message or a brief overview of WIIFT whats in it for them, these types of videos often increase conversions on your website. Often a video is on a second page after opting in this is called a Bridge page, to give prospects an opportunity to see who you are before taking them to the sales page.
6. Use strong calls to action.
Let your readers know exactly what you want them to do next, whether that’s click a button, read a blog post or fill out a form, a sure way to increase conversions.
7. Tell visitors exactly what they’re going to get.
What are the features and benefits? What does it look like? What are the possible uses? Who will benefit most from it? How will it be delivered? Provide visitors with everything they need to know about your product.
8. Include a privacy statement on opt-in forms.
Having a privacy policy on your opt in pages or sign up form is a must. You need to have this to use many of the advertising platforms, it’s also been passed in law by many countries and you don’t want to get sued. Plus a number of other reason too.
9. Use high-quality image.
Using generic, tacky stock photos can send the wrong message about your brand. Use professional-quality photos where possible. If your start up costs are limited you can use a platform like Canva.com to create designs and image yourself.
10. Include a headshot.
Don’t be afraid to include a personal photo in your sidebar or near your call to actions. It can reduce the sense of risk by showing that there’s a real person behind the website and brand.
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Sixteen Must-Have WordPress Blog Plugins
WordPress Blog Plugins
Some of you may not know that I have been using WordPress since 2005. The main reason I started creating websites with WP was to market my Property Lettings Business. I started out in a niche market for Student Lettings in Sunderland. In 2006 our business was probably the only “Student Lettings” Business in Sunderland that had a searchable website to showcase the properties. I tried lots of WP Blog Plugins over the years and the list below is some of the most useful plugins I’m using now.
WordPress Blog Plugins
Here is a list of some of the plugins I have installed on my websites.
Akismet Anti-Spam – Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from spam. Your site is fully configured and being protected, even while you sleep.
Shareaholic – share buttons for your pages and posts, help you and others to share your content around the web via selected social media networks. I also like the print PDF of web page which I found very useful in my property business.
Facebook comments by WPDevart – This Facebook comments plugin will help you to display Facebook Comments box on your website. You can use Facebook Comments on your pages/posts.
Pixel Caffeine – Quickest and easiest way to connect your Facebook Advertising account. Install the base code pixel on your web pages so you can build custom audiences from your website / blog for your Facebook marketing.
Pretty Links Marketers Edition – Shrink, track and share any URL on the Internet from your WordPress website.
NextScripts, Social Networks Autoposter – This plugin automatically publishes posts from your blog to multiple accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ profiles and/or pages.
WP InstaLegalPages – A helpful and time saver premium plugin to auto-add legal pages on your sites. (check and edit where required to fit with your product or service, but very handy plugin.)
YouTube Advanced by Embed Plus – Uses an advanced YouTube player to enhance the playback and engagement of each YouTube embed. Just paste YouTube Links!
Note the White Screen of Death
OptimizePress – OptimizePress plugin for marketers. Create squeeze pages, sales letters and much more with ease. This plugin has caused me some headaches (note “White Screen of Death”) a few years ago.
Yoast SEO – I use this on all of my websites. The all-in-one SEO solution for WordPress, including on-page content analysis, XML sitemaps. It helps you to optimise your headlines and post copy, so that it is search engine friendly.
Google Sitemap – This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog.
W3 Total Cache – Improves the SEO and user experience of your site by increasing website performance, reducing download times via features like content delivery.
WP Email Capture – Captures emails for insertion into software such as Aweber or Mailchimp
WordPress Editorial Calendar – The Editorial Calendar makes it possible to see all your posts and drag and drop them to manage your blog
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click – This WP plugin protects the posts content from being copied by any other web site author, if you don’t want your content to spread without your permission! There will be no copy and paste function.
WP Property – WP- Property is a leading WordPress plugin for creating and managing real estate sales and property rentals and management.
This WordPress Blog plugin I used to showcase the student rental properties. Not using this now, but it is still available to transform WordPress sites into Property Marketing websites.