If you're reading this, you are likely just starting your journey as an affiliate and want to learn the strategies people are currently using to make loads of money by promoting the products and brands that they love. Lucky for you, there has never been a better time in history to start a side hustle (or even career) as an affiliate marketer. This article's purpose is to teach you the strategies used by already successful affiliate marketers, most of whom had to learn this info through years of trial and error.

As an affiliate, your goal is to get the brand you are promoting as many sales as possible, using your custom discount code or link. Every time somebody makes a purchase from the website using your unique code, you automatically get paid a commission of that sale. The more sales you get, the more money you make. This is an exceptional business model because as an affiliate you literally have no expenses whatsoever, so every dollar you earn is pure profit.

Another massive upside to affiliate marketing is that the earning potential is unlimited. As long as you keep getting sales, you keep getting paid. Many master affiliates make six figures monthly.

For example, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income made over $100,000 in affiliate commissions in December 2017.

Ryan Robinson, another affiliate marketer, reported over $19,000 in affiliate revenue in October 2019

5 Steps to Make a Killing as a Brand Affiliate

As an affiliate, you will be using a variety of methods and strategies (that we will talk about later) with the overall goal of getting as many people as possible to make a purchase to the store that you're promoting with your personalized discount code. Regardless of the method you use to promote, it is very likely that potential customers will have a number of questions they want answered before they purchase. As an affiliate, it is your responsibility to have a solid knowledge foundation of the brand you will be promoting, so that you can answer questions your potential customers have with ease. Some of the most common questions customers have are:

If you can answer all of these basic questions with ease, you will be able to turn many potential customers, on the fence if they should purchase or not, into sales (Woo-Hoo)! Finding this info is usually very simple. Most online stores have an FAQ or help center on their website, where they go over the most common questions and concerns that they receive from their existing customers.

Explore these resources, and familiarize yourself with the questions your potential customers will likely be asking, and you will already be setting yourself up for success in the affiliate marketing game!

Having a platform as an affiliate marketer allows you to have a structured method to promote your discount code. Theoretically, you can use any social media platform that you are comfortable with, but the most popular ones for affiliate marketers are Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or your own blog.

Regardless of the platform you choose to use, make sure you are posting a lot of content that relates to the brand you promote, or that potential customers might find interesting. For example: If you are an affiliate for a makeup brand, a smart idea would be to post creative makeup tutorials on your platform. Then, within each post, mention that your followers can get all of the makeup used in your video for 20% off if they use your discount code on the site you are promoting. Or, if you are an affiliate for a fishing gear store, a smart idea would be to post fishing videos on your platform, and then mention in each post that your audience can get 20% off all the gear used in each video with your discount code. If the content you post is consistent with what you are promoting, your audience will turn to paying customers with ease!

If you have Instagram, put your discount code and the store's URL in your bio. If you are using Youtube, include this info in the video descriptions. For most other platforms, just be sure to include the discount code and URL in as many posts as possible, as well as your bio when applicable.

There is no better way to get your first few affiliate sales than by reaching out to your friends and family! This is an amazing way to gain momentum and set yourself up for a long, successful affiliate marketing career. Since your friends and family will be happy to support you no matter what, make sure you reach out to everyone you can think of!

When messaging friends and family, explain to them your new side hustle as an affiliate marketer, and tell them how much you love the brand you are working with and why you think everyone should have their products. Explain to them that by using your discount code, they can get these awesome products at a great discount and support your new business venture at the same time. It's a win win!

As time goes on, it gets more and more important that you continue posting high quality content that is relevant to the brand you're promoting. The more consistent you are, the easier it will be to build a large and engaged following. Although it may be slow at first, once you start gaining momentum you will be thanking yourself for sticking with it and staying consistent. Keep in mind that this business model has no expenses, so even if one month you hardly make any money, you still are profiting! This is one of the only business models in the world where you can be profitable off of super low revenue, so keep that in mind when times get tough. There should never be a reason to quit! Once you start figuring out the type of content you will be posting, your focus will shift toward building a following on that platform. There are many ways to do this, so I have linked articles that better explain how this can be done:

Instagram: https://buffer.com/library/instagram-growth/

Youtube: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-us/blog/10-ways-to-grow-your-youtube-channel-in-2018

Facebook: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-followers

Pinterest: https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-followers-on-pinterest/

Personal Blog: https://ahrefs.com/blog/wordpress-seo/

To maximize the sales you get, make sure you are posting and promoting your discount code as often as possible, without coming across as pushy. If people DM you about your content, don't feel bad to mention your discount code and site URL in your reply to them. People love feeling special, so if you message your followers saying that you have a special discount for them, they will be significantly more likely to use it! If someone you are messaging says they plan to buy something with your discount code and several days go by without them using it, politely follow up with them and ask why they haven't made their purchase yet. Most of the time, they just need a few simple questions answered. Good thing you've been studying the FAQ! ;)

Today we learned about the fundamental principles of Affiliate marketing. These concepts are meant to provide you with enough knowledge to be a successful affiliate marketer, and give you a massive advantage over other people just starting out in the affiliate marketing world. Please let us know if you found this article helpful. We plan on posting more advanced and detailed affiliate marketing guides and tutorials down the road. Good luck and happy selling!