Where To Learn Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is one of the cheapest online businesses to set up and you can see your first sales in as little as a few months.

You might ask why aren’t more people doing it?

The truth is many people try it but give up after just a few weeks or months.

Why?

Because they don’t get any good training or they have no support.

So if you’re thinking of starting an affiliate marketing business I recommend finding a good training platform. This might add to the cost of starting your business but in my opinion, it’s well worth it.

In this post, we’ll look at what should be included in a good training program and the platform I recommend.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Before we get going let’s start with the basics – What is affiliate marketing?

Put very simply affiliate marketing is promoting or recommending a product or service to visitors of your website. If they go ahead and buy the product following your recommendation you get a commission.

1. You find a product to promote
2. Then you sign up to their affiliate program
3. You obtain your unique affiliate link and include it in an article on your website
4. When someone clicks the link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission

How Does an Affiliate Link Work?

One thing that many people find difficult to understand is how companies track where the customer comes from and who should be paid the commission.

The answer is the tracking URL or unique link you receive when you sign up to an affiliate program. When someone clicks on your affiliate link, this link places a cookie on their computer.

A cookie is a small file that is stored on your web browser. This will let the merchant know that if a sale is made it came from you. The cookie stays active for a fixed time this can be 30 – 60 days or just 24 hours. This depends on the affiliate program.

Put simply…

Many companies that sell products online offer affiliate programs. When you find something you want to promote, you sign up for their affiliate program and obtain your unique link.  When you write about and recommend the product you include your affiliate link. If your readers then click on your affiliate link and buy something from the merchant, even a different product, you earn a commission.

As the link normally stays active for a fixed period of time, even if the reader comes back after a few days and buys something you may still be paid.

Why Become An Affiliate Marketer?

Here are a few advantages to consider before becoming an affiliate marketer:

• You don’t have to create a product
• No shipping, customer complaints or after sales service to handle
• Free to join affiliate programs
• Very small outlay to get started
• You are your own boss
• No staff to manage. You can do everything yourself when you start. Later when you are making money you can outsource some tasks
• Work when it suits you, but be aware you will have to work
• You can work where you like as long as there is an internet connection
• Your market is global and your site is online 24 hours a day
• You don’t need any experience to become an affiliate marketer, there are courses that can teach you all you need to know
• You don’t even need to be an expert in the products you promote. You should be keen to learn and provide information to help your readers.

Can You Learn Affiliate Marketing On Your Own?

Yes, you can but it will take much longer and you will learn from your mistakes. If you are only learning from your errors will you be ready to continue for a long time before you see some sales?

Even people who follow an online course often give up after a few months because they haven’t made any money.

Learning alone, you will have no support and no help. It is possible to find some free information on the internet but this information is often out of date. In addition, searching to solve a particular problem is very time-consuming.

When I first considered an affiliate marketing business I purchased a course, that had a lot of good information. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me, although the info wasn’t bad I was on my own with no support and I quickly became demotivated. Another problem was that the training included information that wasn’t current. This course wasn’t expensive, but not the best way to get started.

What Should Be Included In A Good Affiliate Marketing Course?

• Step by step training that includes – choosing your niche, setting up your website, keyword research, writing content, using affiliate links, SEO, getting traffic, creating videos, Pay Per Clic advertising, creating a social media presence and more
• Everything you need to start an online business should be included – hosting, website builder, keyword research tool…
• Help and support – you need to be able to get an answer to any problem rapidly
• Webinars – live training that gives you up to the minute tips to help with the ranking of your sites
• A free trial – a course that has nothing to hide won’t be afraid of offering a free trial
• No upsells or extras
• No wild claims of how much money you can make. An honest program will not make any promises of future earnings because there are so many variables. This will depend on the niche you choose, how much time you can devote to your business, whether you are a good writer…

Therefore you need a course…

That has structured step by step training that takes you by the hand through the different steps. It must always be kept up to date with the latest changes. You go through the different steps in a logical order.

I followed such a training program to build this site and I am very pleased with the result. Yes, of course following a training program that has all the tools you need has a cost, but for me, this was money well spent.

The alternative is probably failing as I did at my first attempt!

An important point not to forget is, however good the training platform, in the end, it’s all down to you. You need to have the motivation and determination to put in the work.

You will probably be working for a few months with no sales and little traffic. Don’t be put off by this and don’t give up.

New sites generally don’t rank well in Google, it usually takes a few months before they achieve good rankings. Be prepared for this and don’t waste your time checking your rankings too often. A much better way of spending your time is following the training and creating content.

Is It Possible To Find Affiliate Marketing Training Like This?

There are a few good training programs online but often they are lacking one or two of the ingredients I mentioned above. This means that for one course you may have to pay extra for a keyword tool and for hosting. Or for another, it might be the support that isn’t up to scratch and it isn’t kept up to date.

There’s a lot to consider so when you find a training course go through the list of what should be included. The first thing to consider is the free trial. No free trial don’t sign up!

You need to evaluate a course before committing and paying your money. See what’s included and what’s missing. If something is lacking then don’t sign up, as this will cost you more money further down the line. Follow some lessons and determine if you like the presentation, although you are building a business this should be enjoyable.

If they have everything and the training is right for you then compare prices. To be honest I have found just one program that has all the required features.

That program is Wealthy Affiliate. They provide an excellent education for someone beginning as an affiliate marketer or even for more experienced marketers. You have all the training, tools and several different channels for support. Not forgetting the FREE trial!

Conclusion

If you want to start an online business and work from home, avoid all the scams by getting yourself a good education.

An important point to remember is building your own online business isn’t a get rich quick scheme, you need to have patience, determination and be ready to put in the work. A good training program is like a tool, when used correctly you can get great results

Wealthy Affiliate is the best training platform I’ve found and it’s successfully taught me to build an online business that’s earning money every month. They have excellent training and all the tools you need in one place. In addition, they’re always updating and improving the platform

What sets them apart from other good platforms is the community of members who are willing to help others to success. This means you are never on your own when you have a problem, a question or you have doubts that you are ever going to succeed.

Well, that’s just my opinion based on my experience, much better for you to go and check it out for yourself.

Click here for your free Wealthy Affiliate account.

Get The Training You Need To Start Your Own Affiliate Marketing Business. Read More Here!

I would love to hear about any involvement you have had with an online internet marketing training platform. Have you another recommendation where to learn affiliate marketing? Whatever your experience or if you have any questions please leave them in the comments section below.

Best,
Peter