Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money, and fairly easy if you're focused and willing to put in the work to build a profitable business. That being said, there are few pitfalls of associate marketing that can put a damper on your achiever - or even ruin your reputation. We're going to discuss 5 of those pitfalls now, and if you're like me, you've probably been guilty of at to the last degree one of them on occasion!
Because nearly every market is competitive now online, it's no longer possible to just become a publisher and believe you can sit back piece the money rolls in. It just doesn't work that way. If you really want to make money with associate marketing, you have to be willing to "learn the ropes," and to pursue what you learn. If you're a "newbie" to the game of associate marketing, this post applies to you, too, because you want to avoid these pitfalls. Okay, here we go!
Top 5 associate marketing pitfalls and fixes
Ahrefs Robot
#1 - Signing up for every program concerned your niche
Many associates contract for every program under the sun concerned their niche. While it's a good idea to promote two or three products/services that you believe would be useful/valuable to your readers, it isn't a good idea to promote 8, 10 or even more products. When you go overboard, your visitors will notice that your site seems to be too promotional - and the search engines will, too.
Focus on valuable content, and promote few quality products gently. Try to choose offers that are best suited to the inevitably of your readers. And remember, you're not "stuck" with the products you choose - you should test to see which products have higher conversion rates.
#2 - Promoting products that aren't in question to your website
Search engines pay attention to the relevance between your niche, content, and the products/services you offer - then do your visitors. You don't want to send a mixed message, or confuse your visitors. If your niche is dog training, you perfectly do not want content on your site (or banners, ads, etc.) promoting breast sweetening pills! Your readers may be offended, and it will perfectly take away from your credibility.
Stick to content that your readers want, that is on topic. Choose credible associate programs that are in question to your niche.
#3 - Throwing advertising rules out the window
We've all seen banner ads, email messages and other advertising that make huge (and unbelievable) promises. A buying client doesn't normally realize that you are an associate; they look at you as the merchandiser, and trust that you offer honored products. As an associate, flirt with the banners and other forms of advertising the merchandiser offers before you begin exploitation them. If it sounds like a bunch of "hype" that you may not be able to live up to, think doubly before exploitation that advertising medium. Never make uncorroborated claims, as it may come back to "bite" you in the form of steamed clients - and potential legal problems.
To avoid this pitfall, simply make a point that the language used in advertising the product is ethical, and avoid overselling. When writing product reviews, as many associates do, be honest and transparent - and ne'er steal content from the vendor's original product site to use in your review. It may be against policy, and Google may see it as duplicate content as well.
#4 - Failing to commit decent time or resources to associate campaigns
No matter how much you wish it were true, you cannot vomit an associate site, put some content on it, golf links to products, banners, etc. and expect to make money. Successful associate marketing requires decent time, money, or both. The more associate campaigns you run, the more resources are required. In order to reach a certain level of achiever, you've got to promote and market your product which can be done through clause syndication, list building, social media, forums, blogging, pay-per-click ads and more.
How can you avoid this pitfall? Know how much you can do contingent your lifestyle, job, kids, etc. If you need an hour daily for each associate campaign, dedicate "x" number of hours per day according to how many campaigns you are running. If you don't have the time to manage promotions and marketing yourself, outsource the work.
#5 - Unrealistic expectations - or, abandoning ship too quickly
You cannot become an long achiever in associate marketing, although we'd all love it if it was possible! So many marketers build a website and begin associate marketing, only to abandon ship when they don't see results in a week or two. This isn't how it works, especially considering the sheer volume of competition in most markets now. Building achieverful associate marketing campaigns takes time and patience.
Quick fix? Set realistic goals, and make them small ones. Say you want to make $20 per week, and grow to where you are earning $50 per week inside a 6 week time span. This is doable! And once you reach your goal, you'll enjoy the satisfaction, which will inspire you and actuate you to work harder. Don't enter associate marketing with the expectation that you're going to make $1,000 per week right out of the gate. It just isn't realistic, and will lead to disappointment.
If you don't have patience or don't feel you can dedicate your time and energy to associate marketing, perchance it's not for you. If you do have patience and are ready for a different rather lifestyle, one where you don't have to answer to a boss 5 days each week, associate marketing is decidedly a way to reach your dream of becoming self-decent - but it won't happen long. For me, knowing that it IS possible to reach 5 figures a calendar month is incentive enough to keep giving it my best effort!
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