The affiliate industry is perhaps the simplest business on the planet. Anyone can get started in this business, and we all start from the same place– zero! However, there is a persistent myth that there is some hidden “secret” to making money in affiliate marketing. I’m here to tell you– there isn’t! There is only one affiliate marketing secret (if you want to call it that) that you cannot do without: getting traffic. And that’s really no secret either! Here are three key questions to help you understand traffic, how to get it, and what it means when you have it.
1. What do you want to pay for traffic?
Traffic can be paid for, or you can go look for it for free. With unlimited resources, you can buy a humongous amount of traffic.
(I know, I know, seems like a dumb thing to say. Stick with me; there is a point to this. Thanks!)
I know which one I prefer. Free always sounds good to me!
But you are not me. You may not feel that free traffic is really what you want, and that you would prefer to pay. Fair enough.
But then…
2. How long will you have to wait for traffic?
If you pay for traffic, you can have it very quickly. Today, in fact.
How to do that? Pay per click (PPC) ads on the top search engines.
A huge part of the so-called “affiliate marketing secret” books teach better and more clever ways to to do this.
However, the fundamental strategy, in short, is…
Sign up with the search engines’ various PPC programs. Decide a budget. Do keyword research and write your ads. Link to your affiliate URL. Click. Save. Now you can have all the traffic you can pay for.
We are sold this strategy over and over again. It’s a good strategy, and it works.
The problem? With pay per click, you pay for your mistakes, sometimes heavily!
That does not appeal to you?
OK, in that case…
3. Think about your long term goals.
I like free traffic. A lot.
The great advantage to the free traffic I prefer is the exposure it gives not just to the product, but to you.
If you expect to be in business for a long time (and maybe you don’t!), then plan on developing your profile as an expert in your niche.
If this article tells you nothing else, it’s telling you that the problem of traffic is not just today’s problem.
It’s a problem for tomorrow, and next year.
You have to have answers to question like: Why are you in business? What do you want out of your business? How will you know you have achieved “success”?
In articles and in forums, we promote our products, sure but we also promote ourselves.
People get to feel you out, in a manner of speaking. They get to know you and decide whether they want to know more.
No PPC ad will ever do that. Unless, of course, the ad is for building a list— and that’s another day’s work!
The great disadvantage of articles and forums: it takes time and work to establish yourself as the “expert”.
Do you want to be an expert in your niche, or do you want to make some sales and move on? It’s not a moral question; either one is fine. My point is: make a decision about what you want.
Then…
…keep to your decision!
In closing: The affiliate industry is like any other. Some are in for the long haul; others are just passing through. Traffic is the key component of any marketing strategy. How to find and keep traffic is the only “affiliate marketing secret”. But you’ve got to make up your mind what kind of traffic you want, because different kinds of traffic will lead to different kinds of businesses. Reading the latest marketing books will not help you decide. The answer lies within you.
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