Affiliate Marketing for Dummies

Get Your Piece of the Hottest Business Online Today!
 
Affiliate marketing is your route to earning some serious bucks. Thousands of companies both large & small like Amazon, Sears, Best Buy, Overstock, Lowe's, Priceline & others have programs so you can profit from the thousands of products they offer.
 
Affiliate marketing is ideal for bloggers looking to monetize their work. This is a multibillion-dollar market, and there are 10+ million people involved in the biz worldwide. There's always room for more because the opportunity keeps growing as more and more companies offer affiliate programs. Affiliate Marketing For Dummies shows you how to get a slice of the pie!
* Choose the right affiliate product or service for you
* Find the best affiliate programs for you
* Find the best affiliate marketing strategies
 
Affiliate Marketing for Dummies is your friendly step-by-step guide to getting in on this moneymaker--big time.

List of contents

Introduction 1
About This Book   1
Foolish Assumptions   2
Icons Used in This Book   2
Beyond the Book   3
Where to Go from Here   3
Part 1: Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing 5
Chapter 1: What Is Affiliate Marketing?   7
Getting a Handle on How Affiliate Marketing Works   7
Profiting from Internet Promotion   8
Multiplying opportunities   9
Automating the money flow 9
Distinguishing affiliate marketing from other internet businesses   11
Preparing to Start Your Affiliate Marketing Business   12
Setting expectations   12
Laying the groundwork   13
Walking through the process   14
Chapter 2: Why Should You Be an Affiliate?   17
Surveying the Requirements of Starting a Traditional Business 18
Assessing the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing   19
You can start your business instantly   20
You can choose your own path and lifestyle   20
You can offer a diverse range of products   21
You have no product development and fulfillment   21
You don't have to be a technical genius   22
Payment and accounting are automated 23
You get company-supplied marketing materials   24
You can take advantage of tax deductions   24
Setting Expectations   24
Chapter 3: Pitfalls and Risks for Beginners   27
Looking Out for Personal Pitfalls   27
Lacking focus   28
Managing time poorly   29
Making few (if any) content updates 32
Avoiding Internet Risks   32
Stay away from instant businesses   33
Don't fall for the next bright shiny object 34
Don't follow others too closely 34
Chapter 4: Steps to Take Before Becoming an Affiliate   37
Setting Your Goals   38
Assessing the Skills You Have and Need   38
Where are you now?   39
How do you move ahead?   40
Strengthening Your Ability to Focus   40
Deciding what is (and isn't) important   40
Setting your priorities   41
Seeing the magic of massive action   43
Making time to play   43
Ridding yourself of time wasters   44
Chapter 5: Surveying the Affiliate Landscape: Programs and Networks   49
Digging into Affiliate Programs   49
Assessing the advantages of affiliate programs   50
Finding and evaluating affiliate programs   51
Joining an affiliate program   54
Looking at Affiliate Networks   56
Checking out the advantages of affiliate networks 56
Finding and evaluating affiliate networks   57
Joining an affiliate network 58
Understanding the Dangers of Getting Banned   59
Part 2: Building on the Basics 61
Chapter 6: Keyword Research and Product Selection 63
Combining Passion and Profit   64
Analyzing Product Keywords   65
Looking at long tail keywords 66
Golden keywords   70
Sifting through Keyword Analysis Tools   71
Market Samurai   72
KeywordRevealer   74
Google Keyword Planner   75
Examining Markets   76
Focusing on evergreen markets   77
Sizing up seasonal markets   77
Chapter 7: Using a Website for Affiliate Marketing   79
Beginning with the Benefits of a Website for the Affiliate Marketer   80
Establishing a Domain Name for Your Website   81
Choosing a name   81
Using a registrar 82
Checking out the aftermarket   83
Comparing Self-Hosting to Free Hosting   84
Self-hosting   85
Free hosting   87
Going with WordPress Software   88
Installation   89
Themes   90
Plug-ins   91
Monitoring Your Website   94
Totaling the Costs of Starting and Running an Affiliate Marketing Website 95
Asking a Few Important Questions about Websites 96
Chapter 8: Niche Marketing   97
Understanding the Basics of Niche Marketing   97
Finding Your Niche 99
Following the head and the heart   100
Considering market size and competition   100
Reviewing Keyword Analysis Tools for Niche Marketing   101
Market Samurai   102
KeywordRevealer   103
Google tools   104
Keywords Everywhere   104
Spying on the Competition 105
Surveying Seasonal Niches 107
Chapter 9: Affiliate Marketing Without a Website   109
Getting Started When You Have Followers (And When You Don't)   110
Leveraging the followers you already have   110
Taking action when you have no social media presence 112
Surveying Strategies for Different Social Media Platforms   113
Facebook   114
LinkedIn 115
YouTube   115
Instagram   116
Reddit 117
Quora 117
Guest blogs   118
Checking Out the Cons of Affiliate Marketing Without a Website   119
Your web presence is limited   119
You're not building asset value   120
You don't own the ground you're building your business on   120
Your content doesn't last long in front of your followers   121
You're always fighting the competition 121
You have to adjust your approach for a different audience   122
You must keep on top of social media limitations and restrictions   122
Social media isn't necessarily less complicated than having a website 123
Having a website isn't as expensive as you may think   124
Chapter 10: SEO: Search Engine Optimization   125
Taking Care of Some Issues Before You Focus on SEO   126
Selecting the right niche   126
Understanding the elephant in the room: Google   127
Distinguishing On-Page and Off-Page SEO Factors 130
On-page SEO factors   131
Off-page SEO factors   138
Setting Up Your Site to Be SEO Friendly   139
Tags and categories 140
Posts and pages   140
Building a silo   143
Trying Out SEO Tools 144
Yoast   144
Market Samurai   144
Google Webmasters   145
Chapter 11: Email Marketing   147
Assessing the Advantages of Email Marketing   148
Building Your List with Different Types of Email   149
Marketing emails   149
Autoresponders   149
Transactional emails   150
Email campaigns   151
Hosting Your Own Emails   152
The pros of hosting   152
The cons of hosting   154
Playing by the Rules 156
Can-spam 156
The opt-in   158
The double opt-in 158
Unsubscribing 159
Understanding Email Screening   159
Soft bounces and hard bounces   161
Beware of buying a list of emails 161
A risk of probation if email addresses aren't checked   161
Email throttling 163
Considering Different Email Senders   163
Sendinblue   164
Amazon SES   164
SendGrid   165
Mailchimp   165
Constant Contact   166
Part 3: Advanced Affiliate Strategies   167
Chapter 12: Multitier, Passive, and Other Offbeat Commissions   169
Getting a Handle on Multitier Affiliate Marketing   170
Trying two-tier marketing   170
Watching out for the third tier and beyond   171
Finding affiliates for your multitier program   172
Picking Out Passive Income Opportunities   174
Profiting Even When No Sale Is Made 175
Cost per action/pay per lead   175
Cost per click 176
Cost per view   177
Chapter 13: Affiliate Platforms, Directories, and More   179
Assessing Affiliate Platforms   179
JVZoo   180
ClickBank   181
CJ Affiliate   183
Amazon Associates   184
Digging into Affiliate Directories   185
Checking Out CPA Networks   186
Looking at Advertising Networks 187
Chapter 14: Opt-In and Landing Pages   189
Examining the Elements of an Opt-In Page   190
Videos versus text   190
The layout   192
Other considerations for success   192
Checking Out the Elements of a Landing Page   193
The visuals: Colors and images   193
The headline and the subheadline   193
Ad/sales copy   194
Testimonials   196
Bonuses 197
The "what's inside" element   197
The bio 198
Payment buttons   198
Guarantees   198
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 199
Legal notices and disclaimers   200
Focusing on Other Factors for Success 200
Testing with the A-B split   200
Considering SEO 201
Using an exit pop-up   201
Benefiting from others' wisdom   202
Trying landing page templates and software   202
Judging results   202
Chapter 15: Sales Funnel Strategies   203
Selling Your Prospect on Multiple Offers   203
Starting with the front end   204
Moving to the main or core offer 206
Continuing with the back-end offer 207
Using upsells and downsells   207
Putting everything together   208
Setting Up Your Sequence of Offers   210
Looking at the tools you need   210
Modeling a merchant funnel   211
Assessing an affiliate funnel 212
Building a structure for passive income   213
Part 4: Going Professional 217
Chapter 16: The Legal Stuff 219
Following the Federal Trade Commission   220
Knowing the main guideline 220
Avoiding unrealistic claims   220
Retaining records about testimonials 221
Watching your language   222
Keeping your pricing consistent   222
Having a clear refund policy 222
Being aware of the rules about business opportunities   223
Getting the Scoop on the General Data Protection Regulation   224
Safely Using Images and Other Content 225
Getting permission in writing 225
Understanding special content rights 226
Addressing Legal Matters on Websites 227
A privacy policy 227
Disclaimers   228
Terms of service   228
Other sites' rules   229
Chapter 17: The Merchant Side of Affiliate Marketing   231
Knowing Whether You're Ready to Be a Merchant   232
Is your product conducive to an affiliate marketing program?   233
Is your compensation plan attractive?   235
Can you service affiliates? 236
Becoming an "undercover affiliate" 236
Choosing Your Technology 237
Considering an in-house affiliate program   237
Using an external affiliate platform 238
Outsourcing   239
Recruiting and Working with Affiliates   239
Knowing where to find affiliates   239
Making offers they can't resist   240
Providing affiliate tools   240
Chapter 18: Taxes for the Affiliate Marketer   245
Setting Up Your Business for Taxes   245
The simplest business structure: You!   246
The second simplest business structure: The DBA 246
The next level: LLCs, corporations, and partnerships 247
Handling Taxes on Affiliate Marketing Commissions   247
Federal income taxes   248
Federal self-employment taxes   248
State and local taxes   249
Sales tax 249
Digging into Powerful Tax Deductions   250
Deducting home office expenses   250
Looking at the most common affiliate deductions   251
Checking out other common business deductions   252
Keeping Good Records   253
Researching Pension Tax Benefits 253
Reviewing Resources to Help You with Your Taxes   254
Part 5: the Part of Tens   255
Chapter 19: Ten (Or So) of the Biggest Pitfalls for Affiliate Marketers   257
Looking to the Next Bright Shiny Object   257
Battling a Lack of Focus 258
Not Investing in Yourself and Your Education   259
Making the Transition from Content Consumer to Content Producer   260
Having Unrealistic Expectations   260
Spreading Yourself Too Thin   261
Not Sticking It Out Until You Achieve Success   261
Not Spending Money to Save Time   262
Not Protecting Your Trust Flow and Reputation   262
Chapter 20: The Ten Best Free Tools for Affiliate Marketers   267
WordPress 268
Elementor   268
Yoast   269
Keywords Everywhere 270
SpyFu   270
Blog Ideas Generator 270
Market Samurai   271
GTmetrix   271
SimilarWeb   272
Buffer 273
Chapter 21: The Ten Best Paid Tools for Affiliate Marketers   275
Market Samurai   276
Keyword Revealer   276
SpyFu   277
Elementor, Astra Pro Theme, and Ultimate Addons 277
Content Samurai   278
WP Robot 280
CleanTalk 280
Sendinblue   281
Amazon SES   281
Mailster   282
Chapter 22: The Ten Best Marketing Strategies for Affiliates   285
Guest Blogging   285
SEO Strategies   286
Social Media Marketing 286
YouTube Marketing   287
Email Marketing   288
Content Marketing 289
E-book Publishing   289
Joint Ventures   290
Media Interviews   290
Smartphone Apps   291
Appendix: Tools and Resources for Affiliates   293
Index   307

About the author

Ted Sudol is a longtime affiliate marketer who has developed and sold several affiliate marketing websites over the years. His current sites focus on affiliate marketing and precious metals investing.
Paul Mladjenovic is the bestselling author of Stock Investing For Dummies. He's a Certified Financial Planner as well as a national speaker and home business specialist.

Product details

• Authors: Paul Mladjenovic, Mladjenovic Paul, Ted Sudol, Ted Mladjenovic Sudol
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.01.2020
• EAN: 9781119628248
• ISBN: 978-1-119-62824-8
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Business administration, companies; Social sciences, law, business > Business > Management; Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Business & management, Wirtschaft u. Management, Marketing & Sales, Marketing u. Vertrieb