For anyone looking for legitimate ways to make money online, affiliate marketing is the best way to start.
It’s all about finding products online that have affiliate programs, promoting them, and earning a commission when online shoppers buy from you.
It is very direct and simple to understand, but it is not that easy.
Promoting a product online requires a plan and strategy, there is no free food.
Here are the most common ways to promote a product online:
Article Marketing – Write articles about the product you want to market.
- Pros: Free, build your credibility
- Cons: Time consuming, Competitive, Requires writing skills
Website or Blogs: Create a Website or a Blog and put links to your products
- Pros: low cost or free, flexibility and control over your content (more money)
- Cons: Time consuming, very competitive, requires technical/SEO skills
Social Media Marketing – Share links to the product you want to market on social media sites
- Pros: free and very easy, nothing to set up, great audience
- Cons: Very competitive, requires social skills, can be tagged as spam
Why Facebook?
In this article, we focus on the approach of social networks and Facebook in particular.
Facebook is a place for friends.
As the saying goes, other things being equal, people prefer to do business with their friends.
And all things not being equal, people still prefer to do business with their friends.
People are likely to buy something from people they like and trust. If things are done right, and in a spirit of trust and mutual benefit, Facebook is very fertile ground for good business.
It is also the largest social network in the world with nearly 700 million users. That’s a lot of people.
decide who you will be
Before you start, you have to decide who you are going to be:
- A smart user who wants to earn extra money effortlessly but occasionally.
- An internet marketer who wants to make a lot of money promoting a niche product to online shoppers.
As a smart user, your goal will be to share with your friends and encourage them to start earning money together using the Amazon affiliate program.
As an internet marketer, your goal will be to promote Amazon products on a Facebook page for a niche topic and build an audience of fans who trust you and buy your recommendations.
Step-by-step instructions for the expert user
1. Get an Amazon Affiliate ID
Go to the Amazon Associate site and sign up. It’s free, it’s safe and it’s very simple. The only caveat is that US residents of certain states do not qualify for the program, due to differences in state tax laws. Please read Amazon’s operating agreement carefully and make sure that you or a legal representative can qualify.
2. Learn more about what your friends need and like
This is where Facebook starts to come into play. Facebook has a wealth of information about what your friends like. You can check their profile and find out what their interests are. It can be a certain artist, it can be an activity or a hobby. Also look at what’s popular, see if friends of friends like the same thing. You can also directly ask your friends what they need or stay tuned and take notes when they post something they want.
3. Find products to share
Find items on Amazon that match what your friends need or like. Find a way to create a link to the product with your affiliate ID and share that link on your wall or your friends’ wall.
DO NOT SEND JUNK MAIL. Always. When you share product links, make sure they’re based on what you or your friends like. Also make sure you don’t post too many links on your friends’ wall. If you want to promote several products, do it on your own wall. You don’t want to waste time and lose your friends.
If your suggestion is good, your friends will like it and Facebook’s viral mechanism can make your suggestion very popular. Mutual friends and friends of friends can see it and may also want to buy it. And when someone buys from your link, they pay you.
4. Reciprocate
This is the secret sauce..
Make sure you are honest and tell your friends what you are doing.
Share your own interests, needs and likes. Reciprocate when your friends share links on your pages.
Make sure they understand that when you need something, you can buy from their links and they will get paid.
When they need something, they can get it from your links and they will pay you.
Everyone wins.
Step by step instructions for the internet marketer.
The steps above are pretty simple and should be an easy way to start earning money among friends by buying things they need from each other.
But, if you’re going to be an internet marketer and promote products to online shoppers, that’s a different story.
The first step to get an affiliate ID remains the same.
Here are the following.
2. Pick a niche and be distinctive.
Select very specific topics such as left-handed guitarists, handbags of a certain brand, luxury beauty products, HD cameras, craft books, etc.
Check Amazon Best Sellers for a list of popular products to promote in your niche.
Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to see what the demand is for a specific product/keyword and what the competition is (the less competition, the better the niche).
3. Choose the products you like
You’re going to be doing product reviews and recommendations, so choose a topic that you enjoy and know something about.
If you can’t maintain the passion for the subject, it will show and it won’t hold their interest either.
4. Create a Facebook page
Use a very simple title related to your topic. You want people to find your Page when they search on Facebook. There are several guides and tips on how to successfully promote a Facebook fan page. Be sure to read these. Here are a couple of them:
- Use proven internet marketing techniques (newsletters, subscriber/mailing lists, SEO, YouTube, etc.) to promote your page.
- Start by inviting your Facebook friends that fit your target market profile. Use the “Suggest a friend” link on your page to send them an invite.
- Add a Facebook Like Box Widget on your website/blog if you have one.
- Look for an app called the Facebook Fan Page Twitter App. It’s a great way to attract your Twitter followers to your fan page.
5. Share on your page
Share products with your affiliate links on your page, but be sure to balance the offers you post with other less commercial, engaging, fun, and useful content to keep your fans happy.
It is very important to build trust and relationships. Again, people are likely to buy from a source they like and trust. That’s what all this is about.
Be patient, keep learning and have fun.
Like many things in life, you need to be patient and consistent for all of this to run smoothly. Never forget to keep learning and having fun in the process, and good luck.
