Affiliate Marketing Guide for Newbies

Make money at any time, from anywhere — even while you sleep? Sounds good for anyone, right? 

That’s how many people describe the concept behind affiliate marketing. If you begin your affiliate journey, C3PA Team created a small guide to get more acquainted with this field.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

The first thing we need to do is to define what affiliate marketing is. 

Affiliate marketing as a process includes 3 parties in it.

• Seller and product creators
• The affiliate
• The consumer

The idea behind it is that you promote other people’s products, often through an affiliate network, earning a commission if people actually end up buying thanks to your marketing.

The affiliate network is also a part of the affiliate marketing process. It works as an intermediary between the affiliate and the sellers.

While you could technically promote an online cryptocurrency trading bot and just arrange a direct revenue share with them, letting a network such as C3PA handle the payment and product delivery. 

The affiliate network then also serves as a database of lots of products, out of which the affiliate marketer can choose which to promote.

Choosing a niche and a network

Choosing an affiliate network is part of an affiliate marketer’s successful journey. As well as determining a niche or a vertical the product of which you want to promote. 

The affiliate marketing field is an ever-expanding one and almost daily new players enter the game.
Before you look through thousands of programs to choose to find a niche that suits you better, try to do it by asking questions like:

• What topics am I passionate about?
• Do people search for my chosen niche?
• Will demand for my niche stay consistent?
• Is there a lot of competition for my niche?
• Are there affiliate programs that work within my chosen niche?

If researching the dating or finance field, consider joining C3PA Network. We are the long-term player in the affiliate marketing industry, especially when it comes to financial or dating verticals.

Here are some tips to help choose the right network and programs for your needs. 

• Become Market Aware – Research, research, research This is an emerging and ever-changing market that changes as often as the wind does. 
• Check the reputation of the network you are considering – This is common sense no matter what niche your affiliate network is working within. Check the reviews and the affiliate forums to avoid being scammed.
• When choosing an offer to promote, always ask about: Payment process (period, systems, the risk of refunds, etc), allowed traffic sources and requirements for affiliates and target audience.

Common mistakes affiliate marketers make 

Mistakes are natural for any workflow when you jump into a new field full of competition, especially when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Here is a short list of reasons you might experience a failure:

• Jumping from project to project hoping to hit it big on the next one

Guess many of us experienced it. This common mistake called «shiny object syndrome» is wide-spread across those who only start mastering affiliate marketing.

• Starting with multiple niche attempts

It is possible to manage several niches at the same time. But as a newbie, you better understand how a certain niche works, centralize your efforts on it to build a profitable marketing flow. This will gain you experience and improve your skills.

• Not keeping eye on trends

Affiliate marketing is a fast-changing niche. What works today might not work tomorrow. A little testing never killed anybody. Especially when you closely monitor trends.

• Avoiding testing

A huge advantage of doing online marketing that whatever strategy you test, you always get a quick response in results. Testing is a must to achieve great improvements in traffic generation

• Lack of patience 

You may experience ups and downs on your way to success in the affiliate marketing niche. It takes time to build a solid foundation for your long-term affiliate business and see the results. 

Becoming an affiliate marketer is an attractive prospect for many because the minimal financial outset is accessible to almost anyone. Not only that, but most affiliate marketers start with no prior knowledge or experience, and it is very much a trial by the fire industry.

Don’t rest on your laurels. What might work today isn’t necessarily going to work tomorrow. Keep up to date with what the industry is doing and always keep an eye out for new opportunities.