We did a brief intro to affiliate marketing back in February and in this next article on the subject we cover some of the mistakes you should look out for in your affiliate marketing journey.
It’s always one of those “I can’t believe its true” moments for new affiliates once they discover the world of affiliate marketing. When they realise you don’t have to worry about product development or shipping. They immediately jump on board, forgetting to perform their due diligence on the company they are joining. Then soon afterwards they expect to start making money within weeks of starting, but reality always strikes. They are yet to be millionaires. Here are some mistakes and tips on how to avoid them.
Lack Of Patience
Patience is a virtue as they say. It took years for MacDonald’s to be successful; it took years for Microsoft and other big companies to take off to success. In fact, most business takes up to 5years to start seeing a profit. Treating your affiliate business as a real business is essential. Super affiliates that earn £20,000 a month took years to get to that point. Research a program before signing up. Commit to stick it out. If they offer guides and training take advantage of it. Update and maintain your site with fresh content. Don’t jump ship when the going gets tough.
Too Many Programs
Avoid the temptation to subscribe to too many programs. When the going gets tough, its easy to think the grass is greener on the other side. The problem with subscribing to too many programs at the same time is that you’ll fail to give them the attention and focus they deserve to make you money. I recommend two or three programs at the same time to enable you to turn your hard work into cash.
Here are a few affiliate programmes you may wish to consider (please also bear the next point in mind too).
Curve – Payment card that links to your existing credit/debit/bank cards to help better manage your finances and earn cashback.
Gener8 – Browser that replaces ads and earns you points you can trade for rewards.
20 Cogs – Complete offers and surveys to make some extra cash.
Smarty – A mobile phone company with great rates, discounted group plans and cash back for unused data every month.
Zilch – Buy now, pay later using a virtual Mastercard. Instalment plan with 0% interest.
Wrong Choice Of Program
When it comes to choosing affiliate programs, choose the ones that have a generous commission structure, and that pay their affiliates easily and on time. Have affiliate products that fit in with your target audience. Choosing programs that offer products that might not interest people means no commission or money for you. If you join a program that offers products that are “hot” you will be competing with thousands of others who are promoting the same product. Choose a niche you KNOW information about! Check the profitability of that niche.
Generalized Marketing
Focus on Niche Marketing: Focus on a tiny niche, the tinier and narrower that niche is, the better. Try improving on a single key aspect of your business at a time. Putting your efforts in one of two ways will help you achieve your affiliate program goals. Try getting people to join your list. Then keep in touch with them by sending out valuable info.
Organic Traffic Only
Another mistake most affiliates makes is the idea of generating only organic traffic. This form of traffic that is naturally generated by a website, is a myth. There is no such thing! Organic traffic is the one that is created by the website naturally. This concept is nothing but a fairy tale story and this is not a reality.
Link Exposure
Hiding your affiliate link on your website is crucial nowadays. Most affiliate marketers still make the mistake of making their links visible. The truth is that internet users have become more sophisticated and the honest truth is that most web users won’t click on an affiliate link or anything that looks like it. You’ve got to learn how to hide your affiliate links to ensure click through’s. Also, stories of people’s affiliate links being changed to divert traffic has happened and is still happening.
There are many big mistakes made by affiliates that can be easily avoided, but these are just a few of them. However, making mistakes in business are inevitable and important. I recommend failing and making mistakes fast and early in your business than learning from them. This would move you forward towards success.
