You may have heard that Affiliate Marketing is a great way of making money during these COVID 19 depressed times. But how do you go about doing it? Where do you even start? If you have been asking yourself these questions, then you have come to the right place. My name is Francisco, and today I am going to show you how to make money on autopilot with Affiliate Programs. Let me start by pointing out that I am very familiar with what I am talking about here. Through my company Planet Marketing, I have been making passive income for over a decade. In all that time, I haven’t worked for a single boss! In this article, I am going to;
- ​Give you a brief definition of Affiliate Marketing
- ​​Show you how to use Affiliate Marketing to make money on autopilot
What the heck is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is something that you will hear being brought up whenever people talk about passive income. But what really is affiliate marketing? Well, I you check on this blog, you will notice that I have already covered this topic extensively. So, I am not going to give a long definition here. All that I can say is that Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where businesses engage the services of affiliates to do marketing on their behalf for a commission. To be frank, there is nothing mysterious about affiliate marketing. It’s more or less similar to tradition marketing using salesmen who are paid a commission.
The only difference is that instead of going door to door, people now use the internet to carry out marketing. However, most people out there do it wrong! As a result, they end up giving up after only a short while. Or if they never give up, they don’t actually make enough for the entire venture to be worth their while. So, how do you do affiliate marketing correctly? How do you do it in such a way that it will make money on autopilot for you?
What does it mean to make money on autopilot?
When we talk about making money on autopilot, we are mainly referring to passive income. Passive income is another topic that I have covered extensively on this blog. Just to be brief; it’s regular income that you get without having to put in regular work. Passive income does not mean free money. Far from it! I get lots of passive income and I had to work my feet off to get that money. It’s just that once everything is set up, the money will continue to roll in on autopilot. You no longer need to do much work to do it.
Is it possible to make money on autopilot?
Most people think passive income can only be a dream. However, it’s something that actually happens. I am testimony that it’s possible to make money on autopilot. And I do it using affiliate marketing and other tools. If you have ever dreamed of spending your days basking in the sun on some beach somewhere, then these tips are for you. And if you have ever wished to get away from your annoying boss, then you need to read the rest of this article!
How to use affiliate marketing to make money on autopilot
So, how can affiliate marketing be used to make money on autopilot? The advice that I am going to give you is based on my own experiences. I am my own boss and I was able to quit my 9 to 5 through affiliate marketing. So, you to can do it!
You need to launch your own site
This is the first step on the way to making money on autopilot with affiliate programs. You are never going to make enough by approaching individuals and getting them to buy this or that product. What you need to do is to have your own blog or to create a big enough following on Social Media. Whatever the platform, it needs to be vibrant. But what do I mean? Well, I use the Planet Marketing blog as my main tool to get the message out to people. Some people use Social Media while others use YouTube. You could even use email to reach out to people.
You need relevant content
Your channel needs to be vibrant and it needs to have relevant content. For a blog, relevant content is how you get noticed by Google and other Search Engines. In order to make money through affiliate marketing, you need to get people to your site. Once they are there, you can then convince them to buy products for various brands.
How do I do it?
On this blog, I create content that is relevant to what people out there are looking for. So, I carry out keyword research, and from there, I create kickass content. Then I do lots of SEO. This allows my articles to be ranked high on search engines. Just to use an example, I am an affiliate for Kinsta, a company that offers web hosting packages. So, to get people to my site, I have written several Kinsta related articles including a Kinsta review.
This website is hosted by Kinsta, by the way, so my content is relevant since I know exactly what I am talking about. So, the challenge for me is to convince people that yes, this is a web host that I use myself, so they should try it too. Once I have created an article that does that, people will start signing up for Kinsta using my link and I get paid. Autopilot is essentially switched on. But I get ahead of myself!
Sign up for affiliate marketing programs
Before the money begins rolling in, you need to sign up for affiliate programs that are relevant to the content of your channel. As an example, a marketing blog would sign up for programs that offer various marketing services. The following are some of the affiliate marketing programs for which I have signed up;
- Web hosting programs such as Kinsta, Bluehost and InterServer
- SEO services such as SEMrush and SE Ranking
- Online Review companies such as Shopper Approved
How to sign up for affiliate programs?
Signing up for affiliate programs is easy and can be done in a matter of minutes. In fact, it’s one of the easiest steps on the way to making money on autopilot with affiliate marketing. You can sign up for affiliate programs either directly or via an affiliate networks. I have written a number of programs featuring some of the best affiliate programs for affiliates that are out there. Feel free to read those articles. The following are some of the best know affiliate networks;
- CJ affiliates
- ClickBank
- ShareASale
- Awin
- Amazon Associates
- Rakuten Marketing
- FlexOffers
Create relevant content
This is the third step on the way to making money on autopilot with affiliate programs. I have already talked about this step at the top. What you need to do is to have relevant content. If you own a YouTube channel, you need to create content that people will want to watch. The same applies if you own a blog. You need content that is relevant to what people are looking for.
What topics can you talk about?
There is no end to the topics that you can talk about on your blog or that you can cover on Social Media. It pays, however, if your site is focused on a narrow area. This is what you should do if you are creating an Amazon Associates site.
You can create a niche website
There are people out there who have been making money by creating niche websites. These focus on a particular topic that others have not yet covered. As an example, you may choose to create a website that talks about pet hamsters. This may seem like not such an important topic to focus on, but the fact that not many people will have created sites focusing on it means you will have very little competition. If you create a site in an area that is flooded, you are not going to make that much money because you will never be able to beat established players as far as SEO is concerned. Anyway, here are a few topics to focus on;
- Web hosting
- Products on Amazon and ShareASale
- Electronics
- Digital goods
- Being a Single Mom
- Raising Kids
Examples of niche websites
A google example is the Savvy Backpacker. This site focuses on traveling around Europe and monetizes by selling various travel related products. Another site is Headphones Jack, which focuses on the best cheap wireless headphones for running. That’s a very narrow area of focus. There is also a site focusing on the best e ink readers on the market today. These last 2 sites monetize via Amazon Associates. With Amazon, having a narrow focus actually works. Another example is The Spruce which covers various household related topics. Once the content is set up, the money will start coming in as long these sites get traffic. My own site, Planet Marketing, has a somewhat broader area of focus. But knowing what you want is good because it allows you to have a very clear idea how you are going to use affiliate marketing to generate passive income.
Get your content to rank high
This is actually the most difficult steps as far as making money online is concerned. You may produce top range content, but as long as nobody is viewing or reading, you are not going to make any money. So, you need to make use of Search Engine Optimization to get people to your content. One thing to note is that this is not the task of a single day. It may take years for you to begin reaping the fruits of your labor, so you need to be patient.
Include your links in your content
When you sign up for an affiliate program, you get links to use in marketing. The links are how companies doing affiliate marketing identify who is selling what. So, you should include these links in your content. You can also send out the links via email. When people buy using your link, you will then earn a commission.
Look for programs offering recurring payments
This is something that I personally do. Most of the affiliate programs that are out there only offer once off payments. That’s all very well for a platform like Amazon where a customer only buys goods once. But it’s not very fair for programs where people make monthly payments. The good news is that there are programs out there that offer recurring payments. As an example, Shopper Approved pays me recurring amounts for the references that I make.
I have been an affiliate for this company and have, over the years, referred over 300 people. Now, as long as these people remain Shopper Approved customers, I will get something whenever they renew their accounts. So, this is actually the backbone of my own affiliate marketing success. Its how I have been able to make money on autopilot with affiliate programs. In fact, I could spend the rest of my life traveling across the world and I will still earn more than enough to make a comfortable living!
How does it all get on autopilot?
I have already noted that getting set up can be hard work. And it’s not going to happen in a single day. But, if you dream of making money passively some time in the future, you need to get started right now. You can begin by creating your own blog. If you don’t know how to do it, get in touch with me and I will be able to help you out. From there, you can begin creating your site and doing SEO. Amazon Associates sites, if that is what you want, are a bit easier to create and to start monetizing. You can start earning something even with a few visitors per day. With other affiliate programs, you need lot’s of traffic. The trick is to convince people to buy using your links. If you are able to do this, then you can start earning enough to supplement your current income. Do it like me, and you could even leave your current job altogether!
