What Is Affiliate Marketing? And How to Get Started

Hey there, Paul here, and thanks for clicking on my link. Now that that is out of the way, let’s get straight to it?

When I started in this affiliate marketing caper, I wanted to know two things:

1. What is Affiliate Marketing?
2. How can I get started?

What is Affiliate Marketing?

In simple terms, Affiliate marketing is the process in which you refer customers to websites where they can purchase products based on your recommendations.

Think of it like you recommending a friend to go and buy a pair of headphones from a particular store.

Your friend goes and buys the headphone and because you sent them there, the owner of the store pays you 5% of the sale amount.

When it is done like this via a physical store, we tend to refer to it as a ‘referral’. When it is done online, it is called affiliate marketing.

The only difference is that with affiliate marketing, instead of talking to friends, you are referring online shoppers via such means as websites, blogs, social media, email lists or other channels.

Why Should I Do It?

To make money! That’s it, that’s the reason. I personally started because I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting in a tiny cubicle for 8+ hours everyday for the next 10000000 years – well it seemed like that long at the time.

Alternatively, it could be just to make a little money on the side to pay for holidays or hobbies or even rent. Or, you could just want to make some coin working on a subject that you are passionate about.

You know, like dogs, or cars, or sewing, or gardening, or finance or anything else you like – I make money talking about BBQ myself…

Is it Hard to Do?

Ummmm, yes and no. Building a website is actually really easy, as is adding content. However if If you have no experience with the online world of websites and getting viewers to read them, then there is definitely a bit to learn.

Think about the searches you do online? Let’s use our headphones example above.

Say you wanted to know the best types of noise cancelling headphones for travel. What would you search for?

This is what comes up on the first page of Google:

Now, have you considered what makes these site appear first and the others down the page? If not, it is not hard to learn, but does admittedly take some time to master.

How Do I Get Started?

Honestly, there are hundreds of platforms out there that can teach you to become and affiliate marketer. Some are really good, some average and some are complete scams.

So, in light of this, all I can do is tell you about the site that I used to help me get set up with my affiliate marketing businesses. Other can do the same as this platform, but this is what I used.

And after all, the fact that you are reading this post means that it must be working.

So, What is Wealthy Affiliate?

Now, if I can get a little technical here for a minute, when you start affiliate marketing as a newbie, then you will need:

• A domain (i.e. www.yoursite.com)
• Website creation and editing tools
• Website hosting
• Website Security
• And more…

Most of which are easy to find, but all on different platforms requiring different accounts.

Furthermore, you will need some training to assist you with not only using all of the above as well.

When I started, I joined a platform called Wealthy Affiliate and guess what? All of the above tools, with the training on how to use them, was all located in the one spot – for the one minimal monthly charge – after I tried it out for free of course.

So again, I am recommending the platform that provided me with all the tools I needed to get my affiliate marketing business started and eventually allowed me to work from home full time (oh, and from Bali and the U.S. as well).

What did I do?

I joined on their free starter membership and if I am being honest, was presented with a very busy program that was more than a little daunting.

So I ignored it all and just clicked on the training. This taught me everything I needed to know and even had me building a website within an hour or so.

And whilst that sentence alone my be scary, the best thing I found about the training was that it is very task based – meaning you learn and do, learn and do!

I did a little each evening (as I was still working full time) until it all started to make sense and as I have mentioned, before long I had a working website.

I will cover a bit more of this below, however at this time, I then got to the point where I was ready to release my work to the world.

Then Invested in a Membership

Let’s be real here.. If you are still reading this (and thanks for doing so), then I am either a semi-decent story teller, or you are still interested making money online and via affiliate marketing.

If this is the case, then here is a little reality check for you. All businesses need an investment in tools to operate. And an online business is no different.

I will include all a link to all of the pricing options below however to cut the story short, I invested into a premium membership and used my free domain to get my website published.

My journey had started.

And this is where you are at.. Obviously I have learned a lot over the years since, both within and outside of Wealthy Affiliate – including how to ‘whip up’ my BBQ site that started making money within a couple of months.

However, none of it would have happened – and you would not be reading this post – without me clicking on the button and creating my starter account.

So, if you want to get started on your own journey, then click on the button below and I will be there to take the journey with you every step of the way.

And if you want to know – once you sign up, this is what you will get:

• Website creation and publishing tools including access to WordPress editors and themes.
• AI-powered content article design and content creation.
• Domain name purchasing (you get a free domain when you upgrade to the Premium membership).
• Website hosting, security and backup.
• Complete training programs to assist with the development of your own affiliate marketing website.
• Online help and chat forums.
• Weekly live training events.
• 24/7 support.
• Keyword access tools.
• SEO assistance.

And that’s it, if you want to know more about affiliate marketing with all the of the tools and training in the one place to learn how to do it? Click on the button below and I will be there to help you on the other side:

Paul