Best Beginner Affiliate Programs Beginner affiliate programs are ideal if you are a new…
Is Affiliate Marketing Legal
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Is Affiliate Marketing Legal
Is affiliate marketing legal and is it profitable?
Many people ask this question due to the potential to earn millions as an affiliate marketer.
The answer is absolutely yes!
If this business is done the right way, the ideal way, the income potential is massive. Most people do Affiliate Marketing the wrong way.
It is hard to imagine that such a lucrative business can literally be started with a very small initial investment and can result in unlimited, nonstop passive income even while you sleep!
Affiliate Marketing Tips
The business of affiliate marketing is very legal and it involves recommending, marketing or selling other people’s products and services so you can get paid a commission.
Many companies will pay for a lead which may or may not result in a purchase. If your users submit their email address, phone number or sign up for a free trial (which they could later cancel) this could still result in a commission to you, the affiliate.
Totally 100% legitimate!
Multiple Business Models
Whenever you recommend and sell a product that is not yours and get paid a commission, then you are in essence engaging in some form of affiliate marketing.
Here are some examples
● Selling Insurance!
● Selling products on Etsy
● Selling Amazon’s products
● Selling Courses you didn’t create
Commissions
Affiliates partner with merchants and receive a unique link which they will market in various ways. Each time someone makes a purchase via the affiliate’s link, it will lead back to them and they will be paid a commission.
Payment rates can vary widely from a very low percentage rate to almost 100% as well as high ticket products.
High-Ticket Affiliate Marketing
This type of affiliate marketing involves promoting pricier products and receiving higher commission rates.
Some higher priced products such as electronics, software, courses, memberships or even services may offer higher commission. The rate of commission also varies widely and in some cases can be as high as 100% minus fees if the affiliate bought into a partnership with the merchant!
Commission Structure
Commissions can be structured in several ways such as recurring or tiered.
Some companies offer sub-affiliate commissions meaning if an existing affiliate recruits someone new then they can earn a commission from the new affiliate’s earnings.
When Are Commissions Paid
Commissions can be paid up to 60 days after purchase so be patient. This gives the merchant enough time to handle chargebacks or refunds if any.
Affiliates Identify Problems
Your audience may have problems they are not 1yet aware of.
Some users don’t know how to solve the problems they do know that they have, such as not enough income.
An affiliate marketer’s job is to identify their users’ problems or pain points and find solutions for them.
These solutions can be in the form of physical or digital products, services or even educational courses. An Affiliate typically creates content about products on their blog or social media platform that includes their clickable affiliate links.
Legally Required Disclosures
It is necessary to be transparent about your usage of affiliate links before you start posting them. In order to adhere to FTC guidelines, before placing any affiliate link on your website you should have a disclosure statement which informs your readers that you use them.
The plugin called: “Ad Inserter” is priceless!
With this tool you can automatically place your affiliate disclaimer at the beginning of each blog post so you don’t have to do it manually!
Search for it under plugins in WordPress, download and activate it. You can word your disclosure however you like as long as you make it known up front that you do receive compensation from your affiliate links. Take a quick look at mine at the beginning of ALL my blog post articles. This was done using the Ad Inserter plugin…and yes, it’s free!
If you have a website, make sure you are blogging legally by adding the required disclosure agreements such as your Terms and Conditions in the footer section of your website. This is legally required on all websites.
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What Can You Promote
You can promote any product that has an affiliate program.
If you are a brand new affiliate, it may be difficult to get approval or acceptance on certain products or programs.
Get info here on programs you will qualify for as a new affiliate and get started right away with no traffic or start up capital.
Is Affiliate Marketing Legal Without A Website?
The short answer is yes.
Products can be promoted on social media platforms, in emails or elsewhere without a blog or website. Please note that some companies will not work with affiliates if they do not have a blog or website.
Host your website inexpensively on Bluehost
Affiliate Marketing Is Legal In Emails
An email list is a very valuable asset.
Start an email list if you haven’t already.
Email List Marketing is another great way to promote affiliate links.
Get information on several free email marketing providers to choose from here
If you don’t have an Email List, you can get started for free with GetResponse which I have found to be very user friendly.
A Word Of Caution
Do not spam your list with incessant links to promote products. This may cause your audience to unsubscribe. A better approach is to nurture your list. Give them a reason to open your emails by providing them with free information, helpful tips and downloadables. Products should be promoted casually and honestly and your content should satisfy a pain point that your users need a solution for.
Need Content?
Don’t worry if you’re not good at content creation or copywriting and definitely don’t worry if English is your second language.
There are many AI programs that can create content for you quickly and free of cost to get you started.
When using AI written content, It’s best to review it for accuracy and add your personal touches before posting it.
Are You An Introvert?
Introverts aren’t really excited about showing their faces in videos or vlogs and many are reluctant to use their own voices as well.
The good thing is that content can have many forms or a combination of formats aside from being written:
There are free programs that will prepare video content without showing your face or using your own voice.
There are programs that can convert your content to an audio format. This can be done quickly and there are many voices to choose from.
Now that you know you never have to show your face in video content or use your own voice in audio ones, you can browse the tools mentioned above and get started with content creation.
Payment Without A Purchase
Your audience does not always have to buy a product in order for you, the affiliate, to get paid.
PPC is an affiliate marketing model that means pay-per-click. Each time a user clicks on a PPC link, the affiliate will get paid.
Various Types Of Links
CPA: Cost Per Action, is a type of affiliate marketing that establishes a partnership between an advertiser and an affiliate. In this model, the affiliate earns a commission when a user or customer completes a specific action due to the affiliate’s efforts. Actions vary such as providing their email address or signing up for a trial.
CPI / CPD:
With Cost Per Install / Cost Per Download, app developers sometimes pay affiliates for each install or download.
CPC: This metric stands for cost per click and it denotes how much an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on their ad.
CPS: In affiliate marketing, Cost Per Sale is a performance-based pricing model that calculates the amount it costs a business to acquire a customer or generate a sale. This model is also referred to as pay per sale.
What Is EPC?
Earnings per click is a key Affiliate Marketing metric which measures the average amount of money that’s made per click.
Divide the commission by the amount of clicks to arrive at the EPC. ($300 in commissions earned from 500 clicks on your links means your EPC is $0.6)
What’s A Cookie?
The Purpose Of Cookies
Cookies in affiliate marketing can be thought of as invisible, friendly tracking devices of various lengths. If a user clicks on your link, does NOT make a purchase immediately but makes one within 30 days for example, then you would still be compensated if there is a 30 day cookie!
Affiliate Programs
An affiliate program is run by a single business to which affiliates connect in order to promote that merchant’s products in exchange for a commission.
Affiliate Networks
An affiliate network is a platform that has multiple programs to connect merchants with affiliates. After signing up with a network, a separate application is required to qualify for each program.
There are programs that will accept brand new affiliates with no experience and no following.
Ad Networks
Another great source of affiliate income is running ads on your website for Ad Networks. If your website has a considerable amount of traffic you can be approved to run ads for companies such as AdSense, Mediavine and Media.net to name a few.
Affiliate Marketing Benefits
Pros
•Low to no start up capital
•No physical store or rent
•No utilities payment
•No overhead or employees needed
•No car or transportation of products required
•Location Independent: Work online from home or anywhere in the world with a laptop and internet connection
•No previous experience needed
•No products of your own or inventory required
•No shipping, packing, unpacking, returning products or customer service necessary
•Work whenever you want to
•Earn passive income while you sleep
•It’s better than drop shipping
•No payment processing required
•No shopping cart
•Set it and forget it
•Absolutely no ceiling on your income
•If done correctly, you can build a business that you can sell or build a legacy
Cons
•The market is very competitive
•Branding and setting yourself apart from the crowd is challenging
•Having to wait 60 days for commissions on purchases
•Finding the perfect training program to shorten your learning curve
•Finding a good mentor can be difficult
Find A Good Mentor
It is often said that if you want to learn how to do something well, find someone who excels at it and learn from them.
There are various approaches to affiliate marketing, but simply flooding your audience with affiliate links in emails, blog posts or on social media can lead to being ignored and your emails unopened. You may also find that many users will be turned off and end up unsubscribing.
A more effective strategy is to create an Affiliate Hub
This will be your own central online space located on your domain. Here, you can offer a wealth of free resources, including webinars, courses, videos, and live events, which can promote your products.
By fostering a strong community, you’ll establish yourself as an expert and leader in your field. Your Hub acts like a personalized social media platform, providing greater engagement and impact.
You have the potential to change lives!
Points To Remember
●Know your audience well
●Choose a profitable niche
●Cover related topics
●Start an email list
●Don’t spam your list with links.
●Offer valuable info and free downloadables
●Create original content that will satisfy a pain point
●Obey program rules so you won’t get barred
Are You Ready?
Now that we have answered the nagging question, “is affiliate marketing legal” are you ready to give it a try?
Hopefully by now you see the big picture. It is easy to imagine how it can be the perfect business model or side hustle for anyone. It can be done part-time in addition to your regular job as well. If done correctly it can exceed the income you earn from your current full-time job.
Passive income is everyone’s dream.
Consider This…
Even if you are a doctor, a lawyer or licensed professional, you are still exchanging your time and your presence for dollars.
If you stop working or lose your license, your income stops as well! With your affiliate links strategically placed, you could be out of the country on vacation, on the beach, at the gym or even sleeping while earning income.
Final Thoughts
With low to no start-up capital, it is encouraging to know that affiliate marketing is a lucrative, legal profession that you can build in your spare time. This business can be life changing and you can build a family legacy,
Your smartphone and an internet connection are all you’ll need initially
When you have the funds to start a lucrative and highly profitable Affiliate Marketing business, consider learning from the professionals at www.MonlineM.com and see if their Hub-centric strategy is something that you would like to implement.
In the meantime, set up passive streams of income as soon as today.
Google million dollar bloggers and you’ll be amazed at how much income they earn, many of whom started with just a hobby blog.
Remember to post a disclosure on your Website prior to posting your affiliate links. This can be done automatically with a plugin called “Ad Inserter” at the beginning of each blog post as mentioned above.
Although affiliate marketing can be started almost free of cost, it is wise to invest in your own training. The right education and tools will increase your knowledge as well as your income, shorten your learning curve and take your business to another level.
Here is a free course from Udemy on affiliate marketing
Udemy offers many courses on affiliate marketing both free and paid.
Cheers to your success and to a lifetime of unlimited, passive income.
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