You're most likely not an Internet "guru" (you know, those guys all trying to sell each others crap via constant e-mails offering you "help"), making millions from your affiliate marketing.
But you are trying to make SOME money online.
And build up to great riches, of course! From those with their own website to those just testing the affiliate marketing waters, there are a few rules everyone should know.
Mistake #1 - Picking a Niche with Too Much Competition or Too Little Traffic What is a "bad niche?" The simple definition is that it's any niche that won't make you money.
There are two obvious reasons for this.
First, if there are eighty billion affiliates hawking the same products, you have a LOT of competition.
It's possible to make money, but you should be very experienced before you go for a saturated niche.
Second, a niche with hardly any traffic to begin with is also bad.
Here's the totally free way to check your niche.
Come up with several niches you'd like to explore.
Then do Google searches for all of them.
That will show you how many offerings there are for that search (look at the number of search engine links AND the number of pay-per-click ads to the right).
The fewer, the better.
Again, tons of other affiliates selling the product could be a sign of a hot niche, so if you're not a newbie, go ahead and give it a whirl.
Otherwise, steer clear of affiliate products in niches with tons and tons of competition.
Save those niches for later.
Then, take your niches that passed the Google search test and plug them into the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.
This will tell you how many people search for that each month and on average.
Too few is bad, because no matter how good you are at finding traffic, if there isn't any to find, you're screwed.
Mistake #2 - Picking a Niche with Non-Buying Customers You've "googled" and "keyworded" and narrowed down your choice of affiliate product niches.
The next thing to consider is who your customer would be for that niche.
If your target audience is stay-home moms, you may have a tough time squeezing pennies from them.
Basically, the deeper the pockets of your customers and the more willing they are to part with their cash, the better.
Another "plus" for a niche is whether it saves or makes money for the target audience.
If you can show how much greater the value of your product is vs.
what the customer pays for it, you'll make money.
For example, if your product will save customers $300 a month, people will be much more willing to pay for it than if your product sells celebrity secrets for shiny hair.
Mistake #3 - Not Having a Plan for Your Affiliate Marketing This is sooo important.
Even if you pick the best niche, you're money flow will fade away without a plan.
But creating a plan is the most common thing that newbies or not-very-good Internet marketers fail to do.
So what, exactly, is a plan? Well, it states how you'll start out and what you'll do to improve your business and grow your customer base.
It's actually not as scary as it sounds.
And it doesn't need to be something that the CEO of Fortune 500 would be proud of.
Just write out some simple steps.
"I'm going to start by writing articles and blogs to sell affiliate products for the top ten niches I picked.
Once I find the niche that produces the best results, I'm going to pick an affiliate product to sell and start a website.
I'll also need a free product or software program to entice people to register with my site.
List-building is how I'll grow my sales.
I'll use the Google analytics to refine my strategy, as well as ...
" If your plan is anything like the above and includes these "must-haves", you'll be fine: -Make sure your plan starts with an easy and free (or as cheap as possible) action step.
That way you'll have no excuse to put it off.
-Include how you will analyze your results.
Not necessarily fun, but a MUST.
Especially if you're new.
Internet marketing is like a jet taking off - it takes a lot of energy to get off the ground, but once you're in the air it's smooth sailing.
-Be sure to include details on how you'll grow your profits.
Once you get a sale, will that buyer be gone forever? Or are you building a list of proven buyers that you can go back to? Are you going to add upsells eventually, or do you plan on just leaving that money for the next guy? You get the picture.
So, make sure your niche has enough traffic but not oodles and oodles of competition.
Pick an affiliate product that targets an audience with deep pockets or one that sells Always think of your business plan as a work in progress.
If you're doing things right, your plan will change as you learn about new strategies and techniques that you can take advantage of.
Simply add it into your plan and keep going.