How to Create Content for Your Site

Now that you’ve figured out which topic you want to cover, you’ve got to start generating unique and useful content.

One of the biggest hurdles in running an affiliate site based on content is simply coming up with the content.

I ran into that situation early on in my blogging days, which started in 2004.

Over the years, I figured out ways for the content to come to me.

One thing I did was to take a page from the book of home building expert, Tim Carter, and his site, Ask the Builder.

Based on his extensive experience building homes, Tim made himself available to answer questions related to home repair and building.

He would then answer them on video and in text in posts on his blog.

I also use Google Alerts to help me with ideas to create content by tracking keywords to find relevant news stories, blog posts, etc.

Next up, I’ll explain both setting up your site to accept questions, making videos, and how to use Google Alerts to track news stories.

Pick a Topic for Your Site

So you want to be an affiliate and start making money off your site(s)? Well, the first thing you have to do is figure out the topic of your site.

There are two ways to go with this choice. You can either try to capitalize on something that’s popular right now, or focus on a subject that you’re interested in.

I would suggest the latter, as my experience has been that I lose interest in sites I create on trends.

After all of the initial work in getting the domain, hosting, site design, content creation, etc., I have just let sites die time and time again, because they were not interesting to me.

Your experience may be different, but I wanted to put it out there.

Anyhow, as far as picking a topic for your site, try making a list of your interests and passions. It can be a country, a sports team, a breed of dog – whatever it is that you really care about.

Do that right now, and then we’ll move on to the next step… Narrow Down Your Potential Topics.

Driving Traffic to Your Website

Quality, original content is a key ingredient in a successful website, but it doesn’t matter how well you write if there is nobody there to read it.

So, I am going to share the key sources for my website traffic.

There are lots of ways to drive traffic to your site, and it is important to diversify, so you don’t suffer if one of your traffic sources stops working out for you.

Here are the methods I leverage to drive traffic to my sites…

• Site Scrapers and Syndicators
• NetworkedBlogs on Facebook
• Twitter Tools
• AWeber RSS to Email
• YouTube Descriptions
• Meetup.com Perks
• LinkedIn Applications
• Paper.li
• Flickr Links
• StumbleUpon
• Podcasting
• Facebook Ads

You will also get some traffic from the search engines, based on your content.

Back when I was going over WordPress Plugins, I mentioned Google XML Sitemaps to help search engines index your blog.

Be sure to install those plugins if you haven’t done so already.

Affiliate Marketing Education

Affiliate marketers should consume a steady diet of information to continually evolve their businesses.

There are a variety of free and paid resources out there to learn the latest industry news, tips, and resources for affiliate marketers.

Take advantage of these opportunities to improve and make the most of your affiliate site(s).

• Blogs and a magazine
• Networking at meetups and conferences
• Competitive research

Keep your affiliate marketing business healthy – this is a constantly changing industry, and it is vital to stay in the loop.

Good luck.

Finding Affiliate Programs

Now that you’ve got things set with your site, you’re producing content, and driving some traffic, it’s time to find some affiliate programs to monetize your site.

But where do you find the right affiliate programs for your site?

In the 2011 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report, where over fourteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed, we asked, “How do you most often find out about an affiliate program and then join?”

The affiliates responded with a wide variety of methods for finding affiliate programs to promote, including affiliate directories, search engines, and being contacted by affiliate managers.

I will go through all of the ways mentioned by affiliates, so you can experiment and find out which is most useful for you.

Before you start trying to find affiliate programs, be sure to focus on those that are relevant to the topic of your site.

Don’t be seduced by high commissions. You will want to test ads for products and services that make sense for your audience.

Here are the most popular methods for affiliates to find affiliate programs:

• Advertising in print publications
• Affiliate directory
• Affiliate network
• Affiliate Manager contacts you
• Affiliate marketing blogs
• Affiliate Manager is active on message boards
• Affiliate Manager is on Twitter
• Affiliate Marketing Conferences
• Search Engines

In addition to focusing on relevance for your affiliate ads, you don’t want to put too many ads up on your site. Less is more!

Getting Code for Affiliate Links

Affiliate programs and networks typically offer a variety of ways to link to them, but two that are standard are the banner links and text links.

My example here will be to grab the code for a banner link.

The process is very similar across the various affiliate programs and networks to get the code. I am going to use the Affiliate Summit affiliate program, which is on ShareASale in this instance.

After logging into ShareASale, I then go to Links, followed by Get a Link / Banner from the top navigation bar.

The next step is to click on the dropdown box on the left and select the specific merchant I want to promote. So I’ll pick Affiliate Summit and then click “Refresh Report to View Below” on the right side.

On that screen, I click the text that reads “Get Links”.

You may have noticed that my commission level is 0% here. That is so I don’t earn commission from the affiliate program, since I run it.

Anyhow, then there is a menu with tabs for the various affiliate link options in this affiliate program. I’ll go and click the “BANNERS” tab.

After this page loads in, there are a variety of banners to consider. When I see the one I want, I click on it to get the code.

As I hover over it, I can see the dimensions.

At this point, I have to go highlight the code, and then copy it.

Now that I have copied the code for the affiliate banner, the next step is to paste it on my WordPress blog.

I want to put it in a sidebar that will show on every page of my site, so I go to the admin screen in WordPress, and then to the “Appearance” section and click on “Widget”.

From here, I’ll put my mouse over “Text” in the “Available Widgets” area, click and keep my finger down to drag that widget to the “Sidebar 1″ area on the right.

Then I let go of the mouse.

This will pop open the text widget, and I will paste in my affiliate code. You can add a title to go over the banner, but I won’t bother here.

After pasting the affiliate code, click Save on the widget box.

That’s it – now that banner is up on my affiliate blog.

Next up, I’ll discuss the various types of affiliate links and how and when I use each one.

Creating Affiliate Links

OK, so you’ve been working on creating content and driving traffic to your site, as well as finding out how to find affiliate programs to promote. Now it’s time to get links set up.

What are affiliate links? They are pieces of code in a graphic image or piece of text on an affiliate’s site that notifies the advertiser or merchant that an affiliate should be credited for the customer or visitor sent to their site.

You can get your affiliate links from either independent affiliate programs, like Amazon and eBay, or affiliate networks, such as Affiliate Window, ClickBank, Commission Junction, LinkShare, and ShareASale.

In the 2011 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report, where over fourteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed, we asked, “What are your preferred link types?”

As you can see, banners and text links are the two most popular.

Based on my experience as an affiliate, banners don’t perform nearly as well as text links. But I would highly encourage you to test the various link types to determine what works the best for your site(s).

Here are the topics I’ll be covering in this section.

The Extra Money Answer

Welcome to the Extra Money Answer – a resource to help you learn how to make money online by starting up a blog and becoming an affiliate marketer to earn money from the blog.

I was originally going to write a book with a big publisher on this topic, but I decided to share my affiliate marketing experience here instead (you can also buy a Kindle version of this information for just $1.99).

Why? Many reasons. I detail them on my blog in a post, “Does the World Need Another Affiliate Marketing Book?“.

Three reasons why you should take my advice…

First, you’re probably wondering who I am and why you should bother listening to me. Well, my name is Shawn Collins, and I’ve been an affiliate since 1997. I also managed affiliate programs for ten years, and co-founded the Affiliate Summit conference in 2003.

Second, you’ve probably seen books, ebooks, courses, etc. that claim they can teach you how to get rich quick. I’m not going to do that. You won’t get rich quick as an affiliate. You probably won’t get rich slow, either. But it’s a great way to earn an extra $50, $100, or more a month.

Third, when I mention a product or service here, I am using it myself and I like it enough to endorse it to you. These mentions will often be accompanied by affiliate links. If you click through these links and make a purchase, I will earn commissions. My examples are based on what I use, so if you use different vendors and tools, your experience will be a little different.

Let’s get started.

Good luck!

Help ShareASale Fight Hunger in Chicago

Help ShareASale Fight Hunger in Chicago

May 30, 2014 by Shawn Collins

ShareASale is walking as a team in the Chicago Hunger Walk 2014, and they have set a goal for themselves to raise $10,000.

As part of their fundraising effort, they are selling limited edition t-shirts designed for their team to wear on the walk.

The Chicago Hunger Walk 2014 is taking place on June 21st.

Buy one and wear it on June 21 to show your support as the ShareASale team walks around Chicago.

I’ll be wearing mine as I lounge around the pool that day.

You can get your ShareASale Chicago Hunger Walk 2014 t-shirt in sizes ranging from YXS to 4XL.

All proceeds from the walk go to pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Chicago.

See the overall progress for ShareASale so far.

Working with Affiliates and Adding Value from Affiliate Summit East 2012

May 31, 2014 by Shawn Collins

This was a conference session titled Working with Affiliates and Adding Value from Affiliate Summit East 2012, which took place August 12-14, 2012 in New York City at the Hilton New York.

Session speaker:

• Adam Riemer, President, Adam Riemer Marketing, LLC

Session description:

This session will help you to learn how to work with affiliates, negotiating, keyword lists, etc., and add value to your programs.

Experience level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Target audience: Merchants/Advertisers
Niche/vertical: Merchants

Session video:

Working with Affiliates and Adding Value video

Session slides:

Working with Affiliates and Adding Value slides

Note: the companies and positions listed above were current as of the time of the conference. Some of this information may have changed since then.

If you liked this video, be sure to register for the next Affiliate Summit. The session videos aren’t made public until a year or more after each conference.