This is article 4/8 in Part I of our series, How To Build Wealth and Grow Crypto Assets and Income by Staking series.
It focuses on business ventures as alternative investments, like affiliate marketing.
Key Takeaways
- Affiliate marketing usually requires a minimal up-front investment
- Affiliate commissions can be significant
- Affiliate marketing allows you to work when you want, from wherever you want
- No expertise is needed to start
- Promotional materials are usually provided for you
- Affiliate marketing is for motivated people only
- Affiliate marketing requires an investment of either time or money to earn consistent income
- There are no guarantees you’ll succeed as an affiliate marketer
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an arrangement where an online retailer pays you a commission for driving web traffic/sales to their offer.
The main advantages of affiliate marketing
1. It usually requires a minimal upfront investment.
2. It can provide a high Return on Investment (ROI). If you can drive traffic to the products or services you are promoting, you can earn a significant amount of commission. That definitely depends on the type of products or services you are promoting.
3. Independence: You can work on your own schedule. It is great for those who value being their own boss.
4. It can be done from anywhere with an internet connection.
5. No expertise is needed to start. You learn as you go.
6. Since you are not responsible for creating or maintaining the products or services you are promoting, your risk is limited. You don’t need to provide customer service or deal with returns and refunds.
7. Promotional materials are usually provided for you.
8. Complementary products are often sold to the same customer, so as an affiliate you can earn recurring commissions.
9. You can scale up your business and invest more money as you see fit.
10. You can network with others who know how to make money online. Many people make a full-time living as affiliate marketers.
11. You can build your own brand and sell other products or services too.
The main risks associated with affiliate marketing
1. You must be motivated and a self-starter.
2. Lack of control over the product or service you are promoting. If the company you are promoting goes out of business or changes its commission structure, your income will be affected.
3. Since affiliate marketing relies on driving traffic to a product or service, it can be difficult to generate consistent income. This is why it’s important to promote products or services that pay recurring commissions.
4. Affiliate marketing is a highly competitive field and requires a significant amount of effort and dedication to be successful. Do your research and select products or services that align with your interests and expertise.
5. Your reputation is at stake, so promote products and services that align with your values.
6. It requires time, patience, and the desire to learn. You will not get rich quick. Selling online is much harder than the guy on YouTube says it is.
7. There are no guarantees you’ll succeed. In fact, most people fail, so pick affiliate products that interest you, and even that you use yourself.
How to start affiliate marketing as a beginner
When starting an affiliate marketing business, it’s essential to choose the right affiliate products to promote. Not all affiliate products are created equal. Some are better than others and some may offer higher commission rates.
Research the different products and programs available, compare commission rates, and select those that align with your interests and expertise.
Many use social media to build a following, but having a website or blog gives you another platform to promote products or services.
Plus, YouTube, Facebook and other social platforms have been known to ban users or content. Nobody can ban you from your own website.
Your website or blog should be optimized for search engines and should include high-quality content that provides value to your visitors.
There are quite a few different strategies to drive traffic to your website. We suggest checking out Matt Diggity’s YouTube channel for ideas. He teaches ways to leverage AI to generate content.
Affiliate marketing can be a wonderful alternative investment for those looking to start a business with minimal upfront investment.
It’s a great plan B that can be worked on when you get home from your job, or on your lunch break. You can be building a source of recurring income in your spare time, paving the runway to launch into self-sufficiency.
We are trying to show you how to move away from relying on someone else for your income. Plus, working a job you hate is the worst. Long commutes, dress codes, useless meetings, coworkers who suck, etc.
However, it’s important to understand the potential risks and the level of effort required to be successful. Do your research and select affiliate products or services that align with your interests, so you stick with them.
One of the Blocks United team members uses Launch You for affiliate marketing. Blocks United is not affiliated with and has no opinion on Launch You.
This article may have you thinking about earning money from the comfort of your laptop.
So, be on the lookout for our next article in the Building Wealth series: How To Make Informed Investment Decisions.
Until then, be well!
Frequently Asked Questions
Many affiliate marketing training programs pay you for referrals. So, you can earn as you learn. Be sure to choose a profitable niche.
- Build your list of prospective customers
- Create content, like social media and blog posts
- Email them to share your content
Choose products to promote that you would use. Choose products that pay recurring commissions, so it requires less effort over time. Choose affiliate products that have a proper funnel. That means that people initially buy a low-dollar but high-value product and are then offered complementary products over time. Repeat customers are important.
The learning curve can be steep upfront. There is a lot to know. Plus, you need either time or money to be a successful affiliate marketer. If you don’t have either, then wait to start your business venture.
Free promotion strategies can take years or months to see results. Paying someone else to promote your affiliate products is the fastest path to success, but can be expensive.
- Avoid selling and focus on helping people. Help people solve their problems and success will follow.
- Avoid spamming people. Nobody likes a slimy internet spammer.
- Avoid affiliate products that don’t interest you. If you actually use the products you decide to promote, you’re more likely to stick with affiliate marketing.
- Avoid content that doesn’t age well and becomes less relevant over time. You want to create what is called, evergreen content. Evergreen content is current and helpful no matter when it was created.
- Promote products that pay high-ticket commissions.
- Utilize paid advertising and promotion. The most successful affiliate marketers aren’t afraid to pay for traffic.
- Consistently blog and take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
- Build your email list of customers and prospective customers. Then, email them valuable evergreen content.
Most people fail with affiliate marketing because they go into it with unrealistic expectations. It takes time, patience, and consistent effort.
Many also fail because they’re selling the wrong products. It takes just as much time and energy to promote a product that pays you $1 in commission as it does to promote a product that pays you $1000 in commission. Promote high-ticket affiliate products.
Nothing we say is financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Cryptocurrency is a highly speculative asset class. Staking crypto tokens carries additional risks, including but not limited to smart-contract exploitation, poor validator performance or slashing, token price volatility, loss or theft, lockup periods, and illiquidity. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. Additionally, the information contained in our articles, social media posts, emails, and on our website is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. We are not attorneys, accountants, or financial advisors, nor are we holding ourselves out to be. The information contained in our articles, social media posts, emails, and on our website is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation. We have done our best to ensure that the information provided in our articles, social media posts, emails, and the resources on our website are accurate and provide valuable information. Regardless of anything to the contrary, nothing available in our articles, social media posts, website, or emails should be understood as a recommendation to buy or sell anything and make any investment or financial decisions without consulting with a financial professional to address your particular situation. Blocks United expressly recommends that you seek advice from a professional. Neither Blocks United nor any of its employees or owners shall be held liable or responsible for any errors or omissions in our articles, in our social media posts, in our emails, or on our website, or for any damage or financial losses you may suffer. The decisions you make belong to you and you only, so always Do Your Own Research.
