Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2:
CHAPTER 1:

What is Affiliate How to Build a

Marketing? Website for Affiliate
Marketing
PAGE 2
PAGE 18

CHAPTER 3: CHAPTER 4:

How to Make Money The Ultimate

With Affiliate Beginner’s Guide to
Marketing: Preselling Choosing a Niche for
and Personas Affiliate Marketing
PAGE 27 PAGE 31

CHAPTER 5:

The Best Affiliate

Marketing Programs and
Networks for Beginners
PAGE 40

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 1
CHAPTER 1:

What is Affiliate
Marketing?
 Have you seen those guys driving sports cars on YouTube and claiming they do
affiliate marketing?

The truth is, you can make a lot of money with this business model, but you need a
proper plan or you will fail.

I’m going to tell you exactly how I got started, and reveal the 5 steps you need to
master to become super successful.

Then you can film yourself in your own sports car, or just become what I call a
basement millionaire:

Grow your bank account while staying hidden

behind your computer.

Hint: That’s what most successful affiliate marketers do!

THIS APPLIES TO EVERYTHING

Learn from someone who has failed a bunch of times,

so YOU don’t have to!

I’m really bad with dates.

I can’t remember when I graduated, or how long I’ve been building online businesses.

But I figured I would do some digging and find the exact date for this report.

It turns out I started my first website in 2007.

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So I’ve been doing affiliate marketing for over 10 years!

But doing does not mean succeeding. I’ve made a bunch of mistakes in the past, and have failed
many times.

This is why I’m sharing this information:

I want you to make money with affiliate marketing in the

fastest way possible.

I wish I found someone who could explain exactly how to succeed in affiliate marketing 10 years
ago. I would have saved so much time.

But I finally figured it out, and my tutorials are really the information I wish I found when I was first
getting started.

I truly believe that if you follow my advice, you too can be successful with affiliate marketing.

So let’s review what affiliate marketing actually is, and talk about how you can get started.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is a business model which allows

you to recommend someone else’s product and earn
a commission when it’s sold. Your job is to presell
customers about a product, and then connect
them to where they can buy it. You can presell them
on various online platforms such as a website or
through social media.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 4
If they purchase and you are shown to be the referrer, then you will earn a commission. This can be
tracked through your unique affiliate link or a code the customer uses to purchase the product. The
affiliate programs you work with will do all the tracking for you.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 5
My First Website – Examples of How Affiliate
Marketing Works

My first website was wealthy-choices.com.

The headline was: Your Guide to Health Supplements and Optimal Health

Wow, talk about going after a HUGE topic right off the bat.

The site grew into a pretty good resource for health supplements. But I made a bunch of mistakes
along the way, and it doesn’t exist anymore. I think I ended up making almost $3000 dollars one
month.

Here are some screenshots:

I started this website because I was passionate about health and fitness back in college, and
because I was involved with a MLM company called USANA.

Have you heard of Network Marketing, or Multi Level Marketing?

Yeah, well I got sucked into that.

In case you don’t know what it is, Network Marketing (MLM) a business model where you sell
products and build a “downline”. It looks like a pyramid scheme, but in fairness, many companies
require that you actually sell products to make money, so it’s not a scheme.

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Amway is a big company you might have heard of.

MLM is basically a business in a box, and a lot of wannabe entrepreneurs get involved. I certainly
did.

I actually really liked the people who were involved in this business, because they were nice,
passionate and had that entrepreneurial spirit!

The main problem for me is that I’m a total introvert!

I’m not going to go and talk to people in-person and sell them products, or try and recruit them for a
business opportunity. Yuck!

I recruited zero people and made no money.

But I came up with a brilliant idea:

Instead of selling supplements to people face to face, I

will just sell them online! And thus my health supplement
website was born.

I eventually ran into another problem:

I wasn’t allowed to sell my MLM company’s products on my website, or at least it wasn’t an easy
process at all.

So this is how I stumbled on to affiliate marketing:

I was passionate about health and supplements.

I built a website about the topic which was very informative.

And I wanted to make money by recommending the products I reviewed, researched, and
used myself.

And this is what affiliate marketing is:

Recommending someone else’s products, and getting paid a commission for it.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 7
I’m not going to build my own supplement company. I don’t’ know how, and I don’t have the money
for that.

But I can build a website and explain why Optimum 100% Whey Protein is my favorite brand right
now, and recommend that you click here to buy it at BodyBuilding.com to save the most money.

See what I did there...

I just did affiliate marketing.

I recommended a product (Optimum 100% Whey Protein), and I told you where to click and go buy
it (BodyBuilding.com).

BodyBuilding.com has what’s called an affiliate program:

If you have a website related to bodybuilding supplements you can recommend your website visitors
to shop at their online store.

So if one of my website visitors buys a supplement from BodyBuilding.com based on my referral,

then I get a commission.

So I don’t need to physically sell anything!

I just recommend my website visitors various products, and tell them where to buy them.

There are thousands of established businesses which sell health supplements, and many of them
have affiliate programs.

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My Second Website - The Power of Passive Income

After my first website failed, I didn’t give up.

I started a second website about another topic I was interested in: Shaving.

So I registered the website electric-shaver-guide.com

This site is actually still alive, and it still makes me money, but I made more bad mistakes with it.

I don’t work on this website anymore because I have a beard now, so I can’t really review electric
shavers anymore, haha.

But the real reason is that I have several other more lucrative websites which I’m working on.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 9
 At the time of writing this, I have not updated the
website in 3 years, and it still makes me thousands of
dollars every year.

When it WORKS, affiliate marketing can be a

great source of passive income.

I haven’t worked on this site in years and it still

makes money every month.

The website makes money in the exact same way

as I outlined in the first example:

The website is a great resource for electric shavers.

I review them, I research them, and I recommend the brands and models that I like.

I am perceived as an expert when it comes to electric shavers, and people trust me.

I don’t own an electric shaver company. I would never go out and design a new shaver.

I just recommend the Braun Series 7 because it’s the best shaver for all skin types, and it offers the
best value.

You can find a great deal on the Braun Series 7 at Amazon.com. Click here to see the latest price.

See what I did there...

I just did affiliate marketing again.

I recommended a product (Braun Series 7), and I told you where to click and go buy it (Amazon.com).

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 10
Amazon.com has one of the most popular affiliate programs for people like you and me:

You can build your own affiliate business around almost

every single product that is sold on Amazon.

I was interested in electric shavers, so I started a website about them.

I offered really good value for people who were researching electric shavers. I reviewed them, I
answered common questions, and I recommended my favorite brands and so on.

But I didn’t start my own electric shaver company.

I just recommend the best shaver on the market, the Braun Series 7, and I told people to buy it on
Amazon. When they did, Amazon would give me a commission:

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 11
I built a useful website about electric shavers.

I have not touched it in years, and people still find it and listen to my recommendations.

And more importantly, Amazon still pays me commissions.

More Examples of Affiliate Marketing Websites and

Platforms

The above examples are two of my very first businesses.

They are great examples for beginners:

Most people should start a website about a topic they

love and are passionate about.

This is usually the best advice for beginners. It’s what I

did, and what so many others have done successfully.

But let’s quickly look at a few more examples so you

can see how big affiliate marketing is.

Let’s do some searching on YouTube. Just search any

type of product review.

You will find a ton of affiliate marketers!

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 12
YouTubers
SEARCH “BRAUN SERIES 9 REVIEW” ON YOUTUBE

At the time of writing this,

you will find my video which
is almost 3 years old in the
top spot:

If you scroll down to the

YouTube description, what do
you see?

Yep, those are affiliate links!

If someone watches my
review, clicks that link to
Amazon and purchases
something, I get a
commission.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 13
Search “Canon ES m50 Review” on YouTube

I have been researching cameras recently and found so many people who are doing affiliate
marketing.

Search for any type of product with the word «review», and you will find tons of examples on YouTube.

Just look at the YouTube description or the pinned comment:

You will find many marketers who are using this business model to make money online.

If you click on the links in these video descriptions and make a purchase, the YouTuber will make a
commission.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 14
Big Companies

Have you ever purchased something from a coupon code website? You know like Groupon or Retail
Me Not.

Well these are big

businesses who promote
offers as affiliates.

You save 30% with a

coupon code, and they earn
a commission.

There are other huge

businesses which have a
team of writers and editors
which make money with
affiliate marketing.

Both PC Mag and The

Wirecutter are just two
examples:

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 15
Both of these websites review various products and earn commissions when you purchase
something based on their recommendations.

The Wirecutter was recently bought by the New York

Times for 30 million dollars!

So in case you didn't know, a lot of people buy stuff online, and you can make a lot of money as an
affiliate.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 16
But Wait! How are YOU Going
to Make Money With Affiliate
Marketing?

The truth is, anyone can become a successful

affiliate marketer.

You can pretty much build a business about any topic

that sells a product or a service.

And remember:

You don’t need a team of editors or an office to be successful.

You don’t need to put yourself in-front of the camera either.

You can start your online business from your personal computer in your basement.

I started in my parents’ basement, and now I work from my own basement.

And if you do it right, you can make a lot of money which can become a very powerful passive
income stream.

The challenge is doing it right without failing a

bunch of times.

This is why I created Affiliate Marketing That WORKS.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 17
CHAPTER 2:

How to Build a
Website for Affiliate
Marketing
 The best way for beginners to do affiliate marketing is with a website.

A website is the ultimate foundation for your

affiliate marketing business.

Depending your topic, you might be able to venture into other online avenues like
Social Media and video (Facebook, YouTube).

But for the most part, affiliate marketing can be done with just a website, and it’s
the best starting point for beginners.

I’m going to outline the easiest and most efficient way to set up your website for
affiliate marketing.

THE 3 MAIN COMPONENTS TO

BUILDING A WEBSITE

There are 3 important components to creating a

website. These are:

Domain Name Hosting Provider WordPress

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 19
The Perfect Domain Name

A domain name is basically the address of your

website on the internet.

For example, my domain name is:

AffiliateMarketingThatWorks.com

You may have come across the term: Top Level

Domain (TLD).

This refers to the letters after the dot in your domain name. These can be .com, .net, .org and so on.

It’s recommended that you choose a domain name with the .com extension if you can.

Choosing your domain name for affiliate marketing

is actually super important.

You ultimately want a brandable name which relates to your business topic.

Something that has your main topic (keyword) in it, but is also brandable. That would be ideal.

This is actually so important that I have a whole separate guide on choosing a domain name.

There are several places where you can buy your domain name, but I would recommend you stick
with 2 popular choices:

Godaddy

NameCheap

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These are called Domain Name Registrars.

You buy and register your new domain at these websites. It costs around 10 dollars per year to own
a domain name.

At the registrar you will connect your domain name to your website hosting provider.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 21
The Best Hosting Provider

Your hosting provider is what keeps your website up

and running on the internet.

Think of it as a landlord you pay rent to each month

to keep your website up and running.

One simple Google search for the “best website

hosing provider” will give you a list of dozens of
companies.

Here’s the truth:

Some are very good, but some are very bad.

What I mean by very good is that your website will be up and running without any problems or
downtime, and you will have access to support if you run into any problems.

What I mean by very bad is that your website will be slow, will be susceptible to hacking, and your
support calls will go unanswered.

I can’t be any more clear about this:

You really want to choose a reliable host for

your website.

This will help you avoid potential headaches in the future.

After dealing with dozens of website hosting companies there are a few I like more than others.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 22
The company I like the best for affiliate marketing right now is SiteGround.

I host many affiliate websites

with this company, and
many other very successful
entrepreneurs use this company
as well.

So it’s an option I highly

recommend and actually use
myself.

Another great option would be a

company called WPX Hosting.

The only downfall with WPX

Hosting is their price.

They are more expensive, so

they’re not ideal for beginners.

What I recommend, is that you

start with SiteGround, and as
your business grows and starts
making money, you can consider
switching if you want. This
company will transfer everything
over for free, in 24 hours.

So I would recommend you start with the more affordable option in SiteGround. You probably won’t
ever need to change, but if you do, you have another great choice in WPX Hosting.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 23
Stick With WordPress

A lot of the websites online use WordPress.

In my opinion it’s the best set up for building an

affiliate website.

WordPress is a content management system. You use

it to create and publish your content on the web.

It’s free to use, and allows you to customize your website as your business grows.

Avoid products like Wix and other

“website builders”.

I don’t think I know any successful affiliate marketers out there who don’t use WordPress. I’m sure
there are some, but I’m even more sure that affiliate marketing should be done with WordPress.

Wix, and other website builders have a purpose, and have happy customers.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 24
But in my opinion, for affiliate marketing, you will have much more success if you stick with
WordPress.

When you build a website with WordPress you open yourself up to so many other possibilities. Sure
there are a few things you need to learn, but then you’ll have access to so much more potential.

If you build a site with a website builder, you don’t really learn anything. You can really only build
other sites with the same builder. It’s not a good use of your time.

Here’s some basic info about WordPress:

The WordPress software is free and open-source. You can download it and load it to your web server
from WordPress.org, or you can install it through your web hosting provider.

Don’t get confused with WordPress.com. This allows you to use WordPress but it also hosts your
website.

We want to get our own web hosting, then install WordPress. So avoid getting set up with
WordPress.com.

KEY FEATURES:

Free Design options are endless

Tons of features Best platform for blogging

Customizable It’s the most popular

A key reason why WordPress is best for your business is that you can get help in the future.

If you ever need to hire someone to create a custom design, or manage your website as it grows,
having it built on WordPress is ideal.

The only downside is that you need to learn a few things.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 25
But on the flip side, if you can use WordPress, you’ve instantly made yourself valuable to many
businesses out there.

And don’t worry, there are many tutorials on using WordPress, and almost every question you will
have has been answered somewhere online.

If you run into any issues, you can find a solution by searching on Google.

WEBSITES ARE NOT GOING

ANYWHERE

The foundation of so many successful affiliate marketing

businesses is a website.

Think about it:

Where do people actually buy things online?

They shop and order from websites.

All legitimate businesses have a website. They aren’t going anywhere.

The internet is made up of websites.

Thousands and thousands of businesses rely on affiliate marketers who operate their own websites.
This is where you need to be!

Yes, there are other powerful tools like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

But websites work for affiliate marketing, and they aren’t going anywhere.

It’s by far the best starting point for all beginners, and even experienced marketers like me continue
to build affiliate marketing businesses with just websites.

You need to build one.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 26
CHAPTER 3:

How to Make
Money With
Affiliate Marketing:
Preselling and
Personas
 If you build it, they will come…

But will they buy from you?

Will your website visitors listen to your recommendations?

If they like you and they trust you, you can

sell them anything!

Before you start building any content online, you need to review the ideal strategy.

HOW YOUR AFFILIATE MARKETING WEBSITE

WILL EARN THE MOST MONEY

Remember how affiliate marketing works:

You make recommendations and when people

buy based on your recommendations, you earn
commissions.

Now think about this:

Why do people use the internet?

Millions of people jump over to Google and other

search engines and look for information. They have a
problem or question and they want a solution.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 28
So how do you reach people?

How to you start making recommendations to people and earn commissions?

Well, a great analogy is to think about real estate:

If you have a store and want to make sales, a very important factor is location.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase:

Location, location, location!

Well on the internet it’s different. It’s all about

information, information, information!

In order to make commissions (money), you need to be making recommendations.

In order to make recommendations you need to have website traffic (people visiting your website).

In order to have traffic you need to have good information.

So how do you create and share this information?

What kind of website do you need to build?

You Need to Build a Themed Based Content Website:

“An Authority Site”

What is an authority site?

An authority site is a website which covers a topic

very well.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 29
It has content (articles, videos, images) all about a specific topic or theme.

The content is mostly made up of keyword focused pages.

These pages rank well on Google and the other search engines which attract your visitors.

With all the great information the website has, it’s seen as an authority by its visitors.

Therefore, when it makes a recommendation, people trust it.

Presell Your Website Visitors

As an affiliate marketer, your goal is to presell your visitors.

You create a “persona” for your website who is seen as the

“friendly expert”.

This persona can be real or fake. It can be you, or a made up

character.

But the idea is that your persona is an expert on your website’s

topic. They supply great information and make recommendations.

They’re seen as the friendly expert and they’re trusted.

Start Earning Commissions

When you have a website that covers a topic very well, you will start to attract hundreds of visitors
who are looking for information.

When these visitors find your website, you will instantly be seen as an authority.

When your content is delivered by a “friendly expert”, your website visitors will be ready to listen to
your recommendations.

The more recommendations you make, the more money you earn.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 30
CHAPTER 4:

The Ultimate
Beginner’s Guide to
Choosing a Niche for
Affiliate Marketing
 Struggling to find a niche?

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

It’s a huge factor in determining whether you will be successful or not, so I’m glad
you’re here.

My guide for beginners will make sure you start your new business on the right path.

I’ll explain the best approach for those who are starting their first affiliate marketing
business.

If you’re a professional marketer already, then this guide might spark some ideas for
your next big project.

MY GENERAL THOUGHTS ON CHOOSING

A NICHE

I’m not going to lie:

Choosing a niche is hard.

It’s hard for beginners, and it’s hard for advanced marketers too.

This might not be the first guide you’ve come across about choosing a niche… The reason is that
there isn’t a ton of great resources out there, so you continue to search.

The reason there isn’t good information available is because it’s hard to explain.

There isn’t a special formula which you can run to get

a profitable niche.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 32
There are a bunch of factors in place, so it’s a bit of a complex issue.

If after running through this guide you still need help, I would recommend you join my Private
Facebook Group where you can ask me questions and get some feedback.

I would be happy to help you find a good niche. Join the Facebook Group here.

PASSION VS. BUSINESS – THE BEST ADVICE

FOR BEGINNERS

When choosing a topic for an online business, there are two lines of thought which seem to come up
often:

Should you build a business based on something

you’re passionate about, or something that has the
best potential for profits?

Obviously you want both, but for beginners, I would definitely say that passion and interest is more
important than potential profits.

Consider this:

My next affiliate business is going to be my best.

I’ve built several affiliate marketing businesses, but the next project always seems to
be the biggest and has the most potential. Sure not every venture will work out, but
here’s what I’m getting at:

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 33
 As a BEGINNER you need to be successful in learning, but you don’t need to hit a home
run in terms of profits.

Think of your first business as a learning experience which has the potential to pay you
a lot of money. When you learn affiliate marketing, you will probably start several new
businesses in the future which may have more potential for profits.

My next business is always my best, because I keep learning and getting better. As a
beginner, you need to learn as you build your first online business.

So here’s the bottom line:

Beginners should be passionate about their niche, or

at least have some interest in it.

If you’re just starting out, there are a bunch of things you need to learn.

There’s also a lot of work that you will probably do yourself.

So if you choose a niche that you have zero interest in, but has good potential for profits, you
probably won’t stick around long enough to make it work.

Trust me, I’ve been there.

As a beginner, it’s tough to work on a business that’s super boring for you. Mainly because you’re
learning as you build.

For example, say you stubble on a profitable niche like Debt Consolidation. Someone tells you that
this niche is super profitable so you decide to take it on, even though you don’t know anything about
it, and you find it boring as hell.

As a beginner, I can almost guarantee that you won’t be successful with it.

Now, if you’re an advanced affiliate marketer and you have already been successful in the past, then
you have a way better chance with this niche.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 34
The reason is that you don’t need to learn anything, and you can basically outsource a lot of the
work if you want.

So if you’re a beginner, I would strongly recommend that you build your first business about
something you’re passionate about!

WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT?

The topic that you choose for your affiliate

marketing business should be about something
you like.

But it’s important that it also ticks off a few

boxes related to profitability.

You don’t want to build a business about

something which has no potential to make you
money. Those aren’t the results you’re after!

So this is why I would recommend you not rush

this step.

I know you want to launch a website and design a

logo, but before you do any of that, you need a solid
business concept.

Don’t feel you need to figure this out in one day. Take your time.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 35
Make a List of Topics You Like

You need to start brainstorming some ideas.

So what is something you love? What are you passionate about?

Is there something that you love to talk about with your friends?

Is there a topic that you read a lot of books about?

Start creating a list based on these questions.

Looking back, my first topic was about something I was passionate about. Back in college I was
really into fitness and bodybuilding.

This naturally lead me to choose a topic about health supplements, and I built my first website
about something I really liked.

What about you?

Do you have a hobby? Are you naturally talented in anything?

Sometimes you can find a niche based on what you currently do:

Are you a mom with experience in raising children? Do you work in finance and you’re good with
numbers? Are you a contractor who knows a lot about construction tools?

Think about it:

You might be very knowledgeable about something

which other people will find valuable.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 36
Start adding these ideas to your list!

Here’s a list to help you spark some ideas:

Broad topics:

Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Nutrition

Astronomy Environment Painting

Baking Fashion Parenting / Mom or

Dad
Beauty Fine Dining
Personal Development
Books Fitness / Bodybuilding
Photography
Branded Products Food Culture
Physics
Business Food Discovery
Politics
Calligraphy Food Photography /
Food Videography Professional
Celebrity
Development
Frugal Living
Clothing
Recipes
Games
Cooking
Relationship Advice
Geography
Comedy
Religion
Health
Computers
Restaurant Reviews
Human Resources
Culture
Robotics
Investing
Design Tutorials
Sales
Magic
Discovery
Science
Makeup
DIY Crafts
Sewing / Knitting
Marketing
Electronics
Sports
Movies
Energy
Tech / Gadgets
Music
Entertainment
Tech Support

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 37
 Technology TV Shows Watercolor

Theater Vehicles Wine

Travel Videography Woodworking

Tutorials Virtual Reality

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

In almost all cases, when you pick a topic, you will want to “niche down”.

So here are a list of topics which are way too broad, along with a more focused topic (niched down)
which is more appropriate:

Golf > Golf Gear Reviews

Cooking > Crockpot Meals

Music > Trumpets > Trumpet Buying Guide

Nutrition > Healthy Kids Lunches

Topics I Would Recommend You Avoid

There are two areas where I would recommend you steer clear of:

Super competitive niches

YMYL (Your Money Your Life)

Sometimes figuring out if a niche is too competitive requires a bit of digging.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 38
But as a general rule, if your topic is too broad, it’s often too competitive. There are also topics like
“make money online”, “general health advice”, “investing”, “insurance”, “recipes” and others which are
very competitive and should probably be avoided.

Some of these can be good topics, but you really need to niche down.

There are also some topics which Google calls YMYL which stands for Your Money Your Life.

Generally, the quality guidelines for topics associated with this acronym are very high.

For example, if you have a business about giving people specific medical advice, you better be
qualified to do so.

Or if you have a business about taxation or investing, generally you will want to have some real
expertise in this area.

So topics that directly affect someone’s financial situation or health (medical advice) are not good
choices for beginners.

Before Moving Forward

After finding a potential niche (you should have

a few ideas), you will need to see if it’s worth
starting.

This is done by analyzing the competition, and

analyzing the potential for profits.

You don’t want to build a business in a super

competitive niche, and you don’t want to build a
business which won’t make you any money.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 39
CHAPTER 5:

The Best Affiliate

Marketing Programs
and Networks for
Beginners
 IF YOU WANT TO GET PAID, YOU NEED TO SIGN UP
WITH AN AFFILIATE NETWORK OR PROGRAM

The term “network” and “program” are sometimes used interchangeably online, but they’re a bit
different.

I want to explain how I personally refer to them, which should help you really understand what they
are.

An affiliate marketing program is associated with one

specific company.

So if you wanted to promote health supplements from Bodybuilding.com, you would join their
affiliate program.

If you want to promote products that are sold on Amazon, you would join Amazon’s affiliate
program.

However, many companies hire 3rd party platforms to operate their affiliate marketing programs.
These platforms are called affiliate networks.

In an affiliate marketing network, you are referred to as a publisher, and the companies whose
products you promote are called merchants or advertisers.

Most networks do all the payments and reporting, so they’re a good solution if you’re promoting
multiple brands and products on your website as they might all be associated with one network.

Again, some companies have their own “in-house” affiliate programs, while others operate their
programs through an affiliate network.

You will probably end up having accounts at multiple networks, and sign up for multiple programs as
you build your online business.

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 WARNING FOR BEGINNERS WHO DON’T HAVE A
NICHE: DON’T PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

Many people are drawn to searching for affiliate marketing programs who don’t have a niche.

They’re hoping that a list of various products can spark a great idea for a new business topic.

I’ll be honest, sometimes this method works, but for beginners, this can sometimes lead to
frustration.

I would love to tell you that you must do something in a specific order. It would make both our lives
easier. But when it comes to choosing a niche and researching programs, there’s no perfect answer.

Ideally, beginners should have a niche chosen before searching for programs.

Here’s a simple reason why:

When searching through affiliate networks, you will

find all these companies who offer programs, but you
have no plan on how you will actually make money
from them.

Quick example:

At the time of writing

this, I’ve seen a bunch
of mattress programs
trending on affiliate
networks.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 42
I actually ordered myself a mattress online and it’s amazing.

But as a beginner, you probably don’t want to start a business promoting mattresses.

For one, I’m pretty positive this is not a passion of yours, which means you will probably get bored of
your business before it’s successful.

And second, this is not a good niche for beginners. It’s super competitive and you’re just not going
to succeed with it in my opinion.

So this is one example where searching for affiliate programs before finding your niche is not always
a great idea.

For beginners, it’s usually best to find a niche first based on your passion, then search for programs
within that niche.

Trust me, almost every single niche out there has

products to sell, and affiliate marketing programs to join.

5 DIFFERENT TYPES OF AFFILIATE NETWORKS THAT

REVEAL THE POTENTIAL OF THIS BUSINESS MODEL

Affiliate networks can reveal the vast scope and size of affiliate marketing.

Seeing tons of companies who have affiliate programs really shows people how much potential they
have with affiliate marketing.

There are really too many networks to list, but here are 5 which are a bit different.

1 Amazon Associates 3 SellHealth

2 CJ 4 ClickBank

3 ShareASale

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1 Amazon Associates: The Best “General” Affiliate Program

Every affiliate marketer should have an affiliate account set up with Amazon.

What’s great about Amazon is that it’s almost like a network. One account allows you to promote
almost all the products that are sold on Amazon.

Your website about power tools and your website about musical instruments can both promote
products on Amazon with the same account.

It’s extremely versatile and useful for so many niches. Everyone should have an account.

It’s great for beginners because:

Super easy to use

1 account for multiple niches and products

Offers a huge selection of website topic opportunities for beginners

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 44
But it’s not only for beginners.

I’ve just started a new website where Amazon is my main affiliate program, and I’ve been doing
affiliate marketing for over 10 years.

Bottom line, everyone should have an Amazon Associates account.

Similar programs would be: eBay, Walmart, Target.

2 CJ: Parnter With Some Major Brands

CJ Affiliate which used to be called Commission Junction has been around for years and is very well
known.

This is a network which has a lot of big brands, and a good mix of physical and digital products. You
will need to have a somewhat established website to get accepted into this network. You then need
to apply to the various advertisers.

There are a few other networks which are very similar to CJ. These are Awin and FlexOffers.

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3 ShareASale: Find Some Smaller Niches

ShareASale has a good mix of bigger brands and smaller companies. It’s similar to the networks
mentioned above, however I personally feel it’s a bit more user friendly.

I’ve worked with companies who use ShareASale as their affiliate platform so I might have a
positive bias towards this network. I personally enjoy using this platform for researching products
and niches better than some of the bigger ones.

Other networks which are a bit smaller would be PepperJam and Peerfly.

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4 SellHealth: Find Niche Specific Networks

SellHealth is an example of a niche or industry specific affiliate network. Obviously this is in the
health niche so it will offer health related products. Another popular example would be MarketHealth.

There are other networks established for specific industries as well which have very specific
products which you won’t find on the larger networks.

Another example would be JVZoo which focuses on digital and software products.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 47
5 ClickBank: Discover Info Product Networks

ClickBank is a very popular network which promotes digital products. These are typically eBooks
(informational products) or video courses.

The payouts can be very high, it’s very easy to join, and you can sometimes earn recurring income
as well.

Because of the nature of these products, the marketing strategy for promotion can be quite
different than one for physical goods.

A similar type of program would be Udemy’s affiliate program which sells online courses on many
different topics.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 48
 THE 3 SIMPLE WAYS TO FIND AFFILIATE PROGRAMS,
ESPECIALLY IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A NICHE

If you have already chosen a website topic, then there are 3 easy ways to find good affiliate
programs:

You can search within affiliate networks for programs

You can do a simple Google search: Niche + Affiliate Programs

You can analyze competitor websites in your niche and see what products they promote

Here’s the truth:

Unless you have a completely new and unique

business topic, there’s probably already an affiliate
marketer out there with their own website in your
niche.

This is not a bad thing.

Not only can it prove that there’s a market out

there, but someone may have already found some
good affiliate programs.

Searching and analyzing your competitors is a

simple way to find affiliate programs which are
working well.

Think about it:

If a site is established and doing well, and they’re recommending “Brand X”, then perhaps this is a
company and product you can also recommend.

© affiliatemarketingthatworks.com 49
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