Tools for Affiliate Marketing

The Tools for Affiliate Marketing

Just like any tradesman who needs tools like hammers or spanners, if you want to be in Affiliate Marketing then you also need a bag of tools.

Tools make the job you do easier, especially if you have all the right ones. 

Tools cost money, so please don’t for one-second fall into the trap of believing all the ‘gurus’ out there that Affiliate Marketing can be done for free because it just ain’t true.

That said, it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune either, so in the next couple of sections I am going to list and explain the basic tools you need to get going.

Reasons to Know Your Tools

When starting any enterprise, there is always an amount of research to be done.

Understanding the marketplace you are entering is a must for any new business, and the same applies to the tools that you will need to execute your plans.

It helps because it:-

• • Saves Time
  • Provides Important Information
  • Provides Security
  • Helps Automate Procedures
  • Keeps Track of Spending

So as you read through the rest of this post it will become clear why you need to get to grips with the basics of the tools required to carry out your plans.

One by One the Tools List

Let’s then take our first look at the list of tools that you are going to need to begin your Affiliate Marketing journey.

Before we get there don’t panic! Some of the stuff on this list might be familiar and some might be new but don’t feel overwhelmed.

It might seem like a lot so don’t be afraid to come back and re-read it so that you can be confident in getting started with each one.

The basic tools you will need to get started in Affiliate Marketing are:-

• • Domain Name
  • Domain Host
  • Website Builder
  • An Affiliate Network
  • An Ad Network or Organic Traffic
  • Membership Of Single Affiliate Programs
  • E-Mail Marketing
  • Analytics Tool
  • Data Tracking and Analysis
  • Design Software For Adverts

Domain Name

The first thing on the list is a domain name. choosing the right one is important as once you start using it and promote your products from it it will be with you for good. 

Changing your domain name will destroy all of the hard work you put into getting your Affiliate Marketing efforts off the ground so please choose wisely.

A Tip here would be to consider what you will use your website for.

Ask yourself, will it be a blog that I will have all my affiliate links on, if so try to use yourownname.com if you can, this builds a personal brand and helps build trust among your buyers, readers and site visitors.

If it’s not primarily a blog and you are only intending to use the site purely for landing pages and selling your promoted products then there is no real need to use your name although it’s still a good idea.

Make sure you don’t choose a name that is too limiting. By that I mean don’t call it drones.com if you will be selling or promoting something other than drones, it won’t make sense to your visitors.

Consider instead a more generic or company-type name like mywidgets.com, this will give you the flexibility required to move from one product to another without compromising your site’s identity.

Domain Host

After purchasing your domain name you will need somewhere to host the site so that it can be seen on the internet.

There are quite a few domain sellers who also act as hosts, and you can frequently purchase a package that includes a web domain name and hosting all in one.

A Good example would be BLUEHOST. They provide excellent secure web hosting at very competitive prices and domain names from the same platform.

There are plenty of other domain hosts for you to choose from, who offer similar services you can use, and you can get more in-depth information about domain hosts here.

Website Builder

Armed with your domain name and your web hosting the next thing to do is build your website.

This is not as intimidating as it sounds, there are now available some excellent web builders that do not require you to have any coding skills and work on what is called ‘drag n drop’ systems.

Depending on which web host you have chosen, might determine which web builder you use.

The most popular platform for website building is WordPress. In fact, WordPress are responsible for nearly 40% of internet sites, so it’s trustworthy and stable as well as pretty easy to use, and has tons of user support.

Web hosts such as Bluehost,  HostGator and DreamHost offer web hosting including a free install of WordPress, on your domain so you can get started straight away.

A word of warning though about WordPress. There are two sites for it, the first is wordpress.com where there are PAID PLANS these are mostly if you want to have an e-commerce store.

The other one is wordpress.org and this one is the free version which a web hosting service will mount on their servers when you buy their hosting package.

So be sure you get the right one if you choose WordPress!

Affiliate Network

So, your website is up and running and you have published a few posts on your blog or pages ready for your products, what’s next?

You may already have been researching, or know the type of products you want to promote.

If so that’s great, but if you are still looking for or wondering which product or service you want to promote this is where an Affiliate Network comes in.

What is an Affiliate Network?

Essentially an Affiliate network is a place where there can be literally hundreds of businesses and companies who gather in one place, to offer you their products to promote or sell in return for a commission. (An Affiliate Commission)

There are plenty to choose from. Each one has different attributes, some specialise in particular verticals (a vertical is a specific product type ie financial products), but most offer a wide range of products.

In no particular order, some examples of the top affiliate networks are:-

• • ClickBank
  • OfferVault
  • Share a Sale
  • FlexOffers
  • MaxBounty

Affiliate networks can be places of great confusion when you first get there, so take your time browsing them and seeing what’s on offer.

Individual Affiliate Programs

When it comes to affiliate programs, in-house operations are definitely on the up.

A larger and larger percentage of brands choose not to be on affiliate networks.

They do this because they feel that they can customise their offering to better fit their brand and business goals.

In-house programs offer a greater degree of flexibility and enable brands to build more personal relationships with those they choose to partner with.

So if you are getting lost in the mist of Affiliate Networks you might want to check and see if the particular brand or product you want to promote has an in-house affiliate program.

Try singing up with them on their affiliate site, but be warned some of them are picky, they might expect you to have x or y amount of traffic already arriving at your site so don’t be put off if the first one you try says no.

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Ad Networks or Organic Traffic

Your first question here is probably what is an Ad Network?

Basically, an Ad Network is a place where the service offered is to get your product adverts ( often referred to as creatives), on the desktops, tablets and mobile devices of your chosen market.

They do this by using complex algorithms to deliver the most relevant ads to the most interested users.

Ads take different formats some of which are, in- page push, banners, push and pop-unders.

You will remember that near the front of this post, I said that you will need some cash to get started in Affiliate Marketing, well here we are.

A lot of Ad Networks will let you make an account for free.

But in order to start a campaign you will need to make a deposit which will range from $50 to $200 or higher depending on which one you are using.

Ad networks will tend to have a decent amount of training and how-to videos and blogs to help you start your campaigns.

I strongly recommend that you check them out, as mistakes can become expensive.

The big plus of using Ad Networks is that once you start a campaign the results are very quick, and you will see traffic arriving at your site or landing pages in a very short space of time.

Organic Traffic

The first thing to say here is that it is free.

The second thing to say is that it’s going to take time. Building organic traffic to your website (usually through search engines, but also social media) is not an overnight process.

You need to start by submitting your pages and posts to Google for indexing. This will make it available on Google searches. You will need to make a Google account to do this if you don’t have one.

In order to get your website to be seen on Google and other search engines you will need to have at least a basic understanding of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

There are umpteen blogs and videos available online for you to get to grips with SEO, but try not to get too bogged down in it. Find somewhere that teaches you the basics and learn that first before trying some of the more advanced tactics.

I thoroughly recommend that if you chose WordPress for your website builder you install the RankMath plug-in.

RankMath does a brilliant job of guiding you through the essential requirements of SEO for your pages and blog posts. The basic version is Free but the Pro has a lot of great features and is well with the money.

Email Marketing

 There is a saying in marketing that says ‘the money is in the list’.

It is safe to say that this holds true no matter what type of marketing you do. E-Mail is, without a doubt, one of the strongest marketing tools on the planet and the value of having a good clean mailing list can not be understated.

When you drive traffic to your site no matter how you do it, the first thing on your mind should be figuring out ever more creative ways to capture someone’s email address.

All web builders have either an internal or a plugin that will help you do this.

I can not stress enough, that you spend a lot of time making sure you know how to use these tools, as they will when mastered, produce countless sales and commissions.

Website Analytics

What? I know, for most people this is a subject that lives somewhere in the ether and a place they will never go.

However, if you are serious about becoming an Affiliate Marketer, then analysing data is going to become a daily part of your routine.

‘Data is King’ I like to say. In this technological day and age and particularly the internet, there is not much that you can not measure in one way or another.

Good job too. No matter how you are getting traffic to your website, paid or organic, it is really important that you know where it’s coming from.

Which pages folks are looking at, and maybe more importantly which ones they are not looking at?

It might seem obvious, but if you have a landing page that is trying to promote a product for you, and no one is looking at it then either they can’t see it (make sure your website is tip-top every day) or the creative (advert) that you are running is just not performing so you need to get it changed but quick!

At the risk of repeating myself here is another area of learning for you and it really is important for you to look at all this data and have the minimum understanding of how to make it work for you.

Please believe me that the more you know in this area the better off you will be.

Data Tracker and Analysis

Here we go again, what on earth is a Data Tracker?

A data tracker is a software that helps in gathering and analyzing data, making it easy to identify patterns and trends.

Ok, but if you are using Google Analytics do you really need a Data Tracker? Well, yes and no. 

Data Trackers are more advanced systems that usually require a subscription, but the best ones enable you to gather all your data in one place by linking to your ad networks and other sources of advertising.

They give you really detailed information about what is going on in your campaigns, which gives you the opportunity to tweak your campaigns to get the most bang for your buck.

Whilst appearing in this list of tools, it’s reasonable to say that having the use of a data tracker is not an essential tool when you start out in Affiliate Marketing.

But, as your business grows it is well worth looking at Data Trackers again as they have a real place of value in your setup.

Design Apps and Software

When entering the Affiliate Marketing arena one thing is for sure, you will need to produce creatives (adverts) of your own at some point.

Whilst Affiliate Networks will probably provide you with some pre-made banners and other forms of marketing pieces such as landing pages and social network swipes, you will still have to make some things yourself.

As well as getting a bit creative on your web pages and posts, you will need email templates, email capture banners and pop-ups and probably some images and text to put in your creatives.

Examples of good online services where you can produce some brilliant results for your adverts are Canva, Adobe Spark, Crello and Pixstudio are just a few of what’s available.

Some have free plans and those with free plans also offer a subscription-based model that opens up a whole other level of design opportunities.

Other Things to Consider

As you might have noticed, there are a number of hoops you have to jump through to get your Affiliate Marketing career off the ground.

There will be a requirement for some cash to be spent, but you can limit this by using free versions of the tools if they are available.

You probably need to decide just how much time you are willing to give to get your business going, after all that’s what it is a business. 

Good research is key if you want to get any real results. Investing time to find the answers to your questions is really a fundamental requirement.

Don’t be afraid to make some mistakes, the learning curve here is pretty steep, so don’t get down if something doesn’t work the first time.

There is always help out there, the internet has it’s bad points but in general it is the ultimate answer machine and with a little patience you will find what you are looking for.

Moving Forward, Taking it to the Next Level

After reading this post, if you have implemented any or maybe even all the tools listed, then I would be really happy. You took action and that’s an important first step.

However, it’s not the journey’s end. There is much to learn.

When you feel confident that all the basics are in place, it’s not that hard to take the next step and really ramp up your game.

Increasing your post output is a must, look to get at least a dozen or so posts on your site within a month, and keep reviewing your site to make sure it’s all up to date.

If you have a little spare cash consider using services like Fiverr, they have a wealth of talented people on their platform who can perform all sorts of tasks, from writing posts to creating some amazing videos and adverts.

Using Fiverr services doesn’t have to cost you a fortune, and maybe a little cash spent here will free up more of your time to attend to other important aspects of your business.

Keep up that learning curve, enriching your knowledge in any aspect of Affiliate Marketing is never a bad thing, with things like all the new AI tools available there is always more to learn.

Alternative Methods

As previously mentioned, this post is not the be-all and end-all. It is a top view of the basics.

There are other methods you can use to get yourself immersed in the world of Affiliate Marketing.

For example, you could choose to buy a course and garner your knowledge from someone who has already been through the process.

But please a word of warning. Choose wisely, some of the courses out there are mega expensive and you could easily end up disappointed and out of pocket.

If you want to do a course, check out the person you are buying from, make sure it’s not a scam and if possible pick one with a money-back guarantee.

Try to find out if the course content is what you are looking for, often you will find that only a fraction of what you have paid for is relevant to your needs.

Wrapping Up

All in all the world of Affiliate Marketing is a rich and challenging place to earn some extra cash or maybe one day replace your day job.

Make no mistake, it’s not as easy as some will have you believe.

A TikTok video lasting 30 seconds or so telling you to click here, do this and do that and you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams is pure fantasy.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many people out there who definitely know their onions, and you can learn a lot from them.

But the vast majority of stuff you will see is people who live in cloud cuckoo land.

I would never consider myself a ‘guru’, and I will never claim to know it all, as there is always something new to learn in this ever-evolving process.

I just like to pass on what I know and hope that it helps you to achieve some level of success, most importantly I like to tell you how it is and not give you big hope and false promises.

So I hope this post has given you some value, and that you enjoyed reading it.

I wish you well in your journey of Affiliate Marketing and hope to see you back here soon.

James

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