So you want to make money from home. You tried blogging for money but find that it's too hard and takes too much time. Have you tried affiliate niche marketing yet? What is affiliate niche marketing? Is it profitable? How do you start?
What is affiliate niche marketing?
An affiliate niche marketing site looks like a regular content site, but is really an elaborate landing page designed to get people to sign up for various affiliate offers. This is the source of your income. The biggest advantages of niche sites are:
An affiliate niche marketing site looks like a regular content site, but is really an elaborate landing page designed to get people to sign up for various affiliate offers. This is the source of your income. The biggest advantages of niche sites are:
1) Niche sites don't look like a sales page, or at least the successful ones don't. They provide useful information on their chosen niche, which in turn results in higher conversions. More sign ups = more money.
2) They take less time to establish than a blog. Why? Simply because they don't have as many pages and don't require to be updated as often. This means more time for your other money making endeavors.
Is it profitable?
It can be. The key is finding a select high profit niches. Weight loss, male enhancement and legal online gambling are some of the biggest and most profitable markets. Many gambling sites will offer high conversion pay rates (up to $125 - $175 per sale/sign up) and some will offer you a percentage of the sales for every purchase the customer makes.
It can be. The key is finding a select high profit niches. Weight loss, male enhancement and legal online gambling are some of the biggest and most profitable markets. Many gambling sites will offer high conversion pay rates (up to $125 - $175 per sale/sign up) and some will offer you a percentage of the sales for every purchase the customer makes.
How do you start?
Find your niche. Assuming you have a web space already, find some affiliates that are trustworthy, if you're aiming for the gambling niches, take a look at some popular online casinos. Do some research on them, find out how each online casino handles issues such as software, support and reliability. If you're creating a ranking system, do not forget that affiliate commissions can and should play a role when ranking each site.
Find your niche. Assuming you have a web space already, find some affiliates that are trustworthy, if you're aiming for the gambling niches, take a look at some popular online casinos. Do some research on them, find out how each online casino handles issues such as software, support and reliability. If you're creating a ranking system, do not forget that affiliate commissions can and should play a role when ranking each site.
Content
The difference between an affiliate niche site and an affiliate landing page is content. There is a very fine line when it comes to content and affiliate niche sites however. You want enough content to get people reading and attract Googlebot for SEO, but too much content detracts from the main purpose of your site; to get people to look at affiliate offers and sign up. You can write your own content or have others write it for you. In any case it doesn't have to be much, if your niche is online gambling a couple pages outlining the odds of winning and the games may suffice. Forums are another great way to add content to your site with relatively little work.
The difference between an affiliate niche site and an affiliate landing page is content. There is a very fine line when it comes to content and affiliate niche sites however. You want enough content to get people reading and attract Googlebot for SEO, but too much content detracts from the main purpose of your site; to get people to look at affiliate offers and sign up. You can write your own content or have others write it for you. In any case it doesn't have to be much, if your niche is online gambling a couple pages outlining the odds of winning and the games may suffice. Forums are another great way to add content to your site with relatively little work.
Cloak your affiliate links
Check if your affiliate program's ToS allows you to do this beforehand. Some programs will let you hide the link while others will not. It takes a little bit of effort, but prevents people from denying you your affiliate commission by removing the affiliate ID from the URL. This does happen and yes, there are people who do that. A couple ways of cloaking your affiliate links would be to use an HTML redirect, a PHP redirect, a Javascript redirect, or if you're running linux, edit the .htaccess file. The first two methods requires basic knowledge of HTML and the second requires that you have PHP installed on your server. Javascript redirect works extremely well on websites, but not in blogs or rss feeds. You can also find various online services and scripts for WordPress that will cloak your link, but most will require you to pay for the software. Do a little bit of research to find what works best for you.
Check if your affiliate program's ToS allows you to do this beforehand. Some programs will let you hide the link while others will not. It takes a little bit of effort, but prevents people from denying you your affiliate commission by removing the affiliate ID from the URL. This does happen and yes, there are people who do that. A couple ways of cloaking your affiliate links would be to use an HTML redirect, a PHP redirect, a Javascript redirect, or if you're running linux, edit the .htaccess file. The first two methods requires basic knowledge of HTML and the second requires that you have PHP installed on your server. Javascript redirect works extremely well on websites, but not in blogs or rss feeds. You can also find various online services and scripts for WordPress that will cloak your link, but most will require you to pay for the software. Do a little bit of research to find what works best for you.
Marketing
So you've got your site set up, now what? You need to build your brand, make yourself a leader in whatever you are doing. Once you've been established as the "go to" guy for whatever you are marketing, people will be naturally drawn to check your site out. Word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools. Pay to get your ad listed on Google AdSense, join some forums and social networks related to your site and spread the word; just be wary of spamming - that makes you and your site look bad.
So you've got your site set up, now what? You need to build your brand, make yourself a leader in whatever you are doing. Once you've been established as the "go to" guy for whatever you are marketing, people will be naturally drawn to check your site out. Word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools. Pay to get your ad listed on Google AdSense, join some forums and social networks related to your site and spread the word; just be wary of spamming - that makes you and your site look bad.
Leads
Mailing lists are very powerful marketing tools. All affiliate niche sites should have some system to capture e-mails to tap this market. Mailing lists provide you with a way of contacting your market quickly and efficiently, providing users with updates and hopefully driving you sales. How? If one of your affiliates is having a special offer, you can send out the information and get high conversions. Capturing leads is one of the top ways to drive traffic and best of all, it costs you nothing at all. You'll need to find a good mailing service and make sure the subscription box is highly visible to make this worthwhile. Offering incentives to subscribe is another great way to get newsletter sign ups.
Mailing lists are very powerful marketing tools. All affiliate niche sites should have some system to capture e-mails to tap this market. Mailing lists provide you with a way of contacting your market quickly and efficiently, providing users with updates and hopefully driving you sales. How? If one of your affiliates is having a special offer, you can send out the information and get high conversions. Capturing leads is one of the top ways to drive traffic and best of all, it costs you nothing at all. You'll need to find a good mailing service and make sure the subscription box is highly visible to make this worthwhile. Offering incentives to subscribe is another great way to get newsletter sign ups.
All in all, niche marketing sites aren't for everyone, but if you want to make money online and you don't have a taste for blogging, give this a try. It's fairly easy to set up, doesn't require a lot of time and constant updates to maintain. With the right market and a little hard work you can have your own little slice of the big online money-making pie.