How can I be more successful with affiliate marketing when I don't have a lot of time?
That's a big question I get from a lot of part-time entrepreneurs who are doing affiliate marketing and struggling to get results.
And today I want to give you 5 tips on how to make more money in affiliate marketing, especially if you're short on time.
But let me start with a recent observation…
I just finished up an affiliate contest where I was promoting a video challenge by my friend Mark Harbert.
There were lots of top marketers in this contest all trying to sell Mark's course as an affiliate.
I made an important observation during the contest that I want to pass along to you.
It became very evident to me from the results of the Contest. The marketers doing the best in the contest were the ones who understood the concept of having an audience or tribe that trusts you and who actively worked to grow it.
It's super important to have people who respect you and who trust you and who take your recommendations.
When you develop a large group of people who trust you, that results in more people who are much more likely to buy…
As compared to someone who has never taken the time to build an audience or is just starting out.
For example, Tanya Aliza is a top affiliate marketer in our space, and she blew everybody else away in the contest because Tanya has been growing her audience and pouring value into them consistently, gaining that respect for years and years.
So when she said, “Hey, I have this video course that I love and I'd love for you to get it too”… many people jumped in and she, in fact, won the affiliate contest.
Here are more tips for being more successful with affiliate marketing especially when you don't have a lot of time.
5 Tips For Being More Successful With Affiliate Marketing
Tip #1: Choose Products To Promote That You Recommend 100%
It's very easy to pick products that you think you'll make some money with.
Lots of us do that in the beginning.
You want to make money.
I get that.
So lots of people will just promote pretty much anything in the hope that something will stick.
That's the old spaghetti-against-the-wall philosophy, right?
They're hoping something sticks and they'll make some money.
That's the direct opposite of what you need to be doing.
You need to be promoting products that you can get behind 100%.
Why?
Because if you promote crappy products, you'll have a crappy reputation.
And in affiliate marketing, your reputation is everything.
Think of it this way.
If you know a friend loves a certain kind of movie and you saw a movie that you really liked, you would go to that friend and say…
“Hey Joe, you know, I just saw this new movie released. I know you love horror movies, and this movie was really good. and I really recommend you go see it. I loved it. In fact, I'm probably gonna go see it again”.
If Joe respects your opinion, Joe's gonna go check out that movie.
He likes horror movies and you (a trusted resource) recommended it.
If he goes to that movie and it's terrible, Joe's gonna think twice before taking your recommendation for movies again.
It's the same with affiliate marketing.
If you recommend a product that is not high quality, just to make the commission, you might make some sales but if the experience is bad for the person who buys, that's on you.
That reflects on you.
And it's gonna reflect on your reputation.
So choose very carefully which products you want to promote and make sure you can get behind them 100%.
Here's the acid test and one I always use…
If you weren't gonna get paid by promoting a product, would you still recommend it?
If the answer is yes, you're on the right track.
If the answer isn't a solid yes, you probably ought to pass on it because your reputation is at stake.
Tip #2: Take the Time to Figure Out Who Your Ideal Customer or Client Is
Not just your target market, not just your niche, but who's your ideal customer?
Who are you really looking for?
Who would love this product or service?
This is foundational, but it is everything when it comes to success with affiliate marketing because you need to know who your ideal customer is if you want to have any clue about knowing what they might want or need.
So do the foundational work that will help you understand who your ideal client is.
It's really important.
Tip #3: GROW Your Audience Consistently
You need to be growing your audience consistently on a regular basis if you want to have any chance of being successful with affiliate marketing.
How do you do that?
You can grow your audience using paid or free marketing.
I run some paid Facebook ads. It's one way I grow my audience.
You get people on your email list when they respond to ads and then you give them value, you give them tips, you give them strategies, they start to trust you, and you build a reputation with them.
That's the foundation of affiliate marketing.
But you have to be doing that consistently.
You can also use free organic marketing strategies to grow your audience.
You can get in the trenches on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or wherever you want to grow your audience.
You get out there and meet new people and, just like with paid marketing, you pour into them by creating content and see who raises their hands in that audience and says…
I like that.
I relate to that.
That makes sense.
The people who show up in your Facebook lives on a regular basis are raising their hands.
The people who comment on your posts are raising their hands.
These are the people who are saying, Hey, I like what you're posting, give me more!
That's how you come to find your ideal clients.
Tip #4: SERVE Your Audience Consistently
What does serving mean?
Serving means you provide valuable content to people without asking for money in exchange.
You're building your reputation, you're building the goodwill.
A big part of growing a loyal audience is pouring into them…
By going live on Facebook or other social media platforms.
By creating content for people to consume that will help them in some way, shape, or form.
And with artificial intelligence, it's never been easier to create content that will help people if you know the right questions to ask.
But you can't be doing it just sporadically.
You can't be doing it one week and then three weeks later you do something else. ,
No, you've gotta be showing up for your audience consistently.
Look for questions that are being asked on your live videos or your posts.
Look for common questions.
Answer those questions for people.
Look for ways to serve them. Look for ways to build trust.
I did pretty well in this last affiliate contest with Mark Harbert.
The reason I did well was that I consistently did the work the previous six to 12 months, really growing and nurturing my audience so that when I promoted something, they respected me enough to at least take a look.
That's how you become more successful with affiliate marketing
Tip #5: Organize Your Time so That You're Doing the Most Important Activities First
What are those activities?
Well, the late Great Jim Rohn once said that there's usually a handful of activities that are responsible for most of the results in your business.
In my business, there are about three or four.
I have 3-4 activities that, if I do them consistently, I know I'm gonna get results.
I know I'm gonna build my audience,
I know I'm gonna make more sales.
For YOU, the trick to it is figuring out what those activities are.
And it's different depending on certain factors…
- What is your business model?
- How long have you been doing it?
- What kind of marketing methods are you using?
These are qualifiers to determine the top activities that you need to focus on.
If you don't know what yours are, I've got some help for you.
I put together a Simple Action Guide that walks you through the process of figuring out what your top activities are so that you can put them first in your business.
You can grab that over BobandRosemary.com/plan.
It will really help you nail down YOUR top business activities.
These are my top tips on how to be more successful with affiliate marketing, especially when you don't have a lot of time.
I hope this has helped you out today.
Suggested Business Resources
Aweber - building your list has never been so important. Grab your Free Account.
InMotion Hosting - my preferred web-hosting service
Descript - by far the best video and audio editor I've ever used.
TubeBuddy - if you're doing videos, this will be your best friend
Legendary Marketer - lead generation and business creation platform for affiliate and network marketers.
Fearless Influencer Academy - learn the skills and strategies for growing any business online.
It's Your Time to SHINE!
Dr. Bob Clarke
Email: Bob@BobandRosemary.com
Join our Part-Time Essentials Facebook Group
This post may contain affiliate links to products or services that I trust. This means that if you make a purchase using the links included in this post, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for the support!
Recommended Courses To Jumpstart Your Business
Crush Consistency NOW! - if you find yourself lacking consistency in your business, you must own this course!
Focus and Implementation Challenge - learn how to dramatically improve the focus in your business and become an implementation machine!
Part-Time Shortcuts - who says there are no shortcuts to success? This course reveals 4 shortcuts that will cut your learning curve in half.
Part-Time Mastery - if you're short on time for your business, this course is the answer!
Part-Time Profit Machine - my flagship course, this 7-module course covers all aspects of your Side Business, from mindset, time and focus, prospecting, lead generation, building a list and selling to your audience... all using the most time-effective strategies.