So you're ready to start an affiliate blog (congratulations!)
But what's next?
What will you write about?
How much will it cost to set up your blog?
Do you need help with any of the technical stuff or can you do it yourself?
Maybe you've asked yourself these questions before. If so, I have good news for you - this article is going to answer all of them!
I started my blogging journey in January 2013 when I was fed up with working hard and not seeing any results for my efforts at all. I knew that if I wanted to change then it would require a radical shift in thinking. It took me nearly 6 months to get noticed but eventually, I managed to secure my first affiliate offer at Wealthy Affiliate. When the results started coming in, I was blown away!
But it didn't happen overnight, so if you've just found this blog or maybe you're about to start your blog then this guide is for you.
What Is An Affiliate Marketing Blog? An affiliate marketing blog is a website that revolves around an individual promoting other people's products and services on their website or social media channel with earn commission by doing so. There are many different ways to monetize an affiliate marketing blog but some of the most popular are CPA (Cost Per Action) networks such as - Commission Junction, Clickbank, etc... You can also advertise your products through Amazon Associates or even sign up for an affiliate network.
I have blogged for various CPA networks in the past and I still do from time to time but I prefer making money online through niche websites. Not only are these types of websites MUCH easier to manage, but they also provide a better long-term earning potential. However, it's completely your choice which path you choose because ultimately both methods can generate Passive Income streams for you so don't get hung up on the technicalities...
What Is A Passive Income Stream? Passive income is any form of income that requires little or no effort on your part once set up correctly. This doesn't mean that it will be automated 100% of the time but rather there are very few things that you will need to do after the initial setup has been completed. If you haven't already, check out my guide HERE which explains how to create a niche website that can generate passive income.
Who Is This Guide For?
If you're new to blogging then this article is for you because I'm going to take you through everything I did when I first started my affiliate marketing blog. However, if you are an experienced blogger or have already created your very own blog, there should still be some useful information within this guide for even the most experienced bloggers...
What Will You Need To Get Started?
So before we dive headfirst into this whole affiliate marketing thing, let's just take a minute to talk about the basics. What do you need to get started with your affiliate marketing blog? I mean come on, don't you want to know how much this is all going to cost you?
Well, it's pretty cheap... But yet again, some things will cost money and others won't. For example - If you wanted to use an existing domain name (such as JohnDoesBlog) or buy a cheap hosting package for your very first niche website then these can be expensive but other than that, everything should be free!
When It Comes To Picking A Domain Name To Register you might have already thought about what your affiliate marketing blog is going to be called so let me just save you time and money by telling you right now that this is not something to stress about. You can call your blog anything however I do recommend picking a name that is relevant to the niche you are targeting because it will be easier for people to remember plus Google might rank your website higher if there is more keyword relevance. If you haven't found a good idea yet then let me just tell you this - one of my affiliate marketing blogs started as something completely different but after registering a domain name, it suddenly hit me!
As For Hosting Your Affiliate Marketing Blog Now if you've made up your mind regarding what niche or topics that you want to write about then all you have left to do is pick the web hosting company. There isn't a whole lot to think about when choosing a hosting company because there are only 2 main things that you should consider. 1 - Reliability & Uptime & 2 – support if something goes wrong... If your web hosting company can provide you with both of these things then they are not worth looking at any further. But if your web host is either unreliable or offers poor customer service for those times where you may need them, then you might as well give up now and find another hosting provider even if it costs a bit more money.