Affiliate marketing is when you sign up with companies to market and sell their products and/or services for a commission.  Commissions are generally 25% or lower so be sure to check before you sign up.  If you want to make a living online, affiliate marketing can be a good way for you to learn the ropes or add to your existing online business income.

Many of us (me included) make the same newbie mistake.  We sign up for any programs we find, slap a banner or two on our website and then wait for the money to come rolling in.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.  As with any business, you will need to work consistently and persistently to build your affiliate sales business.  Below are ten tips to help you make more sales with your affiliate marketing business.


1.  Sell What You Believe – Selling a product or service that you have actually used and believe in is much more effective than selling a product you have no clue about.  Try the product, tell your story and make more sales.   Being able to personally recommend a product can go a long way.  Be sure to know about your product too, so when people ask you questions you can let them know the information they need.  This will help in making more sales as well.

2. Be Selective – Do not join every program you find.  Spreading yourself too thin will cause you to lose focus and sales.  Find one or two excellent programs and products that you can really spend time and energy promoting heavily.  You don’t want to confuse your potential customers with too many offers, ads and products plastered all over site.

3. Sales Materials – Most affiliate companies will offer you professionally made sales materials such as banners, ads, sales copy and more.   Be sure to take advantage of these if you cannot provide your own.  Test and track the ads to find the most effective.  Place the banners in different locations on your site and find what works the best.  Don’t just paste them anywhere and hope they work.

4. Customer Testimonials – Be sure to use customer testimonials or case studies.  Ask the company if they can provide you with some until you start getting some of your own to use.  Use the testimonials in whole and snippets in various places you are promoting.

5. Video Marketing – Video marketing can be much more effective than text ads because it allows the customer to actually see how the product is used and how well it works.  You can easily make your own effective video with your personal recommendation to go along with the demonstration.

6. Social Sites – Be sure to add videos, banners, incentives, etc. on your social sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and others.  Tweet pertinent info about your product as well.  Be sure to connect all your social sites to your site and vice versa.

7. Add a Bonus – Giving a person a little extra incentive to purchase your product is sometimes all it takes.  Offer a free ebook, report, gift card, etc. so the customer will be convinced to make the purchase.  A little extra push can make a big difference in your total sales.

8. eMail Signature – Your email signature is a sometimes overlooked advertising opportunity.  Write a little teaser about your product and/or bonus and add this to your email signature along with your affiliate link.  Every email you send could be a potential sale!

9. Article Resource Box – Be sure to incorporate article marketing into your promotion tactics.  Add a snippet and link in your article resource box to get people’s attention.

10.  Promote to Your List – If you have been online for any length of time, you should have built a reliable mailing list.  Send special offers and incentives to your mailing list.  Let them know they are appreciated and will receive special offers that no one else will.

Affiliate marketing can help you get started in the internet marketing business or it can help you increase your existing business income.  Either way you need to work at it and promote consistently and effectively for it to be successful!