For most people an online business is their best chance at achieving financial independence because it leverages the immense power of the internet. However, the first challenges you might face if you want an online business is where to begin and what kind of business should you pursue.
This article will give you an overview of the process of starting an online business and direct you to resources that promote the industry’s best practices.
Build an Online Business.
There are dozens, if not hundreds of ways to build an online business. Unfortunately, most are not beginner friendly and many can be quite expensive and risky. This is why I recommend that you begin as an affiliate marketer with a simple website.
Affiliate marketing is an affordable way to build and online business and the upside can be very lucrative. Plus, you’ll learn valuable skills along the way that can lead to additional streams of income.
Building an affiliate marketing business begins with choosing a niche. Think of a niche as a group of people with a shared interest. For example, a hot dog vender’s niche is hungry people who like hot dogs.
Choosing a Niche.
Choosing a niche is important, but don’t let the process paralyze you. This is where it’s easy to get stuck and suffer “paralysis by analysis,” particularly if you tend to over-think things like I do.
There are nearly 6 billion people online and a bunch of them are interested in the same things you are.
When choosing a niche, start with subjects that you find interesting. Maybe you have a passion you naturally like to share with others. Make that your niche. Building your online business will take time and energy. It’s a lot more fun and motivating if your niche genuinely excites you.
Starting with your passion or an interest you want to pursue, drill down to a sub-niche within the larger niche. By focusing on a sub-niche, you’ll have less competition and it will be easier to attract an audience.
Embrace creativity and think outside the box. This is where it gets fun and exciting, and where you’ll find profitable niches that few have discovered.
Mistakes are Good.
It’s okay to goof up. Making mistakes, even failing, is the fastest way to learn, so give yourself permission to fumble. Building an online business is a process of learning, implementing and learning some more. The essential thing is to maintain forward motion. Keep moving. Keep building. Keep taking the next step.
Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect niche. Find a niche that interests you and make it your own. You can always change niches later when you know more and have more experience.
Laying the Digital Foundation: Building Your Website.
Essential steps in setting up a website for your online business include choosing a domain name, selecting a hosting provider, design, legal compliance, content strategy, and monetization.
The domain name you choose should be as close to the name of your business as possible. It should reflect your niche and also be easy to remember. Domain names ending in dot com have the most authority in the mind of most people. There are several domain registration services available to help you find and purchase a domain for your business.
Build a Simple Website.
When building your website, tailor it to your brand and niche, but don’t over do it. Less is more when it comes to website design and affiliate marketing. You want visitors to focus on your content and affiliate offers, not the design of your website.
Also, the more complex you website is the longer it will take to load in people’s browsers. You don’t want that because folks quickly loose interest if a page doesn’t load instantly, particularly if they are on a smart phone. So, keep your website neat and simple.
And, if you’re building your website with WordPress, use a theme that loads fast. I use the GeneratePress Artic theme. It is a brutally simple theme but loads like greased lightening.
Give some thought to the content you will create for your website. If you chose a niche you have experience with you’ll probably have ideas about the content already. Remember, to get the most love from Google and the other search engines, you want your content structured and interlinked.
A Properly Structured Website is Essential.
This means that every article you write will be in a specific category and, over time, each category will have several related articles in it. Then, cross connect your articles with internal links. For example, if you have an article about caring for dogs in an apartment, you might mention a food dish with a timer and then link from that to a full article reviewing your favorite food dish with timer.
Categories and interlinking make it easy for Google and the other search engines to crawl your website and better understand what your site is about. This can translate into better rankings and more traffic which ultimately means more sales and commissions.
Speaking of sales and commissions. You’ll need engaging content to make that happen as well. In fact, content that attracts and engages visitors is the backbone of your website. Not only does it attract and retain potential customers, it also builds trust, and boosts search engine rank, which, at the end of the day, leads to more commissions.
Content: The Foundation of Long-Term Success.
In other words, as an affiliate marketer, taking the time to create valuable, informative and engaging content is, quite frankly, where the money is. Plus, it is the foundation of long-term success that garners a large loyal audience that will buy from you again and again.
Great content that people love is essential, but people may never see it if you website is whacked or messy. You don’t need to be a website wizard to built a spectacular site. Just follow established best practices.
A fast, mobile-friendly website is a great place to start. Keep the website clean with only the essentials so your wonderful content stands out.
Images are important to visually break up the text and to show specifics when necessary. However, images can really slow down load speed so be sure they are optimized and no bigger than they have to be.
Navigating the Web Traffic Maze: Strategies for Attracting Visitors.
This brings us to the importance of free organic traffic. Paid traffic is expensive and usually not cost effective for most affiliate sales. Because of this, capturing free organic traffic is essential.
It’s free traffic in the sense that you don’t have to pay money to get it. Instead, you earn it with quality content and proper website structure.
Targeted Content.
Websites that rank on the first page of search engine results are generally more trusted and automatically seen as an authority in their niche. Ranking well with the search engines suggests to visitors that your content is valuable and trustworthy.
Because your website content is targeted to specific keywords, the traffic it attracts is naturally targeted too. This keen relevancy between keyword focused content and the interests of your visitors usually means a higher probability of sales and commissions.
Organic Traffic.
A beautiful thing about organic traffic is that it can continue to draw traffic for months or years from a single article written in an afternoon.
To get the most love from the search engines, however, you must give them what they want. We call this SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. SEO helps your website rank higher in the search engine results which then makes it easier for your visitors to find you.
Good SEO begins with keyword research. Keyword research helps you find topics that your potential visitors are searching for. Instead of churning out content you “think” you visitors might like, a keyword tool helps you figure out what they are actually hungry to know.
Keywords and Keyword Tools.
A good keyword tool will also help you determine if you could rank for a specific keyword or if the competition is too intense. If you know what your prospective visitors want and if you could rank an article for that keyword, you will work more efficiently, and save yourself a lot of time and frustration.
In addition to the free traffic you can get with helpful content, you can also get traffic from social media like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Pinterest by posting engaging updates, reviews and recommendations that include affiliate links or links to your website.
Creating content and managing your website will be a continual process. The search engines favor new and up-to-date content. So, even after you’ve written and article, update it when possible. Particularly when there has been a notable change in the topic.
Engage Your Audience.
Also, cultivate user engagement. Ask for and respond to comments. Engaged visitors are more likely to return to your website again and again, especially if you are regularly posting new content.
Consistently updating and expanding the content on your website will not only attract a growing group of visitors, it will improve your ranking. This, in turn, will make your website visible to even more people, creating an upward spiral of more visitors and more sales.
Monetizing Your Online Presence: Ways to Earn Revenue.
Although affiliate marketing is often sold as an easy and quick way to make a lot of money. The truth is, like most businesses, success will take time and dedication. Still, the amount you can earn can be substantial.
How much you earn is dependent on the strategies you use, your niche and your dedication.
Products to Offer.
In addition to a respectable income and low overhead, affiliate marketing permits you to work from home, or anywhere with an internet connection. You’ll be your own boss and you can scale your efforts to the moon if you want.
As an affiliate marketer the products you can offer are limitless. As an affiliate for Amazon, you can offer everything on the Amazon website and that is just 1 platform. In addition to physical products, you can offer digital products, information products and services too.
Physical products can include electronics, clothing, appliances, health and fitness products, beauty products and toys and games.
Digital products can include software, eBooks and training courses, online services and software as a service, membership sites and streaming services.
You can also offer financial and insurance products such as credit cards, insurance and money management, investment services and subscriptions to investment newsletters.
In the health and wellness niche you can offer supplements, fitness programs and healthcare services like telemedicine.
Video games and entertainment subscription are ideal for an entertainment and gaming niche. And in nearly every niche there is a subscription box service you can offer, where people pay monthly or annually to regularly receive products each month.
How to Find Products and Services to Offer.
The list of products and services you can offer is practically endless, but how do you find the right products or services for your niche? And, where in the world can you find reliable information and training on how to do this thing called affiliate marketing the right way.
I’m glad you asked.
Wealthy Affiliate has a huge database of affiliate programs. It’s called “Affiliate Program Search.” You can search the database by category, niche or keyword and quickly find out how much each program pays in commissions. Also, each affiliate program is ranked by affiliates who have actually promoted those products and services, so you can tell at a glance which ones are worth your time.
Your Path to Success in Affiliate Marketing: A Conclusive Insight
Some might say we live in uncertain times. This could probably be said for any era. No doubt we live in interesting times. Because of the low barrier to entry and the unlimited upside, affiliate marketing is an excellent business choice for many people regardless of the economy.
The first challenge you will face as an affiliate marketing Newby is motivating yourself to work consistently at your new business. It’s easy to get excited in the beginning or when you’re making big bucks. However, when you’ve been working at your business for months and don’t see the results you hoped for, motivation and belief in the process can lag.
And if you ever come to the point where you don’t know what to do next, you might just stall out.
My Friend, You Need Help.
To put it bluntly. If you want to succeed in affiliate marketing, you need help. You need Wealthy Affiliate.
Born in 2005, during the Wild West, Horse and Buggy days of the internet, Wealthy Affiliate pioneered affiliate marketing training and tools. Many of today’s top affiliate marketers got their start as Newby Wealthy Affiliate members.
With millions of members in 193 countries around the world, Wealthy Affiliate is a thriving online community that never sleeps.
Wealthy Affiliate evolved with the internet, and it has always been focused on the industry’s best practices and strategies that work. You won’t find self-proclaimed gurus, hype, or empty promises inside Wealthy Affiliate, but you will find the tools, training and support you need to build a thriving affiliate marketing business.
Extremely Newby Friendly.
Wealthy Affiliate is extremely Newby friendly too.
You can join as a free Starter Member and begin the training without risking a dime. Later, if you like what you see, you can join at the premium level and enjoy even more Wealthy Affiliate goodness.
Inside, as a premium member you’ll find everything you need. There is no reason to go anywhere else, chase after shiny objects or buy other tools.
As a Newby, you’ll begin with the Step-by-Step Core Training which guides you through niche selection, keyword research, content creation, website construction, analytics and more.
If you follow the core training, you’ll always know what to do next. Plus, with 2.6 million members you’ll have endless networking opportunities with other marketers, even the big guys who earn 7+ figures.
Success with affiliate marketing requires proper training and support. You’ll get that with Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate Real World Success Stories.
WA member JohnMks earned $3,700 of passive income in 1 day!
Member nathaniell earned $12,000 during the holiday season.
JerryHuang made $40K in 4 hours.
EddySalomon wrote that after getting a bit burned out with his original niche, he started over with a niche and made $10,640.56 in 1 month.
Thabo4 made $2000 in a week promoting ClickBank offers.
Onlinegeek sold a website he built for $38,479.
Dylanrieger sold a website for $40,000.
You’ll find many more success stories inside Wealthy Affiliate. Here’s what members are saying.
Why I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate since 2007: The training resources are vast – video courses, live video training with question time, keyword tools, and step-by-step guidance on everything from choosing your niche to getting traffic from search engines. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced marketer Wealthy Affiliate has something to offer you. – Catherine Ford
I’ve been a Wealthy Affiliate member since 2017 and I couldn’t be happier. The training at Wealthy Affiliate is great and all the leaders are more than willing to help you along the way. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme – it takes time and a lot of work – but if you’re willing to learn and put in that work, Wealthy Affiliate can certainly teach you how to create a profitable website. – Greg
These guys have put together the most comprehensive and complete training courses in the industry. They simplify it and give you access to it at all times. Never seen anything like this. They don’t pick you apart with upsells. This site delivers and the community is there to back you up 24 hours a day . Thanks to Kyle and Carson for the best tool that can train even seniors that know nothing about Affiliate Marketing or web site building. – Tim Hedrick
A Personal Invitation.
If you have the desire to build an affiliate marketing business and the patience and dedication to see it through, I invite you to join Wealthy Affiliate as a free Starter member.
Go to JoinWAnow.com to join as a free Starter member.
I’ll be inside to help you every step of the way.
