How can I start affiliate marketing with no money?

This points are very impotant for affiliate marketing

• More than 80% of brands have Affiliate Marketing programs 
• 15% of digital media revenue comes from Affiliate Marketing 
• Affiliate Marketing is a global industry worth over $12 billion 
• Affiliate Marketing business is suitable for all age groups 
• Affiliate Marketing programs generates 15% to 25% of all sales for advertisers
• 35% of affiliates earn over $20000/- 
• Approx. 50% to 60% of affiliate marketers generate traffic by blogging Marketing 
• Vlogging also generates traffic and now it is very popular with affiliate marketers 
• More than 85% of the publishers use multiple Affiliate Marketing networks 
• More than 50% of the online marketers consider Affiliate Marketing an important skill 
• Affiliate Marketing has and will continue to have an important Marketing role in e-commerce 
• Affiliate Marketing is an amazing opportunity to increase sales and revenue for both merchants and affiliates 
• Content is the best way to promote affiliate links 
• More than 60% of the affiliate referred traffic and more than 35% of the affiliate sales originate from mobile device 
• Mobile marketing is playing a crucial role in Affiliate MarMarketing, so it's time for merchants and affiliates to focus on it.

What is affiliate marketing 

• Affiliate marketing is one the amazing strategies available to online business. It opens doors to plenty of opportunities for business and those who want to make online income. But before that you should know the whole concept and what it is about.

The origin and development of affiliate marketing

• The whole concept of affiliate marketing is based on sharing revenue by partnering with others and this concept has been around since the world wide web (www) was started for the general public 1993-1994.

• The origin of affiliate marketing as an online business model was in 1994 when the first affiliate program was launched by PC flowers & gifts. An online  flower shop founded by William J.Tobin. perhaps the best - known affiliate program today. Amazon's affiliate program was launched in 1996.

• Ecommerce websites saw affiliate marketing as an opportunity to grow sales without paid advertisement.

• Even though there have been several business models in affiliate marketing, what really changed the game was the introduction of web 2.0. This shifted the focus to the user generated content. Optimization, and integration of social media.

• Because of this change affiliate marketing is available to the masses, bloggers, vloggers, influencers, etc. People are using affiliate marketing to monetize their online influence. Now business and individuals play a massive role in this concept and it boosted the affiliate marketing industry.

Affiliate marketing defined

• Affiliate marketing is a type of performance - based marketing. This means rewards. Income and evaluation based on performance. Performance is evaluated on the basis of specific goals or targets achieved.

There are major 3 roles in affiliate marketing as follows: 

• Merchant

Merchant is the person or company or business who creates an affiliate program 

• Affiliates 

Affiliate are the people who join an affiliate program and sell the products or services offered by the merchant

• Digital buyers 

Digital buyers are the consumer only, now known as digital buyers because their mode of buying things is online. They are the one for which merchants are marketing offers or programs and affiliates sell those offers to digital buyers.

Types of affiliate websites 

1. Price/Feature comparison website/Product websites
2. Product review websites
3. Personal websites (Any specific or personalized offer or program)
4. Coupon websites
5. File-sharing websites
6. Video sharing websites
7. Web hosting websites
8. Software website/it services
9. Education website
10. Loyalty and cashback website

BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING

• In this video you will get to know the amazing benefits of affiliate marketing for merchants and affiliates.  This will also help you decide which option you want to choose. 

1. Merchant Benefits
2. Affiliate Benefits

• BENEFITS FOR MERCHANT: There are a number of benefits for merchants which encourage them to create and make available affiliate programs for their mproducer and use this as a way to grow their businesses in the digital world.

1. Pay for performance ( result oriented ): Merchants do not need any investment . As merchants are not paying in advance so no risk is involved . Affiliate marketing is based on performance marketing concept which means affiliates will get paid according to their performance or targets or sale
2. Performance tracking: Links are easily trackable and affiliate marketing tools are used to create and track the affiliate links . Merchants can easily manage and monitor the affiliate's generated traffic and inbound links .
3. More visibility and more inbound links: In affiliate marketing links are promoted by affiliates by various methods like blogs , videos , websites , mobile marketing , SEO , social media , paid advertising , etc. This will increase visibility , traffic , search engine ranking , branding , leads and sales . But also it can harm your domain or website authority or reputation when some affiliates use your link in spamming websites or who have negative influence on search engines . So monitoring is very important .
4. Referral traffic: Ads Through affiliate's referral traffic merchant can get benefit or conversion but to convert traffic into customers your landing page and offering should be good and competitive
5. Lead generation: A Through affiliate marketing merchants not only get traffic or sales but also huge leads or databases which can be used for offering programs ( mailing list ) to prospects and buyers.
6. Full control over commission rates , promotional materials and affiliate's selection: As affiliate programs are made by merchants only , so they can decide rules & regulations for affiliates , commission or slabs , promotional offers for market or buyers and cookie life.

BENEFITS FOR AFFILIATES: When it comes to affiliates , affiliate marketing also provides many benefits :

1. No Investment or very low investment: If you are an affiliate then you do not need to start your own store and buy stock or any other expenses . You just need to spend some investment on promotion or if you are a blogger , vlogger or an influencer then you do not need to spend on promotions , you can use your influence or audience power .
2. Low on-going cost: As an affiliate you do not need to bear monthly operational cost , product cost and several costs related to company , products and services . Only promotional and website costs affiliates have to invest , that also depends on affiliate to affiliate .
3. No production and buying cost: As affiliates don't have to produce anything , not to maintain any warehouse or buy in bulk quantity .
4. Online income opportunity 24/7: Affiliate links makes money for you anytime of the day because visitors can visit anytime and due to proper tracking it is easy to track conversions .
5. Passive income: This kind of passive income is an excellent opportunity for bloggers , vloggers and influencers to make a profit even when they are focused on other projects .
6. Massive audience to reach online: The best part in affiliate marketing is that whole world is open to promote your affiliate links , there is no limitations of territory and language
7. Multiple platforms for promotion: Affiliates can promote on any platform which they find best for their affiliate program offer .

BECOMING A MERCHANT

1. What is a merchant ? 
2. How to become a merchant ? 
3. Setup Goals 
4. Choose a network / software 
5. Promotional material
6. Strategy to promote the program 
7. What to expect from the program ?

• Plan creatio

You can create plan for affiliate marketing

• Budget

1. Affiliate platform cost or software
2. Banner and other material creation
3. Landing page creation

• Commission

1. Industry standard
2. One-time payment v/s subscription
3. Brand popularity and size

Few things to think like:

1. You can not offer the same commission slab to every affiliate because all affiliates are not the same.
2. You can provide special offers to best performers and big influencers.
3. You should be consistent with payment or timely pay-outs.
4. A final through on commission-do not lower the rates. This can have a negative influence on the performance of your program.

• COOKIE LIFE

1. Most internet users delete their cookies once in a month or in two months . 
2. Maximum percentage of sales occurs within a day or a week of the click on the affiliate link
3. You must check your competitors and industry standards regarding cookie life

• TERMS OF SERVICE 

1. Payment regulations 
2. Affiliate obligations 
3. Restrictions 
4. Prohibited activities 
5. Merchant's rights and obligation 
6. Access to the affiliate's account 
7. Termination of agreement 
8. Disclaimer 
9. Limitations of liability

• DESCRIPTION 

1. Details about the program b . Information related to the cookie life 
2. Data available for the affiliates 
3. Advantages of joining the affiliate program 
4. Information of signing up

• APPLICATION FORM 

1. Company or individual information 
2. Address 
3. User details 
4. Website or any social media account URL 
5. How affiliate find the program 
6. Any specific plan or strategy to promote the product 
7. Accepting the terms of service.

• USE OF EMAIL MARKETING 

1. Company and program details 
2. Promo codes or special offers 
3. Affiliate links 
4. Information and queries
5. Denial email

• SET UP GOALS 

1. Brand promotion 
2. Reach expansion 
3. Lead generation 
4. Grow traffic 
5. Generate inbound links

• PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL 

1. Engaging creatives 
2. Graphic fonts should be easily readable 
3. Provide URL or contact number on creatives 
4. Provide CTA 
5. Avoid grammar mistakes f . Keep brand name or logo quite visible 
6. Make multiple sizes of creatives according to different ad platforms

• STRATEGY FOR PROMOTING AFFILIATE PROGRAM .

1. Objective goals
2. Budget
3. List activities
4. Performance analysis.