I recently have become very interested in affiliate programs and how one can use them on a blog. It definitely requires a lot of thinking before you actually start. First, you need to figure out what your ultimate goal is with your blog. Let’s say you want to eventually promote products in the form of blog posts.
You will then need to set up the blog and then think about what you will be writing about. A new blog needs a lot of content before you can even think about applying to affiliate programs. The best way to build a blog is to pick a niche topic you are interested in. It will be beneficial to you if you choose a niche that you enjoy writing about, that way you are less likely to abandon the blog altogether. Once you figure out a blog niche, create blog posts that are informative. This may require some research, and that’s ok. You will also need to be prepared to promote the blog by spreading the word to friends, and this can be done using Facebook and Twitter. It is also beneficial to visit other blogs and comment on posts to spread your website link around that way too. Blog promotion is a job in itself, and should be done every day.
Most affiliate programs may have requirements in order to be accepted to their program. They may only accept you when you have a certain amount of traffic coming to your blog, as well as how long the blog is up. You probably don’t want to start putting up affiliate ads all over your website anyway. You want to build a readership, and build a community of readers first. This takes time, and be expected to spend a lot of time doing this.
Also, you want to spend some time reading about tips and strategies by the leaders in affiliate marketing. By reading their blog posts, twitter updates and even listening to podcasts they’ve been featured on, it doesn’t hurt to learn. Becoming informed about affiliate marketing will definitely help your site grow and become successful. A great collection of podcasts featuring affiliates, blogging and general internet marketing discussion is at GeekCast.fm. The Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing Podcast is syndicated there too!
