Affiliate Marketing Secrets of the Illuminati
Or; Affiliate Marketing For Introverts Who Don’t Want to Spend All Day Engaging Leads
Or; Affiliate Marketing For Introverts Who Don’t Want to Spend All Day Engaging Leads
Imagine earning an income while you sleep, travel, or spend time with your loved ones.
Imagine earning without being sucked into the guru-mill of network marketing re-branders who have saturated the affiliate marketing world with endless webinars, masterminds and courses that teach people to sell courses about selling courses?
This is totally possible.
This article will guide you on how to generate a steady stream of passive income by mastering the art of NICHE affiliate marketing WITHOUT having to :
Show up Everyday
Invest in Yourself
Create Content Constantly
Engage leads all day trying to convert them to a sale
What amuses me the MOST — what I am about to share is literally the first method I ever learned with affiliate marketing about 3 years ago, with a few updated twists, and it’s still working for me, and the course I bought to learn about it was $7.
No, there is no upsell here. I am just going to spill the beans.
No revolutionary course or elevator pitch at the end.
So, let’s dive into it.
What is Niche Affiliate Marketing?
Niche affiliate marketing is the art of promoting specific themed products or services of a third party, earning a commission for every successful sale generated through one’s referral link.
The narrower the niche, the better because competition is low, and conversion rate and ROI are often higher.
By focusing on a specific group of product or service in a larger market, niche marketers can cultivate an audience who trusts their recommendations and thus, boost their profit.
And, with this method, once the initial work is done, you can continually make money with minimal effort.
Affiliate marketing becomes a nice passive income stream when implemented effectively, and keeping a few things in mind….
High Ticket vs Low Ticket
Lots of affiliate marketers are out there pushing “High Ticket”. It sounds great. Lots of money in expensive online courses. Heck Yes. Only…..
Do you think it is easier to sell 10,000 $100 products to the right people, or 10 x $10,000 products to a handful of people?
High Ticket gurus make it SOUND like the latter is easier, simply because it is so many fewer sales.
The reality is — ALL THESE MARKETERS ARE WORKING THEIR A**SES OFF!
And, they will admit that much and sell you on there being no other way. Or testify that it is character building and truly rewarding, etc. Maybe it can be.
They work a lot, and they can definitely net a big income, but it is ANYTHING but PASSIVE.
They love the “laptop lifestyle”.
I want to leave my laptop at home. We are not the same.
Choose a Profitable Niche
First and foremost, find a niche that aligns with your passion and knowledge, one of your favorite hobbies or your profession, and ideally it should have a wide range of sellable products, or ONE REALLY GREAT PRODUCT.
Consider the competition, market size, and profitability factor of the chosen niche. Consider how much hand-holding a sale will need in order to close that sale.
I promote Instant Pop Up Tents, because they are fun to make videos of!
I’ve been promoting camping gear, hiking gear, camera gear, as well as software packages that I’ve been personally using for different projects.
I even sold 3 expensive rigid inflatable boats, because I love to fish in them and use them on streams that are hard to navigate with bigger boats. They really get up in the weeds!
If that interests you, check them out!
See Eagle Affiliate Program:
AvantLink Affiliate Program
Do you have a website, blog or YouTube channel related to the great outdoors? If so, join the Sea Eagle Affiliate…www.seaeagle.com
I’ve sold those boats (and many other things) in a simple free sales funnel I made using GrooveCM. Built that funnel 3 years ago.
GrooveCM offers a powerful toolset to build free sales websites for yourself.
I have selected things I am already doing, and just making use of the affiliate programs various related companies offer.
It really doesn’t matter what you love.
It can be Ballet. Outdoors. Guitars. Martial Arts. Software. Cars. Movies. Books. etc etc etc
Many online retailers have affiliate opportunities, you just need to check out their website and search for “Affiliate” or “Referral”, or contact them to see.
Sometimes a company is willing to work with you if you already have an online following doing something that you love, or will be willing to help you build it!
Research and Join Affiliate Programs
Once you’ve chosen your niche, look for affiliate programs that offer products or services in your niche. Here are a few programs, to give you an idea:
Amazon Associates
Difficulty level : Low.
Lots of affiliates promote amazon product links with wild success. It’s one of the most trusted platforms in the world, so customers clicking your link KNOW they are going to be taken care of.
Many affiliate offers have the issue of trust building. If you are promoting a product that is amazing, but the store it is selling it is still so unfamiliar that customers hesitate, it becomes more difficult to sell, then they have to trust YOU.
Big names like Amazon, take care of the trust factor and make it easier to sell without having to personally interact with leads.
ClickBank
Difficulty Level : Medium
One of the most popular platforms for affiliate marketers because some of the commissions can be quite high.
Compare commissions, reputation, etc when choosing products from click bank. I find these offers harder to sell, but if you can find an offer or set of offers that aligns with you, it’s a great platform.
However, the trust factor is not there. Most of the offers point to websites most consumers have never heard of.
And MOST of them terminate in a long form sales funnel format sales pitch. (Thanks, Russell Brunson)
I am totally burned out on reading those things, personally. As well as being forced to sit through infomercial style video sales pitches that will not skip forward.
These still work very well for some reason, and can make people millionaires when implemented correctly, but this is not my way personally.
Other less known but amazing Affiliate options are:
Guitar Center
Affiliate Program | Guitar Center
Our affiliate program allows our partners to make money through commissions. Click to learn more.www.guitarcenter.com
Difficulty: Low
Do you play guitar or any other instrument?
Are you a DJ?
Do you work with sound /audio gear?
How about reviewing it and promoting it?
Guitar center’s got you.
Edmunds
Difficultly : Hard
https://www.edmunds.com/affiliate-program/
Do you have a car blog?
Are you a mechanic with a website?
Do you rent your own vehicles on Turo?
You can also take a percentage of car sales on platforms like Edmonds that will partner with you.
Walmart
Difficulty : Low
https://affiliates.walmart.com/
This is a no brainer. Another very trusted store that consumers will not hesitate to buy from if they see something they want.
However, there is a catch that complicates things….
Some of your customers will go right to the store to buy it in person.
The same with Guitar Center sometimes.
With retailers who also have local physical stores, this is not avoidable. So you will loose some sales, but you will never notice.
But, how do I sell this stuff without work?
Good question.
How about…..
Pinterest
Difficulty : Low
As crazy as it sounds — Pinterest was the first thing I ever did, and I still do it.
It’s just putting photos of things out there, with links.
IT COULDN’T BE MORE SIMPLE.
Really. It takes a while to build a following, but it is some of the least work I have ever had to put into anything. And now, I automate my pins, so there is even less work for me to do.
I use photos that I take, or photos the manufacturers/stores provide, both work.
So many try to reinvent the wheel here, but my Pinterest account has been earning money for 3 years without me touching it.
It’s not as much as a high ticket guru maybe, but the most important part, I EARN WITHOUT WORKING.
Instagram
Difficulty : Medium
This is somewhat like marketing on facebook, but with less work than being expected to come up with constant text and engagement and answering messages.
Sure, you get messages on Instagram and Facebook, those too can be automated with a bot, but I find it easier to sell on Instagram than I do Facebook for some reason.
Like Pinterest, it can just be great photos with links. You don’t need to open an Instagram store.
Videos create more engagement, and doing product review videos is a powerful thing here, but with Instagram you must keep the videos short and sweet.
YouTube
Difficulty : Medium
Youtube has a lot of competition for your videos, and they aren’t very kind to people who affiliate market selling affiliate marketing courses.
But that’s ok, that’s not what I am teaching you here.
I use YouTube to promote automation software through software tutorials.
But you can really do almost anything.
Make a TV show. Talk about cars. Flip Houses. Rant about politics. You name it.
This is really just how advertising has ALWAYS worked…. but it is now accessible to EVERYONE instead of just corporations and media companies.
All your favorite online influencers are affiliate marketing.
They are promoting something. Watch.
You do NOT have to create a channel about marketing or being a guru. It can be…. whatever you love.
YouTube provides a way to build a massive following, and share your links on each video and drive traffic.
Once you have enough subscribers, you can also earn from YouTube itself, as a monetized channel.
It takes lots of views and subscribers to really earn much directly from your videos, and you will likely be earning more through your affiliate links than you will from YouTube being monetized. However, the sky is the limit there, so who knows.
Some of the most successful affiliate marketers are not selling affiliate marketing courses. They are entertainers, who advertise products!
Sales Funnels
These things used to be the gold standard and were blown up in popularity by ClickFunnels.
Don’t do ClickFunnels. It’s a bright eyed flashy marketing baby that really repackages what any web builder can do, and some of the others are FREE!
They do have a suite of tools that people seem to love, but I find it to be a bunch of marketing rah-rah that sells it.
I have been using GrooveFunnels. They have an upgraded level of service, but for building just simple sales funnels — you can use their free solution and make excellent sales!
Create Valuable Content
Content is King.
Thus, provide high-quality content that provides value to the audience in your niche.
Reviews, how-to guides, video tutorials, and blog posts are some types of content you could offer.
Remember, trust is everything in affiliate marketing.
Strive for authentic and unbiased content.
Just be you. Sharing your own life and promoting products you love is powerful.
I started making software tutorials recently, and I promote the software that I use on YouTube.
Automated Income Lifesyle w/ Chris Morton
I'm just a regular guy who automates my income. A few years ago I automated my primary business to the point where I…www.youtube.com
But you can really do anything you want.
Schedule In Advance
I try to spend one solid month —I call it “everything in January time” — creating all my content for the entire year, marketing workflows, email campaigns, and scheduling it to be published or have hashtags updated/changed regularly using marketing tools and automation software.
So even if you do need to create and publish content, you can do it in such a way that you are not doing it constantly, yet it’s still being published in a way where people THINK you are publishing often.
Strategically Place Your Affiliate Links
Once the audience trusts you, they’ll more likely click on your affiliate links. Insert these links strategically across your content.
The mantra here is not to appear sell-y but to offer genuine solutions to the consumer.
Or, Genuinely be enjoying the product as you are showing it off.
With Pinterest and Instagram, trust is easier to build, and there aren’t too many options for placing your links — no brainwork, and when selling from retailers people trust like Amazon, the trust is mostly taken out of your hands.
Stick with It
Some links wont sell at all. Others will.
I’ve had links out there that never even got clicked in over 3 years of doing this. Probably about 80% of them.
I’ve had links that people click and never buy.
But some items seem to sell themselves, which is why you should post regularly until you find the things that sell well.
I’ve made almost $4,000 in 2 years, off ONE camera post. It’s one of my top earners. This one : The Nikon Rebel T7 Entry Level DSLR
Amazon Link + Pinterest.
If you buy that link, that is my Amazon affiliate link for the camera. Thanks!
Starting to see how this works?
Utilize SEO and Social Media Marketing
Everybody loves organic traffic. Utilize SEO techniques to rank your content on search engines and attract targeted traffic to your website. Also, promote your content across various social media channels to increase visibility.
Rinse and Repeat
Keep optimizing your strategies based on traffic level, sales, and if applicable, analytics.
While the aforementioned tips give you a good head start, here are some best practices to follow:
Stay patient, dedicated, and consistent, as results take time.
Understand that not every product or service you promote will yield profits. So, keep testing.
Lastly, if you stick with it; the sales will follow.
You need to nail something that starts selling, before it’s time to go “hands off the wheel” mode.
If committed, you can automate most of it with the right tools.
Niche affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
It’s a set of disciplines and methods that, if consistent with it, can become a very passive income stream.
Much more passive than “High Ticket Affiliate Marketing”
Once set up and running, it’s a rewarding way to earn a passive income stream, and then it’s just a matter of how far you want to take it.
My method is to be as passive as possible, so big disclaimer : I do earn less than people who push it to the max.
I like my free time. I am already my own boss. I didn’t want to manifest another full time job for myself.
Like c@keheads in a race I’m not even competing in, I’m going to let the hustle-24/7 high ticket crowd do their thing, while I do mine.
The Tortoise always beat the hare, you know….. eventually.
Thank you for reading!
Until next time….
Onward and Upward Everybody!
-Chris
Automated Income Lifesyle w/ Chris Morton YouTube
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