Time to Tie up the Loose Ends – Affiliate Marketing Part 5

Before you read the grand finale on affiliate marketing, be sure to go back and read Parts 1-4, if you haven’t already.  They’ll help you tie up any loose ends about the common mistakes people make as well as the wonderful benefits and expert tips for affiliate marketing success.

Here are the two questions people ask me all the time:

“What is the best tip you can give me, Melanie, about affiliate marketing so I can start making some money?”  And “What’s the best way to start?”

The answer to both those questions is the same. You need to focus on finding the RIGHT people to promote and recommend to others.

GET TO KNOW potential affiliate partners first.  Follow them on Twitter, befriend them on Facebook, communicate through emails, attend some of their free teleseminars, opt in to their list, and read their blogs.  Observe what they are doing and how they conduct themselves to decide if you resonate with them or not.

If you choose to skip this step, you’ll be missing out on the most important contributing factor to your success.

I’ve spent over three years going through this process, repeatedly, before deciding to join someone’s affiliate program.  The time, energy, and effort I’ve put into building relationships first has paid off and it can pay off for you, too.

In this final segment on affiliate marketing, I’d like to leave you with a list of experts I feel proud to represent and promote as an affiliate.  And, yes!  These links are my unique affiliate links.

Here’s your behind the scenes look at some of the people I have built a relationship with and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to others:

If you really want to give yourself a tremendous leading edge in affiliate marketing, I would strongly suggest taking Connie Ragen Green’s course, “Affiliate Marketing Profit Secrets”. I really enjoyed this course and learned some new tricks and tips that have helped me to profit even more from affiliate marketing.

Wishing you awesome affiliate marketing sales and success!


  • I am very pleased to find your blog.thanks for sharing this informative post

  • Know before you go is such good solid advise.

    I have seen people promoting products just because they are put out by big name gurus. Not a good idea…not everyone that has made a name for them selves can be trusted to put out good products and back them up.

    Love you list. I will be checking them out.

    • Sheila – I couldn’t agree with you more! There’s one person (big name guru) I’m an affiliate for that has 20+ products in the marketplace but I only promote a few of them. Why? I don’t really care for her other products, they’re too over-priced, and I’ll only promote products or programs that are of value to my target audience.

      Thank you for being a loyal reader,
      Melanie

  • So glad you wrote this series I was debating getting more into affiliate marketing. Now I know for sure affiliate marketing is something I need to expand into. Thank you so much Melanie for this great post. 🙂
    MJ Schrader

    • Good idea, MJ. What you’ll really like about affiliate marketing is that you can do as much or as little of it as you want. So there’s no pressure or stress involved. And as long as you become an affiliate for the right vendors who will support your marketing efforts (and pay you on time!), you’ll do great!

      Affiliate marketing is even nice if you just want to use your earnings to cover the cost of your “basic” business expenses every month — web hosting, autoresponder, domains, etc.

      Melanie

  • Nice series, Melanie. I especially like what you said about relationship building. I must say that I have been more focused on the product and its benefits, but you are onto something! Live and learn…or maybe I should say read and learn.

    • Janet! So great to see you here today. Thanks for reading my series on affiliate marketing — my all time favorite way to make money online.

      And I’m SO glad you’ve commented on the relationship building aspect of affiliate marketing. I could shout this out from the highest mountaintops and some folks still won’t “get” it. The greatest successes I’ve had in affiliate marketing, hands down, have come from taking the time and making the effort to really get to know the folks whose products I promote!

      I hope you got some positive results from participating in the blogging challenge. 🙂

      Melanie

  • Your series on affiliate marketing has been great. I can see how building a good relationship with the people you promote is important. If you feel passionate about the people and the products, your enthusiasm can’t help but rub off onto your potential buyer.

    Thanks for the recommendations.

    • I really appreciate you saying that, Kathy, especially since you have enormous experience as an affiliate!

      And you’ve made a very important point. How you “feel” about your affiliate partners and their products makes all the difference in the world. You’ve got to be stimulated and motivated by the people you represent or your enthusiasm will wane.

      Melanie

  • A smashing end to a great series, Melanie. I was going to ask you who you work with and didn’t need to. 🙂 Thank you for writing such an insightful series. I’ve learned a lot.

    • You’re welcome, Lis. This is the first time I’ve done a series of posts on the same subject and it was well received and lots of fun for me.

      I wanted to post a short, diverse list of people and products I like to promote as an affiliate and give my readers a smattering of what I consider worthwhile affiliations.

      Can’t wait to read “Does a Writer Need a Logo”! Before I head on over to your blog, I’m guessing “yes”.

      Melanie