Passive income and affiliate marketing go very well together. Affiliate marketing offers a number of ways to generate a passive income online. You can sell other people’s products over the internet and automate the process. Without having to deal with customers or handle products directly, it offers a hassle free way to make money once you know how to do it. You can also use recurring commission affiliate programs to generate ongoing commissions from previous sales, too.
These are products which are either software tools or memberships. Business tools and website optimising software are some of the best products to sell as an affiliate. Once such tools become beneficial to someone’s business and profit margins, customers tend to be very loyal to that product. If you have referred the sale, you’ve potentially got a lifetime commission from each sale. A lifetime commissions affiliate program offers ongoing value typically for online businesses or website owners. Sell a product once and earn for life!
Passive Income & Affiliate Marketing – Strategies
Affiliate marketing by its very nature is passive, too. Affiliates sell other people’s products and services for a share of the profit. They do this through email marketing, websites and paid advertising. All of this can run without interference 24 hours a day 365 days a year, selling products on autopilot.
Using subscription products is another way to generate passive income with affiliate marketing. If you choose to sell subscription products, your income compounds over time because of the sales you’ve made previously.
Multi-tier commissions is yet another way to earn a passive income with affiliate marketing. A multi-tier affiliate program pays you based on the sales made by people whom you’ve referred that program. They are members of your members. Some affiliate programs offer multi-tier commissions and it’s another means to automate commissions and earn a passive income through affiliate marketing.
Passive Income & Affiliate Marketing – A Product Range
Many affiliate products only pay you once for the sale. Physical products fall into this category. But some digital products pay you over and over again for the lifetime of the customer. Some, too only pay you recurring commissions for the first year. So it’s wise to start out with your affiliate marketing journey using the products which will compensate you the most for your hard work.
Having a product range is another consideration, still. With a product range, you only need to refer the initial product to your customers. Once your customer purchases the “entry level” product, they are automatically offered other products within the range and you receive commissions on those sales. Some affiliate programs also have a built in sales team – closing sales on your behalf.
With a built in sales team, a digital product range and automation in your referral processes, you can scale up your online business very quickly to a global audience.
Why Digital Not Physical Products
Digital products offer the best of all worlds when it comes to creating a passive income online. With physical products, you only get paid once per sale. Your commission rate is usually much lower than for digital products. See affiliate marketing commission rates.
Plus, with physical products you can’t create a passive income through ongoing recurring commissions. There’s no product range, built in sales team or up-sell with physical products either. So you’re leaving money on the table by choosing physical products which typically pay 3-11% commissions compared with 30-60% for digital products.
This is a massive disparity and because physical products require handling, manufacturing and postage costs, they can’t compete with digital. Digital products however, once created, don’t carry these costs. So digital product owner can afford to pass the savings on the the affiliates, since they’re the ones making the sales.
A Digital Product Range + Marketing
With a digital product range, subscription products, a built in sales team and multi-tier commissions, you can potentially have a much higher return on your investment.
Compared to physical products, it’s massively higher. This means you can afford to advertising using the best platforms. YouTube and Facebook for example are notoriously expensive. But they’re also very clever and you can target your customer very specifically and reach a global audience.
With cheaper, lower commission products, you simply can’t use some platforms because you won’t recoup your advertising spend. Paid advertising is much more difficult if you’re promoting low value physical products and this means you’re stuck with content marketing and other cheap alternatives.
This kind of marketing can take a whole lot longer to generate any traction with. It can take years, compared with months if you’re using paid marketing strategies. Plus, paid marketing can be automated and scaled up. With slower content marketing, you’ll have your work cut out.
Access A Digital Product Range & Business System
The SFM Digital Business System offers an all in one digital business system and training platform. You can benefit from:
- A high ticket product range – earn up to 40% commissions on a number of digital products
- A built in sales team and automated “up-selling system” – simply refer the initial product within a range and let the system do the selling.
- Subscription products – earn recurring commissions from your referrals
- Multi-tier option – choose a higher level commission option and multi-tier commissions with higher value products.
- Training and mentorship available – earn as you learn and access an online community of online entrepreneurs.