What do you need to become an affiliate marketer? The most important things you need as an affiliate are a laptop or home computer and an internet connection. While there are some things you can do on a mobile phone, you really need a laptop for many of the online activities you’ll need to do in order to make affiliate marketing work for you.
Affiliate marketers make money by selling other people’s products through their unique affiliate link/s. Once you join an affiliate program and get your own identifying link, you’ll need to promote it. Depending on how you approach this and your personal marketing strategy will determine what you need next. It’s advisable to build an email list of subscribers so you can promote your affiliate products to them. Having your own email list of subscribers is pretty much the next most important thing.
What Do You Need To Become An Affiliate Marketer? Your Marketing Strategy
If you decide to build an email list, to get people to subscribe to your list you’ll need a marketing strategy. Depending on your available time and money you can choose from a number of strategies:
- Blogging – If you decide to become a blogger you’ll just need a website
- Video marketing (organic) – organic video marketers upload multiple videos to YouTube and other platforms to generate traffic (you’ll need a video recording device but a smart phone will do) You can also invest in a good quality microphone if you wish and some lighting equipment.
- Social media – you can use social media platforms to advertise affiliate products. Depending on your strategy this can be free or paid. You’ll just need a social media account and some funds if you’re paying for advertising.
- PPC – pay per click platforms let you build an affiliate business in the fastest possible time (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc.)
You can of course use these strategies without building a list but an email autoresponder is definitely one of the best investments you can make for your affiliate business. An email list lets you control your traffic more easily. Relying on content marketing and/or paid marketing can mean a lot of work and/or expense. A list makes things easier.
What Do You Need To Become An Affiliate Marketer? Training
You can do affiliate marketing completely for free. All you need to do is sign up to an affiliate program and get your unique affiliate link. However, most affiliates will struggle when it comes to marketing their products. 95% of affiliates will fail and drop out, which is an alarming amount.
Affiliate marketing isn’t easy and the main problem for beginners is focusing on a marketing strategy for long enough to get traction.
So it can be helpful to get some training with this in mind. Having training and support puts you ahead of most other affiliates who are going it alone.
Your chances of success are far greater if you surround yourself with other affiliates on the same journey, and of course mentors and coaches who know what to do! By following other leaders in the affiliate marketing field you have a much greater chance of staying the course when the going gets tough!
Mental Attributes Which Are Good For Affiliates
So far we’ve talked about the things an affiliate needs for an affiliate business:
- Laptop
- Internet Connection
- Email Autoresponder
- Lighting equipment (if choosing video marketing)
- Good quality microphone (again for video marketing)
- Training and support
What hasn’t been mentioned are the mental attributes which are useful for affiliates, two of which are:
- An unwavering desire to succeed
- Patience
Yes affiliate marketing can be tough so you’ll need to bring a strong desire to succeed in your business. A good mindset to approach affiliate marketing with is a “never say die” attitude; not a “give it a try” one! You will likely expect some set backs on your affiliate journey so you’ll need to see these as learnings rather than failures! See also the psychology of affiliate marketing.
Products!
Yes of course no affiliate marketer can be successful without selling the affiliate products themselves. There’s thousands of affiliate programs you can join online. Amazon is one of the best known affiliate programs and anyone can join if they can get their application to the partner program approved.
You might want to start with something you have purchased yourself online. See if you can find an affiliate program to join for something you have bought already. There’s a huge variety in the commission structure of products available online for affiliates. Physical products tend to pay between 5% and 20% while digital products will often pay much more (20%-40%).
Subscription affiliate programs offer recurring commissions while high ticket programs pay the best “one off” rates of commission.
Summary
So what do you need to become an affiliate marketer? To become an affiliate you only need to join an affiliate program and get your own unique affiliate link. You can then promote this link however you choose! Since most affiliates use digital marketing tactics to promote their online businesses, it’s advisable to at least have a laptop and internet connection so you can use the many online platforms available to help you with your marketing.
Find an affiliate product you would like to promote and join the relative partner program. Then choose a marketing strategy and study it until you make a sale!
At this stage many affiliates will get stuck because the hardest part of affiliate marketing is making regular, consistent sales through your affiliate links. This part is where it’s advisable to get some training and support. Ideally get an email autoresponder and learn how to build your email list with a marketing strategy which suits your personality and budget.
See also 22 ways to promote affiliate products for more on marketing methods.