It’s easy to race off thinking you want to make big commissions by selling all of the high price items you’re able to find on your chosen affiliate network. And this in itself isn’t such an issue if it happens to be an area of expertise.

A couple of things you have to consider though:

1) People take a lot of time to consider high value purchases, and will visit a lot of places. Many people simply still don’t always trust those purchases to just seeing them online and will head into a store to check out the physical product. Having a niche which focuses on smaller low price items that you can sell a lot of more easily can yield very similar returns.

2) You have to know what you’re talking about, people aren’t stupid, and affiliate marketing is the same as any other kind of sales, you have to be able to appeal to a need in people and speak their language. If you’re choosing items you have no real knowledge of, or passion for, you’re going to struggle.

2. Post Great Content

This is tied into the point above, if you don’t know about the products you’re selling, or you’re just rehashing content from elsewhere, you’ll struggle to make it engaging. Also, making sales doesn’t happen overnight, so you will have to work at getting an audience, and in that time you’re likely to lose your passion and give up. We all perform better when it’s doing something we love.

Don’t create posts with the sole aim of reviewing and selling a product, these become very transparent and don’t engage an audience long-term. You want your blog to have people coming back because they learn something, or they get to smile. Along the way you can then introduce products as part of the wider narrative. If you make content that people are likely to want to share, then you’re creating a direct method of increasing your reach and gaining new followers.

3. Don’t Just Get Content Out Through One Channel

Just as in marketing days of old where brands would push products on TV, in print, on billboards etc; In these days of the social media you have to adopt the same approach. Develop strategies for how you will deliver content on Facebook, through Instagram, direct emailing newsletters, paid search, etc. All of these channels will get readers seeing your content in lots of places, and build an awareness and trust. It’s important though to make sure the content is presented in a channel appropriate way, as what works on Facebook for instance, will not work for Instagram. (We will cover this in greater detail in a future article)

4. Disguise Your Affiliate Links

No one likes to feel as though they’re being sold to, it’s the reason we run away from assistants in shops. It’s no different online, if someone can tell that the link you are directing them to has your affiliate account code in it, they’ll instantly be turned off. Many affiliate links are too long for Google short links, so instead add a hyperlink to a line that says something like FIND OUT MORE.

5. Be Patient

This is a long game. People often go into affiliate marketing thinking they’ll be self employed and working out of a coffee shop within weeks. It doesn’t work like that, you have to build an audience over time, find your niche, establish what works and refine your content. In time you’ll then develop a following and a place in the market. As part of this process, don’t be afraid to evolve your tone and presentation.

The post Affiliate Marketing Tips For Beginners appeared first on A Perfect Space.

Marketing is simply the business of letting people know who you are and what you do, it’s the process by which you communicate the essence of your brand/service to as many people as possible with the intention that they engage with you as a customer either at that point or at some point in the future. Marketing does not always lead to an immediate sale, but is very much a part of the sales process as it will pay longer term dividends, once people have a good idea of who you are and what you do, at some point in the future they may return to buy your services.

You can spend a tonne of money to get your business out there, and many large brands have a huge marketing budget, however when you’re starting off you may have only have a small budget, if you have one at all. Here are some tried and tested FREE ideas to get your marketing off to a good start.

1. Word of Mouth

Small business owners usually get bamboozled by all the online marketing courses being advertised on Facebook that they sometimes forget the most important source of new business is word of mouth referrals. Take 20 minutes of each day to get in contact with your existing customers, either face to face or via the phone. This small act shows your customers you care about the service they have received from you and or you team and is likely to increase your word of mouth referrals as they share this with friends and family. You will also get a good idea of where you are offering a excellent service and where you may need to improve.

2. Blog Blog Blog

Blogs are a great way to generate leads and new business to your website, they provide a fantastic way to stay in contact with and upsell your existing customer base.

Give away lots of good quality relevant content. A blog should be informative and relevant to your audience. A lot of business owners are afraid to give away information as they believe once the client has it their service may become redundant, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. The more quality information you give away, the more trusted you will become. Blog regularly, create a schedule for your blog posts and stick to it. If you decide to blog once a week on a Friday, try to maintain your schedule, this consistency will hep you to gain a regular following who will keep returning for more of your content Research Key Words, use keywords but only where relevant to your article. This will ensure your blog post is picked up by google search engines driving you more traffic in the long term.

3. Social Media Marketing

Most small businesses will already have social media accounts set up, if you don’t then you need to do this NOW. Social media is fast becoming one of the key go to methods for people researching products and services. Set up business pages on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, and post regularly. Share any posts on your business pages to your personal accounts and ask your friends to share, better still, encourage your friends to follow your business accounts and share directly from there. Do not underestimate the power of your own social network to drive your business.

4. Introduce a Friend’s Discount/Free Service Offers

Everyone loves to feel appreciated, especially if this happens as a consequence of them helping you to grow your business. Offers which encourage existing clients to introduce a friend for a discounted or free service will do wonders for generating you new business, whilst at the same time making your existing clients feel valued.

5. Networking Events

There are lots of free business networking events (particularly if you live in cities), that you will have access to. Select a minimum of 1 per month that you would like to attend, as a way to introduce your business to other business owners. Make sure you get out there and share share share what you do with others, it’s the only way to guarantee growth.

The post FREE Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Small Business appeared first on A Perfect Space.