Affiliate marketing is one of the few business models in which you do not need to have any prior experience. It is a beginner-friendly online business that enables anyone to become an affiliate with no experience.
Hi! I’m Eartha and when I got my start in affiliate marketing I had no experience whatsoever. It took me a few years before I made steady commissions online because I tried to learn on my own.
Today, I take advantage of online courses to learn the skills to help me level up my online income. I’ve invested in some excellent online courses (check out my Affiliate Escape Plan review) and affiliate marketing coaching programs.
Read below to learn how to become an affiliate with no experience.
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How Do I Become an Affiliate with No Experience Online?
The most simple way to become an affiliate with no experience is to simply choose to. Anyone can become an affiliate marketer. It is a matter of understanding what it is and choosing an affiliate offer that you want to promote and a method by which to promote it.
Affiliate marketing is the promotion of another company’s products in exchange for a commission for every sale that you refer. It is by no means a perfect online business. There is a downside to affiliate marketing but I feel the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
There are many ways to do affiliate marketing. I will share the methods I have used as a beginner that work well for making steady affiliate commissions.
Starting Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
I recommend thinking about a niche in which you want to make money. There are a variety of niches and if you want to be sure you’re in a good one, consider niches that fall under the top evergreen niches:
- Health
- Wealth
- Relationships
These could be things like:
- Health & Wellness
- Personal Finance
- Parenting
Next, find an affiliate offer related to the niche that you’ve chosen. The offer can be physical or digital. I recommend finding a high-ticket affiliate offer. When the commissions that you earn are larger, you can level up your online income much faster.
After you’ve found your offer, the next step is to choose a method to begin promoting the product you’re an affiliate of. I will highlight the methods I recommend below.
Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners
Here is a list of some of the best affiliate programs for beginner affiliate marketers:
| Affiliate Program | Description | Rating (out of 5) |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Associates | Widely popular, diverse products | 4.5 |
| ClickBank | Digital products, high commission rates | 4.0 |
| ShareASale | Variety of merchants, user-friendly | 4.2 |
| CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction) | Large network, reputable merchants | 4.3 |
| Rakuten Marketing | Global network, cashback incentives | 4.1 |
| Bluehost Affiliate Program | Web hosting, reliable service | 4.4 |
| Shopify Affiliate Program | E-commerce platform, recurring commissions | 4.2 |
| Udemy Affiliate Program | Online courses, high conversion rates | 4.3 |
| eBay Partner Network | Auctions, wide range of products | 4.0 |
| Airbnb Affiliate Program | Travel bookings, competitive payouts | 4.1 |
Ways to Start Affiliate Marketing with No Experience
While there are many ways to start affiliate marketing with no experience, I do not recommend starting with paid ads as a beginner. I recommend learning how to do affiliate marketing with organic traffic strategies.
After you’ve learned how to generate organic traffic (more on that below), you can then learn to leverage paid advertising to help grow your business. Below are two of my favorite methods to make affiliate commissions.
Create a Website for Affiliate Marketing
I got my start with affiliate marketing by creating a niche blog. I was promoting a software product. After creating content consistently, one of my blog posts took off and I was making steady affiliate commissions from the product I was recommending.
A blog is a low-cost and low-risk way to do affiliate marketing. You don’t need any special skills. You should learn some basic SEO (search engine optimization) skills as well as basic keyword research.
As you can tell from reading the blog post you’re on, I still utilize blogs as part of my affiliate marketing strategy. They can deliver targeted leads for years to come when done properly.
All that you need to get started include:
- A domain name
- Web hosting
- WordPress installed on your hosting account
Almost all web hosting companies can set up your domain and WordPress website for you with a few clicks. If blogging is a method you’re interested in, check out some YouTube channels that specialize in the topic.
Set Up a Sales Funnel
After learning how to use a sales funnel, I rarely promote any affiliate offer without one. A basic sales funnel is made up of two web pages: a squeeze page (opt-in) and a bridge page (thank you page.)
The purpose of a sales funnel is to guide your visitors on a marketing journey to purchase the product you’re recommending.
Your squeeze page (opt-in) should offer a lead magnet (a free incentive) in exchange for your visitor’s contact info such as a first name and email address.
A lead magnet could be a free course in the form of videos, an ebook, or even an audio file. After submitting their contact details, your visitors are led to the bridge page (the second page of a funnel.)
On the bridge page, you introduce your visitors to the product you’re recommending. You should also have a call-to-action button or link that is your affiliate link and will send your visitors to the product’s sales page.
From there, some of your visitors will buy right away while others may not. Either way, your visitors who have opted in will be added to your email list.
That means you can continue sending marketing emails to your list promoting the same products or any products that you want.
A sales funnel can automate 90% of your online business.
Utilizing Both Methods Together
If you want to amp up your affiliate income, consider using both a blog and a sales funnel together. I do this by creating a blog related to the niche that the product I’m promoting is in.
On my blog, I add links to my sales funnel. Therefore, I’m sending organic traffic to my sales funnel daily. That is free traffic that is working 24/7.
My Favorite Affiliate Marketing Offers to Promote
There are many affiliate products that I enjoy promoting. However, my favorite affiliate offers to promote are digital products, preferably online courses.
I like online courses because they are delivered to the customer instantly. Also, I like being in the online education niche. Part of the reason I started this blog that you’re reading is to help beginner affiliate marketers.
Another reason I like online courses is because many of them offer high commissions. You can find some affiliate programs that pay out a minimum of $1,000 per every sale that you refer.
If your goal is to make $5K a month, you would only need to refer 5 sales per month. That sounds completely doable to me! Many affiliate marketers in this niche are earning well into the 5 – 6 figures per month.
Example of Commissions Earned
To give you an idea of what is possible, here is a screenshot of one of the first high-ticket affiliate commissions I’ve earned in the digital course niche:
The commission above was accomplished from what I’ve learned from online courses and coaching programs as well as utilizing my blog and sales funnel strategy that I mentioned above.
When you’ve learned the skills and apply them consistently, it is possible to make affiliate commissions on a steady basis. Affiliate marketing is worth it for anyone ready to create a semi-passive income online.
Conclusion
I hope this post has helped to clarify that it is completely possible to become an affiliate with no experience. Feel free to check out the other articles on this website. They are catered towards beginners.
Also, check out the recommended high-ticket affiliate marketing courses here as well!