In this article we will provide the rundown of what anyone approaching Amazon Affiliate Marketing should know if they intend on making money using this platform.

It’s always exciting when a new idea pops into your head and you know this will be a new revenue stream for you.  Many people are turning in this direction for this very reason! If you are savvy enough to link great products that your niche audience wants to your website or blog, you have the foundation for some level of success with this program.  The main question is, how do you get started?  Once you’ve begun, what do you do next?  How do you make your commissions keep rolling in week after week so that you feel all of this effort was truly worth it?  Well don’t you worry, Let’s jump right in!

Create Your Site or Blog

There are many options out there to get you started.  We are far from the days where you need to have a strong understanding of the complex digital coding world.  You can choose between the many preprogrammed site options to provide you a template to set your stage.  Some options available are, WIX, Weebly or WordPress, just to name a few.  Then you can get it registered inexpensively through a site like GoDaddy.com for instance.

You will also want to decide on a name for your site.  You may want this to be related to the type of customer you hope to attract.  For Example, BestCalifornianWines.com or SuperFunkySocks.com. You could also want to create something more vague to intrigue your potential customer.  Keep in mind the more random the name, the higher the chance that you will have to exert more effort to get that name in the minds of your consumer.  This may require an in depth knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and if you are not versed in this you may want the advice of a professional.  Not to say it can’t be done, many have been very successful creating a catchy word that became a mainstay, there’s just a good chance that it won’t.  This may leave you putting forth great effort for little to no return.  Include key words in the name of your site so when someone is using a search engine for what they want, those words are also in the name of your site.  Clever names will not create this ease of search success.

2. Create Your Amazon Affiliate Account

Thankfully, this will be your easiest step in the process.  Simply Click Here and you can get this fired up at no cost.  Keep in mind, Amazon wants to sell more!  And if you can help them do that, you will be rewarded.  There will be a minor verification process on behalf of Amazon to be sure you are legitimate, but this generally will not take more than a day or two.   Amazon even provides some great tools and resources to assist you in the process.  Once verified, you will be granted an 18 month window to sell something.  If you are unsuccessful, you will be required to make some alterations to your site prior to be reauthorized to sell once again.  But, let’s be honest, if you have not sold anything, what’s even the point of all this?

3. Building Links for Products to Your Site or Blog

Now that you have your site or blog up and running, you’ll need to begin to build links that direct your customers to Amazon in order to purchase the goods you wish to sell.  Again, Amazon is very helpful here as well.  They offer links in the form of banners, site stripes and multiple forms of direct product links.  These you can plug directly to your site.

Below is a quick, How-To for this process with Amazon:

1. Choose either, “Quick Links: Search for Product” or “Browse for Product”
   1. “Quick Links” Search for Product” allows you to search for a specific product keyword
   2. “Browse for Product” allows you to search for products through categories like electronics, games, books, etc.
2. After you find your product, click the “Get Link” button
3. You can then customize this link by choosing an ad with ‘text and image,’ ‘image only,’ ‘text only’ or a ‘widget’
4. Depending on your final choice, you may customize the title color, image size or customize the background color
5. Always preview before adding to your site to be sure it meets your standards
6. Now, just copy and paste the link to your site

4. Launching your New Site or Blog

You will find a plethora of advice columns on the topic of website design.  My feedback will be to keep it simple and to the point.  Step away for a moment and think about how little time you invest while visiting a website.  This will be the same for your customer. A clean and simple design that gets to the point will generally have the most success.  Have a friend visit, do they enjoy the flow of information and the formatting of your design?  How much time before they want to make a purchase or read further?

It will be helpful to also organize your site based on categories.  You can easily find examples of this if you go to any major retail site.  For instance, a website on chairs will have different categories set up with the different styles or functions of the various chairs they are trying to sell.  Hey, that’s not a bad new idea for a new affiliate marketing site!

5. Attracting Customers

The best way to attract and keep visitors to your site will be to focus on a target audience.  I would recommend finding your audience prior to deciding what products you wish to promote.  If you can create a credible site that fits into a subculture or a movement (niche) then you will more easily attract your customer.  Many people are turning to social media for this.  I’m sure you’ve all experienced a friend on Instagram saying that, “Everyone has been asking me about product XYZ since I brought it up the other day, well swipe up or click here!”  If you want to hit a sports niche, it’s important that everything you do relates to that.  How are you going to provided everything your group needs through your site or blog?  This should be on your mind, always.

You will also want to utilize some basic SEO skills to better position yourself for success.  Since this is a much larger subject, I won’t dive into this subject here, but basically speaking, if someone can’t find you through a basic web search, how can you expect to be able to sell anything to your target audience?  SEO efforts will make you become more relevant within your niche audience and promote your site.

6. Promoting Your Site and Building Credibility

Promoting your site should be the most fun.  This is where you start to provide content to your audience to make them interested in your site or blog.  Online communities, YouTube, forums and social media will be great tools.  Building your credibility to show that you have a solid understanding of this product category and what you say matters, will be the biggest driving force behind your sales. Listing products on a blank webpage will look like some sort of fraudulent website out to scam the general public.  Since you know this to not be true, let’s build some credibility.  Fill your site with enough content to ensure people know that it is active.  Write in a tone that makes you look professional and that you know what you’re doing.

When you have a voice and the look, people will begin to listen and ultimately start clicking your links to the product you are presenting. This is how you make money, so it would be prudent to keep this in mind when creating any content.

Once you can present yourself as a credible site/ person/ business, I’d recommend plugging products into your conversation and reviewing or promoting them.  Talk about how fantastic it was when you first discovered a product, or how convenient it was when doing activity XYZ to have this product on hand.  Imagine yourself as an outdoorsman and you went on a several day trip.  Think about all the products you would need to have with you for a successful journey!  You’re out fishing, what made your experience better?  What products can solve problems?  You traveled to Europe, what products did you use on your flight or what products helped you navigate the international world more easily.  These are things people research every day, jump into the conversation and start recommending!

7. Tracking Your Sales

Reports are important tools to assisting in your success. Thankfully, Amazon will provide you with a nice level of detail to show you where your money is coming from. There are active daily reports that you can review any time of day.  These will show you what links are working the best, the types of products your customer want the most, your traffic, revenue and, of course, earning.

Once you know how you are making your money and what customers are shopping with you, it will become easier to increase earning.  This will help you drive your next move towards either enhancing the areas that are making you the most money or building up in the areas that are not so profitable.  Having this information at the ready is an invaluable resource and Amazon will provide these free of charge.

8. Counting Your Commission

There are several ways to get paid through the Amazon Affiliate Program.  They are broken into categories.  I would recommend skimming through them to see what suites you best.  They are also broken into two different pay styles.  There are ‘fixed standard program fees’ or a percentage of the sale and ‘bounty rates’ or a flat dollar amount per transaction.  The various categories of fixed percentages range from 1% to 10% and the bounties from $.50 to $15 per transaction.

Finding the right mix of products will help you to better define your rate of return on your investment.  After you determine what areas you intend to focus on, find the products that best fit that category.  You will want to determine how many units will need to be sold in order for you to be happy with the result.  Is that number realistic?  Do you need to sell 100 units or 100,000 units?  This is another piece of the puzzle that you will want to have worked through.

Selecting the right products is a very important aspect of this process.  You should look out for products that have a healthy amount of reviews for that category and a 4-5 star rating.  If you are directing your customer to low ranked goods, you will begin to lose credibility and ultimately not make any money.

9. Making More Amazon Affiliate Sites to Enhance Your Earnings

Now that you have the feel for creating, promoting and earning, it’s time to repeat.  Creating more sites in other niche markets will position you for much greater success with Amazon Affiliate Marketing strategy overall.  You can jump into any product category you’d like.  It’s ok if you are currently unfamiliar with that product category.  Some people have turned to friends or family for guidance or just performed the necessary research.  Some people have even turned to their children!  There are famous children out there on YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter giving actual product reviews.  They are pretty awesome; you should check them out!  And guess what?  Some have even learned how to turn that into affiliate marketing.  I mean, wouldn’t you if you had 100,000+ followers?

Now that you have this entry level knowledge, it’s time to get going.  As always, we’re here to help if you have any questions or want to bounce ideas around.