I like to begin topics that delve deeper into more specific nuances of affiliate marketing by giving you a simple definition and description of affiliate marketing.

It is a very simple concept. It is like telling a friend about a great movie you saw and how much you enjoyed it, and that knowing you as I do, I think you would like it too. The only difference in the business model is that you are not actual friends (although you do develop relationships with folks who read your recommendations). You do this online via the internet, and you get paid if they go and see the movie.

I used movies as an example, but you can substitute any physical or digital product or service you can imagine or create. We use a hyperlink to guide individuals to that product or service.

If they decide they would like to purchase the product or service you have shared with them via the hyperlink, you are paid a commission from the company that owns it.

Yes, the concept of affiliate marketing is that simple, but to execute it, not so much. As a result, there are countless courses and supposed Gurus on the Internet, teaching you how to do this stuff. Of course, there are also many ways to go about doing affiliate marketing which complicates the process even further. Hence, the first thing we have to do is explain the different types of affiliate marketing.

What are the Different Ways to Execute and Profit from Affiliate Marketing?

There are endless ways to do affiliate marketing and be successful at it:

• Blog with affiliate links and banners just like this one
• Email Marketing
• Social Media
• Paid ads on Facebook, Google, and other ad venues
• Answer questions on Quora and similar venues

The key is to find not only the one that you can be successful at but the one way that you are comfortable with and most importantly, compelled to work at every day. Now this might seem easy enough to decide on but trust me it isn't. Mainly because you don't always know what you think you know even about yourself.

For instance I doing YouTube Videos and writing 2000 word posts each day in my blog would be easy for me and that I would enjoy it. Well come to find out it was not enjoyable at all. I had to start off much slower than that. It got to the point where if I worked on any part of my content for the day it was a win.

I discovered not putting pressure on myself and just doing a little bit each day got me into the habit of doing a little bit each day (imagine that), which grew into doing more and more as I became familiar with the process. Doing things that are unknown is overwhelming because you have no idea how much effort it will take and how much you will benefit from it. However, developing routine tasks little by little that you can then measure growth, feedback and success from (i.e. more traffic, more sales, more interaction) will grow you confidence immensely.

The 2nd thing this concept will do for you is get you to experience and decipher what you truly enjoy doing and what you re willing to do on a daily basis. I can't tell you how many times I thought I would like a certain aspect of this business and once I started to embark on the task I hated it.

Writing posts was daunting for me mainly because I am a perfectionist and so each post would take forever. I thought I had to get everything just right. I blame the millions of courses out there that teach you to do things a certain way or you will not succeed and they are all different. So who is right? You are!

You have great instincts because it is your content and you know what you want to say so just say it the way it is bursting in your heart to come out. Some will get it and some won't, so what?

Now there are some technical aspects of this business that you have to get right but those are minor and you can higher someone on Fiverr to do them for you if you struggle with them. For instance I couldn't get my header/footer right to save my life on this site. I think I paid about $50 and now it is just how I like it.

After fooling around with content marketing for awhile I discovered email marketing and how to build a list. These are now the two staples in my business and that is all I do, at least at the time of this writing but if there is one thing I have learned on this journey is the more you learn and conquer the more you want to learn and conquer.

How do I get started?

I learned from one of the top affiliate marketers on the planet Anthony Morrison and the Partner with Anthony program. I still work with him twice a week on zoom calls learning and building new businesses all the time. He gives us Done for your – Profit Cycles, Lead Magnets, Email Swipes and Profitable offers in his Affiliate Marketing Ecosystem. Most of all he gives all of us involved with him his time. No one and I mean no one does this when it comes to internet marketing training.