One of the most common questions I get asked by my ever-growing, tribe members is “How do I get started with internet marketing?”
I always tell you “pick a proven business model, select a niche you’ve evaluated for profitability, and monetize through affiliate marketing because you don’t have your own products yet”
That’s it in the simplest of terms but it’s slightly more complex than that.
In this post, I’ll go one step further and show you 5 different ways to create a profitable affiliate site and include several examples of sites using this model so that you can learn from them and copy their success.
I’ve split the post into easy-to-digest chapters to make it quicker and easier for you to read.
So read on if you’d like to find out how to get started with affiliate marketing…
5 Main Affiliate Site Types Suitable For Affiliate Marketing
This isn’t a definitive list there are other ways to be successful with affiliate marketing but these 5 main site types are the most common and successful, in my experience.
Each of these is it’s own chapter so you can skip to one that appeals to you most but I’d recommend working your way through from chapters 1 to 5 in order…
Chapter 1:
How To Create Your Own Product Review Sites
Product review sites are as they sound – simply sites that feature product reviews.
They can work in any niche that has physical products but less so in digital product niches.
There are plenty of examples of sites following this model that are hugely successful and very lucrative as we found out examining these 20 super affiliate sites.
It should be noted that nearly all the successful review sites we found were actually buying the products and testing them before writing a review.
So the issue with sites like these is, that unless you buy the products it’s hard to write a legitimate review your reader will trust. And that is the key to success with this model.
Otherwise, it is slightly unethical as you’re recommending someone buy a product you’ve never used yourself which may or may not actually be any good.
On top of that, Google is getting much stricter with these types of sites choosing not to rank sites that only focus on reviewing products, especially if they feel you aren’t actually buying the products.
And not to mention; Amazon is clamping down on accepting “low quality” review sites for their affiliate program as they don’t tend to give much value to the end-user, most of the information you’ll tell the end-user is already available at Amazon.
So whilst this model can be lucrative it will be much harder to be successful going forward unless you plan to buy and properly test the products you review.
With that in mind, if you do decide to try this model you can read more about how to do it in chapter 1 here:
Chapter 2:
Most successful blogs/authority sites utilize affiliate marketing in one form or another and it’s the model I’ve personally had the most success with.
Generating affiliate sales through blogs are a very common way for blogs to make money.
There are two ways to make money here and it’s either through affiliate marketing directly on the blog by reviewing and / or linking to products, tools, software, and services you use and mention.
Or through using the blog to build your email list and then recommending products and running promotions to your email subscribers, this is the more effective and profitable method of the two.
So the blog technically isn’t a full-blown “affiliate site” as such but is used to host your content which draws in visitors then funnels your visitors onto your email list where the recommendation of affiliate products starts.
The best thing about this model over the others listed on this page?
It’s this…you can use ALL the monetization methods listed here on this page ranging from product reviews, price comparisons to discount coupons.
And the great thing is, you can also monetize via other methods that don’t involve affiliate marketing like offering services, selling your own digital products, Adsense or other ad networks and recurring monthly income from membership sites, tools or newsletters.
So as you can see, this “authority site” model is not limited to one income source/monetization method like the others listed on this page are meaning you have endless options to earn income.
Seriously, this is by far my favorite model of all the 5 listed here and the one I’d recommend to you if you’re serious about a long term, evergreen, and profitable business model and not just short term cash.
Chapter 3:
How To Create Your Own Price Comparison Sites
You’ve likely run into this type of site at one point if you’re a big shopper.
Comparing prices of products across different retailers are the purpose of price comparison sites and they aim to help find the best price for a service or a product.
Every visitor is most likely a buying customer as their intentions are clear when they are on this website.
Price comparison sites are very popular but yet have plenty of room for more sites as there are many niches to apply this business model with.
Chapter 4:
How To Create Your Own Coupon & Discount Sites
Like comparison sites, coupon and discount sites are made for one purpose and that’s for helping visitors find the best deals and savings.
Visitors here are likely to have to buy intentions as this business model is to help find coupons and discounts directly before they purchase.
This business model has potential as people are always looking for discounts and coupons, and there are always niches to apply this model with.
Chapter 5:
How To Create Your Own Unusual Product Site
New and fresh products are being released on a regular basis, and some of these products can be weird and unusual.
Take the affiliate site that makes an estimated 20k per month, Thisiswhyimbroke, they feature all kinds of weird and unusual products and are consistently popular because of this.
A site like this is hugely viral on social media as people just love to share the weird products they’ve discovered with their friends.
And whenever anyone clicks to view one of these weird products they are taken down your affiliate link to the end retailer meaning lots of traffic is ending at the retailer with your affiliate cookie set.
Conclusion
These are the 5 main profitable affiliate site types in my experience.
There are definitely other models out there that work too but these are the most common.
There’s one thing that ALL these different affiliate models and all the example sites featured do well.
They deliver VALUE to their visitor in order to help them make a purchasing decision and that’s how you’ll see success with affiliate marketing.
Whether it’s through discounted prices, helpful reviews, price comparisons to get them the cheapest deal, or through educating or entertaining with their content.
Every model gives the end-user something extra they couldn’t find by simply going to the retailer direct.
It’s NOT just about pushing your traffic down affiliate links of whoever pays the most commission but going above and beyond for your visitor so they trust you enough to follow your recommendation.
If you master providing over-the-top value to your visitors you’ll see success with affiliate marketing and potentially make a lot of money.
Ignore it and your success will be limited if you have any at all.
If you have doubts about your niche, you can use our 7 steps to finding your profitable niche.
If I had to recommend any one of these 5 methods it would be the “affiliate blog” option here.
To start reading the 5 ways to create a profitable affiliate site guide click below…
Final Words
As always I’d love to know your thoughts and feedback on this guide so please let me know below…
Which of these models are you currently involved with?
If you’re not yet involved in any of them which appeals to your most?
Know any other interesting sites that fit into these categories?
Please share…
