All of the scenarios we laid out illustrate the symbiotic distribution structure of affiliate marketing. Vendors of all shapes, sizes, and types rely on affiliates just like you to market their product to abroad global audience.
It takes affiliates to power affiliate marketing.
That’s where you come in.
If you’re an affiliate marketing newbie and are concerned that you won’t be able to compete or keep up or make any money, you need to:
- Believe in yourself a little more
- Invest in your affiliate marketing education
- And check out these statistics:
The Top 100 ClickBank Earners have, on average, 52 unique affiliates each. That means that the top offers on ClickBank right now have over 5,200 affiliates actively promoting them. And that’s just the best of the best! There are over 200k affiliates promoting offers right now.
Over ClickBank’s two decades in the industry, we’ve paid out more than $5.5 billion in commission to affiliates promoting ClickBank products.
Then, you’ll need to make sure you have these items:
WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP TO AFFILIATE MARKETING?
In theory, with just the affiliate network you choose, a smart phone or computer, and an internet connection, you should be able to get started as an affiliate marketer.
However, there are a few things that will make your takeoff a bit smoother.
For one, a little bit of know-how from the pros and education are helpful. You’re working on that right now so you can mark it off your list.
A website makes things a bit easier as well, but that’s super easy to create with the right tools.
The most important thing that will make your foray into affiliate marketing as seamless as possible is…
Genuine stoke.
THE NUMBER ONE SECRET TO AFFILIATE MARKETING SUCCESS
So, what is genuine stoke?
“It’s not about what you do; it’s about what you love.”
An important part of affiliate marketing is picking the niche you want to promote in. Everyone, from experts to officials at Forbes, strongly suggests picking a niche that you are passionate about or at least marginally skilled in.
If you think about it, this makes sense–especially if you are new to affiliate marketing. You’re going to want to be able to bring that genuine stoke to your promotions. And that’s just not possible if you’re trying to hype things that you don’t care about or don’t know about.
Genuine stoke has been around since the dawn of humanity. Examples of genuine stoke:
- When man first ignited fire and danced around in an ecstatic craze
- Jonas Salk inventing the polio vaccine in 1953 and choosing not to patent it because he
cared that much - Brandi Chastain winning the US FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1999
- The entire Seahawks stadium when Marshawn Lynch dodged 9 tackles in 2010–an event
known as the “Beast Quake” - Billy Mays every time he filmed a commercial for anything
This kind of energy is genuine stoke. This is the kind of energy you need to have about the niche you choose to promote in.
If you bring a lukewarm vibe to your promotions, your audience will be able to sense the inauthenticism and won’t be able to get on the stoke train because it’s just not there.
A good rule of thumb when figuring out what niche you should start promoting in is to ask yourself this question:
“Would I be interested in this topic on a weekend?”
If the niche is something you would spend an off day participating in happily, then it could be the right niche for you.
Of course, you may have to narrow, test, and pivot as you continue on your promoting journey–but for now, choose your niche based on genuine stoke and “the weekend”.
