Can You Still Make Money With Affiliate Marketing in 2021?

I’m sure you’ve heard of affiliate marketing. You basically recommend products and services online and earn a commission from each sale that is made through your affiliate link.

Affiliate marketing is popular online because has many advantages over many other online business models. The three main advantages are…

* You don’t have to create products or buy inventory.
* Once you make a sale you’re done — the vendor supports the customer.
* You can offer a wide product choice in your niche by offering products from many different merchants.

And frankly, those three reason are precisely why affiliate marketing still works and is a viable business to get into, whether you are a newbie or an oldbee.

In fact, it’s perfect for stay at home moms and dads and even grandparents.

There are literally thousands of small merchants paying out thousands of dollars a month to affiliates via WarriorPlus, Clickbank, JVZoo, in-house affiliate programs and other affiliate networks.

There are countless affiliate marketers and bloggers earning a full time income from home, and there’s plenty of room for more.

In my humble opinion, affiliate marketing as a business strategy is still viable and will be for many years to come.

So how does one get into affiliate marketing?

The first step is planning your affiliate business, and that involves choosing a market to work in.

This is absolutely the most crucial step. Do it right, and the sky’s the limit. Fail here and you’ll waste countless hours with no payoff.

For starters, you need to know focus on ONE niche and ONLY one niche.

It takes work putting a new site or blog, adding content and generating traffic, so working on just one topic is the best strategy, at least until you have the project earning money. Then you can consider expanding it or entering another niche altogether.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

You’ll need a topic, a constant stream of helpful content, a site or blog, and a list building strategy.

Choose Your Affiliate Niche Topic Wisely

Start by choosing a niche topic that fits one of these two criteria…

1. Markets with a lot of products/services that people will be buying virtually forever. These are called “evergreen” markets and they ensure long term viability of your affiliate business. Some example include hobbies and past-times such as sports, gardening, lifestyle, how-to’s, etc.

2. Markets with lots of desperate and/or impulsive buyers. These are your more personal products that help with things such as ailments, appearance, relationships, etc. (Not my cup of tea but many affiliate do well in this “need immediate help” space.)

It is also helpful if you enter a niche that either you know something about or you are at least interested in. For example, if you do not enjoy cooking out, I would not recommend starting a BBQ blog. You won’t really enjoy yourself and it will show in your content.