Avoid Affiliate Marketing Mistakes
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
George Bernard Shaw
We all make mistakes; it just proves we are human, the trick is to learn from them. That’s the thing about mistakes, they are really just lessons in life, and they help us grow – but beware; they can be costly.
Of course, if you can avoiding making mistakes in the first place, all the better. My aim here is to help you avoid some of the mistakes that I have made as an affiliate marketer and set you on the right track from the very beginning.
Mistakes Affiliate Marketers Make
Okay, so let’s look at some of the common affiliate marketing mistakes people make when they are just starting out.
The first big mistake I see people make is they try and promote a product or service that they have not tried themselves. How can you convince people that this is a great product if you don’t use it yourself? You should always take the time to test a product before you try to promote it.
Promoting Too Many Products
When starting out with affiliate marketing you shouldn’t try to promote too many products, you are far better to pick three or so similar products and do a comparison campaign, reviewing each product individually. You should be concentrating on helping people make good buying decisions rather than just trying to sell them something.
Ignoring Keyword Research
The internet is all about search engines, and a big mistake I see people make with affiliate marketing is to ignore their keyword research. You need to get traffic to your offers if you hope to be successful with internet marketing, and the best way to do this is to study what search terms people are looking for.
There are many different keyword research tools available on the internet today; some are free, but you generally get what you pay for, and most free keyword research tools just don’t give you the results you need. Jaaxy is by far my favorite keyword tool; you can try it out for yourself below.
Not Having a Website
Which brings me to the next big mistake newbie affiliate marketers make; thinking they can be successful without having a website. I know it may seem a bit daunting, building a website when you are just starting out, but it isn’t that hard when you have the right tools. Take a look at How To Build Websites.
Patience is a Virtue
Don’t be impatient, no matter how good the product/campaign you have put together is, it will still take time and effort on your part for you to start seeing results. Be patient and be consistent and you will get there in the end.
Pick a Niche and Stick to It
There are many distractions on the internet, and it is easy to jump from one program/campaign to another when you feel you just aren’t making progress quickly enough. I had been guilty of this when I first started out but soon learned (the hard way), that you are far better to pick one niche and stick to it.
How to Avoid Affiliate Marketing Mistakes
The best way to avoid affiliate marketing mistakes is to learn the correct methods from the very beginning. You should be looking at your journey into the affiliate marketing world as a sort of apprenticeship.
Affiliate Marketing is a business like any other and there are certain skills that you must learn in order to be successful at it.
The Best Affiliate Marketing Program for Beginners
There are many places on the internet that can teach you Affiliate Marketing, but there is none that can teach you better than Wealthy Affiliate. I can say this with conviction as I have learned so much since joining them.
They have the best training methods I have ever come across, with task-based lessons that will have you choosing your niche and building your website in no time. Don’t just take my word for it though, you can check out the first lesson here.
Did I mention that it is free to start on the Wealthy Affiliate program? You can stay on as a free member if you choose, but once you see how great the Wealthy Affiliate community is, you might want to consider the benefits of upgrading to a full membership.
What Will I Learn at Wealthy Affiliate?
You will learn how to:-
I could go on and on about how great the Wealthy Affiliate program is but you will do far better to head over there and take a look for yourself. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed. Below is a video from Kyle (co-owner of Wealthy Affiliate) explaining how you can benefit from WA.
Have you tried Affiliate Marketing? If so, I would love to hear of your experience, good or bad. You could leave a comment below or otherwise contact me on through my Wealthy Affiliate Profile.
I hope you are having a magical day!
Please Share:
Wow ! this is a very thorough look at affiliate marketing and wealthy affiliate in particular . I love the way you have organized the information . I could take lessons form you . you have written in a conversational manner , but very clearly got your message across . I can imagine you being a very good speaker and communicator . good luck in your business. I will want to follow you and see where you go and how fast .
Hi Doris,
Thank you so much for your comments. I honestly believe that by being a member of Wealthy Affiliate and learning the right way to go about affiliate marketing will help people avoid the same mistakes I made when I first started out. I can’t speak highly enough about Wealthy Affiliate and would encourage anyone who is interested in learning affiliate marketing to take a look at them before they get started. It will save them a lot of wasted time and money in the long run.
Your website looks great, by the way.
Kerry
Hi Kerry,
Thank you for this reminder. Indeed I have met some affiliate marketers who are reluctant to have a website and think it takes a lot of effort and time to build one. I believe having your own brand is as important as promoting other brands’ products. What would you recommend for creating our own brand?
Thanks and all the best.
Hi Gin,
Even though as an affiliate you are promoting other peoples products, I think you yourself are your own brand so it is very important to use your own name. Affiliate marketing is all about trust, so it is important that you are open and honest with people.
Just my thoughts
Kerry
Hi Kerry! You really give plenty of good advice there, thank you for that! Forgetting the basics can undermine anyone’s effort even with the best of programs – so good reminder there! I’m one of those lucky people who didn’t wade through any affiliate scams or poor programs but landed straight to WA. But it does take courage to be one’s own brand, doesn’t it? Luckily working on this, courage sort of grows on you. That change can even take you by surprise… 🙂
Hi Tarja,
You really are very lucky to land straight at Wealthy Affiliate, it is certainly the best way to avoid affiliate marketing mistakes. It can be a bit scary when you are first starting out but as long as you follow the program and take action, you will be get there. Knowledge is power and with knowledge comes confidence.
I wish you all the very best.
Kerry
Hi Kerry, I agree with you, everyone have ever made a mistake, but it is important experience for someone to go successful and I also agree that I should know how about the product which I want to promote. As newbie affiliate marketer, your information is very useful for me.
Hi Christian,
I have made many mistakes on my affiliate marketing journey but I have learned a lot along the way. The great thing about being a Wealthy Affiliate member is that I can avoid making affiliate marketing mistakes in the future.
Affiliate marketing is a learning curve and the best way to be successful at it is to learn the proper way to go about it. In my opinion, there is no better place to learn than with Wealthy Affiliate.
Good luck on your journey.
Kerry
Thanks for this post Henry. I have just started out in affiliate marketing and I am definitely guilty of some of the mistakes that you mention. I keep getting sidetracked by products promising riches, as I can’ help but think, could this be the one.
I know that’s not the right way to go about it, and reading your article has helped me focus more. I will come back to it and keep refreshing my thoughts.
Hi Ruth,
It is so easy to be distracted by what is known as shiny object syndrome. I think everyone who has set out to make money on the Internet has suffered with it at some time or other.
I’m sure there are some great programs out there, but there is a lot of garbage too.
I intend to stick with Wealthy Affiliate, as it is the best online program and community that I have found to date, and I have searched far and wide.
I’m glad if my article helps you find direction.
Kerry
Very handy little article there – you’ve managed to point out a few factors I’ve never really thought of before. I have certainly been guilty of promoting too many products on my little blog in the past – in the end nothing seems to sell. How many products would you suggest starting off with?
Hi Chris,
I would suggest that you have one product that you really love and use yourself to start off with. Once you start getting traffic and a following for this offer, you could start introducing other products that relate to your original offer.
I think it is a mistake to try and promote too many products when you are first starting out.
I hope this helps.
Kerry
Hi Kerry
Indeed a great post about internet marketing mistakes.
I am glad that you have covered the major internet marketing mistakes which almost every internet marketers do.
Internet marketing is the best way of making money online and the best part about it is, It allow internet marketers to earn with few but potential visitors. We don’t need huge amount of traffic to earn. We only need 10 targeted visitors who can purchase the product.
The most common mistake which internet marketers make is, they promote so many products at once without having any experience with them.
To earn more, internet marketers pick every high paying product and start promoting them but don’t get any sales from them because they don’t focus on each product correctly that’s why they are unable to makes sales.
Every successful internet marketer suggest to promote only those products which you have personally used.
I would like to thank you for sharing such a great piece of content. 😀
Hi David.
I think you have hit the nail right on the head there about promoting too many products that you know little about. I personally promote Wealthy Affiliate as it is a great program and something I use myself everyday. There certainly is a right way and a wrong way to go about internet marketing and that is what I love about WA, they teach people the right way to succeed online.
Thank you so much for your feedback.
Kerry
Hey I like this list a lot. These are problems i faced and still run into time and time again. The biggest thing I have learned is to write lots of reviews, pick specific keywords, and keep producing content.
I like your recommendation of Wealthy Affiliate. That place has a rally great reputation and people have been successful there. I’ll have to take a deeper look into to it.
Thanks for the post.
Hi Dylan,
I think we have all been caught up in some sort of online scam at one time or another. This is why I have no problem telling people about WA, as I can guarantee that it is not a scam. In fact, WA just keeps getting better and better.
If you are serious about internet marketing then WA is the place to be.
Thank you for your comments.
Kerry
Hello,
Well, I am trying to learn affiliate marketing from last few months, but I am finding it very difficult, specially the conversion part, as I am not able to attract any sales expect one or two.
Although, I am learning it quickly, and Now, I can say, I made a mistake by picking products without enough research and also, I reviewed the product without even using it, so all this resulted in failure.
But I hope, I will improve on my skills and will succeed in Affiliate marketing soon.
Hi Rubel,
It is always a good idea to try the products you are promoting so you can give your customers good advice and guidance. Seems you have already learned a valuable lesson here and I am sure that if you stick with it, you will master the art of affiliate marketing. The trick is to learn the right way to go about it and there is no better place to learn than Wealthy Affiliate.
I appreciate your comments and wish you every success.
Kerry
Really a great post about affiliate marketing mistakes.
I am happy to see that you have explained almost all the big affiliate marketing mistakes which marketers are making nowadays.
Affiliate marketing is the most effective and profitable method of earning money online. With this method, We only need few but really buyers who can purchase something using our affiliate link.
It is the best method of earning than any other method. Google Adsense needs huge amount of traffic to earn some $$ but It only needs few visitors who can purchase something.
When marketers start promoting other companies product then they think that It is very much easy to promote any product and with this thought, they pick so many products to promote which make their work hard.
Picking lots of product to promote is the most common and greedy mistake which marketers make in order to earn more.
Instead of picking lots of product with having no any experience, they should promote a single product with which they have some experience and complete knowledge.
But mistakes also teaches us, So If anybody did these mistakes then they should learn from their mistakes rather than losing hope.
Thanks a lot for sharing such a wonderful post. 😀
Hi Brenda,
Thank you so much for your positive feedback. I totally agree that the biggest mistake affiliate marketers make is to try and promote too many products that they know very little about. It is very important to know your product, so that is why I only ever promote things that I find useful myself.
A perfect example is Wealthy Affiliate. I can 100% recommend this program and feel very confident that I am offering people great advice through my own experiences. There are only a handful of other things I promote, and they are all things that I use myself and offer value to my subscribers.
Thanks again for your feedback.
Kerry