How to Choose a Best Affiliate Program for Your Blog

It would not be wrong to say that affiliate marketing is the holy grail of internet marketing.

If you had become a successful affiliate marketer then you can call yourself a successful internet marketer too.

Each blogger wants to become an affiliate marketer but they can’t. Being an affiliate marketer is much harder than being a blogger.

You always make more money by selling products than showing advertisement on your site.

However as I said earlier affiliate marketing is the Holy Grail and you will find it very difficult to learn.

Usually novice affiliate marketers find it very difficult to get a head start. They can’t figure out things like how to choose an affiliate network or a product.

We tried to answer such questions in this article.

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Choosing from Affiliate Networks or Joining Affiliate Programs Individually

This is where most of the novice bloggers fail to make a difference.

It is very normal that new bloggers give more importance to the affiliate network then the individual affiliate programs.

What is the difference between these two?

Affiliate networks are like Commission Junction or ClickBank where you are paid by them.

On the other hand joining affiliate programs individually would mean you are going to receive checks from the very company you are promoting.

So here you have to make a differentiation.

Which one is the best, affiliate network or individual affiliate programs?

First let us know the difference.

Affiliate networks have thousands of products. Many of them are junk. So the products that you may find there are not very well known because they are of individual vendors.

However if you are joining individual affiliate programs then you have flexibility for promoting a product which is well known in the market.

So what do you do?

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Well! If you are very experienced affiliate marketer then you can choose products from affiliate networks.

However if you are a new affiliate marketer then you should choose the affiliate programs which are best for beginners & known to the customers.

So take your time, do some research & experiment before making a right decision.

Finding Products that Blends into Your Blogs’ Niche

An affiliate marketer is successful only when he or she is able to sell products that are as close to as your blog’s niche.

If the product is close to the narrative of your blog then it would be very easy to sell it.

Remember single most important thing, your customers should not feel like you are pushing something on to them.

You must not come off as an annoying salesman that is pushing on to you.

Your customers must be convinced that they are buying the product because it can solve their problems.

And the best way to do all of this is choosing an affiliate program that blends into your blogs’ narrative.

For example if your blog is all about beauty tips then promote products as much close to beauty. Narrow down your product. Be objective as much as you can.

Exact Nature of Products for Only CPA or Up sell

Most of the new comers can’t make a difference when they are choosing a program.

How do you ascertain that this might be best for you?

In affiliate marketing you broadly have two kinds of products one is CPA affiliate programs and other one is up selling products.

Up selling or hardcore selling is where the meat is. You make most of the money through selling a product to your customers. However up selling is quite difficult.

Convincing a customer for buying something is an art and new bloggers find it very difficult.

It is because you can’t write good enough or simply don’t have ideas for marketing your product.

So you can go for CPA or cost per action where you get paid for generating leads like someone signs up or get registered or even stays on the site for few minutes.

You can definitely make some money if your affiliate program is about CPA.

However if you are experienced then you can work with both up selling as well as CPA.

In short you have to figure out which one suits your blog the best.

Choosing One Right Products from Many

This is extension of my previous point.

Now you have to be very specific when it comes to choosing a product. The product you will be choosing must be an all rounder.

First thing that you must know is you can’t sell a product that you yourself don’t like.

You must have used the product and form an opinion that how good it is. Quality is very important.

You also need to find out about your competitors. Are they selling the product you are about to promote or they aren’t?

What is the response from the users?

Does the product you are selling has money back guarantee because if it doesn’t then don’t sell it.

What kind of product you want to sell? Physical or Downloadable e products like eBooks!

Usually selling eBooks is risk free because you don’t bother about the shipment issues.

So you have to consider these things while you are choosing an affiliate program.

Everything would depend upon the demographics of your blogs’ visitors.

Thorough Research of the Market and Consumers

Before you choose a program or a product you need to find out whether there is a demand out there.

You can go to Google Trends and find out what products are in huge demand by the customers.

For example you will find out weight loss products are always hot.

Look out for commercials on your cable TV and classified ads in newspapers.

Choose a product that is close to what market and your consumers are looking for.

So consider these points before you choose an affiliate program.