How To Find Affiliate Products Individually (and why you should)
Affiliate marketing is easy and here are some awesome ways in which you can make the most of your affiliates.
According to the niche, your website is related, search for the products online. Instead of going to the Amazon Associates program page look for the company’s official website. Scroll to the bottom of the page and in the footer of the main page there should be an anchor text like this “Affiliates”. Click on the link text and see if you are eligible to become an affiliate.
1. Why should I find affiliates individually?
You may be wondering why would anyone want to find affiliate products individually when they can simply sign up with Amazon or ClickBank.
The reason is simple, and Amazon has an incredibly low commission rate of about 2% per product. Which means if the product you promote on your site costs $1000, you will only get $20 per product. That means if I come to your site and finally decide to buy a product you are promoting then with that single sale you make $20.
Affiliate companies like ClickBank have two problems. The first problem with ClickBank is that the majority of their products are seemingly low quality. The second issue is that they have low commission rates. Now they do have some good products that I promote, and their commissions are higher than Amazon, but you can do better!
For this reason, I have written this step-by-step post on why you should find affiliates directly from the company that makes the product.
2. Identify products that are relevant to your topic, make a list
This may be obvious and if you have already made a list skip to the next section.
For those of you thinking my niche is so small or specific what could I possibly promote? Hold that thought right there! Almost any niche has a plethora of opportunity when it comes to affiliates.
If you write for a health-related blog, you can put up affiliates for blenders or specific juicers. Perhaps some organic foods and the list goes on.
If you write about a specific type of sports, look at online companies selling the gear. Find out if they have an affiliate product you can promote in your blog or YouTube channel.
By now you must have the general idea so let’s move on.
3. Find reliable companies that make the product or provide the service
This is the most important part of looking for affiliates individually because you do not want to sell or promote a low-quality item or service. It could be massively damaging to your credibility if the service you promote is a badly made product.
When looking for affiliates, look for a reliable company. Please read the reviews about their customer support system as customer support plays a big part in marketing.
Imagine you bought hosting from a company only to stumble on a problem and then no one to respond to your queries from the company. This will make you angry and upset with the person who recommended the product, so do not be that person!
A great way to promote a product is to actually buy the product and note your own experiences with the product. If your experience was a positive one, then writing about will be easy and most importantly, genuine.
I always recommend Bluehost as the best hosting provider for beginners.
However, there are a plethora of people online who do not like or recommend Bluehost. This is for two important reasons, and the first is that hosting companies like Siteground offer a higher affiliate commission. The second reason is that Bluehost is in fact, not fast compared to some hosting. Put simply they are not known for speed.
What most people fail to mention is this, do beginners really need speed? Think about it you have no content (you have a new site and are just writing your first 5 posts), no readers (it takes at least 6 months before you see any traffic from Google) so why do you need to pay more for a faster-hosting company?
Even if you promote a badly made product, your reader will immediately think you to be a scam or misinformed. The downside of this is obvious, but the most damaging is that they will not be returning to you for more. Thus you just lost a reader.
Here is a quick rundown to keep in mind:
- test the product before promoting it
- if you cannot buy it then do some research on the company you want to promote
- read customer reviews
- ask questions or Reddit, Quora or some other site
- promote quality products or services
4. Stay relevant to your topic for affiliates
Promote great products and promote products that are relevant to your audience. I love WP Engine, but their hosting is costly, and it makes no sense to promote them for beginners.
Would you recommend the most expensive footballs and goal posts in your blogs if you write about football? They may have a sweet affiliate commission, but how many people would actually buy them?
Alternatively, if you promoted a cheaper but sturdy set of equipment, a beginner would be more likely to make the purchase. Because the affiliate products you promote are more affordable, more people will likely make the purchase.
5. The advantage of finding companies for affiliates directly
Firstly they pay you much more.
Why?
Think of it like this you are a teen being paid to mow a lawn $100 each month. If you were hired by a lawn mowing service to mow lawns at a $100, then the company that hired you would take a percentage of your earnings.
By cutting out the proverbial middle man you will automatically earn more.
Another plus is that many companies will offer a special discount code for your customer. They will tell you that if you use “our code, your customer will get a special 30% discount” etc. This is an awesome way in which you can make more sales because everyone loves a good discount!
So look for individual affiliates because it actually is in the best interest of not only yourself but your readers too!
A perfect example of this is Canva and Vanguard. Vanguard makes equipment for cameras, and Canva is design software.
With Canva they will give you an affiliate link that you may not earn money from, but if a person uses your link to make a Canva account, you both get some awesome free features to use.
Vanguard offers a 15% discount code for anyone who uses your link and discount code.
Maybe not all companies are the same, but if you add incentive to the products you promote people will be more inclined to use your link.
Final thoughts
While it may be easier to apply to CJ Affiliates or Amazon Associates at the start of your blogging or YouTube journey, it is better to look for a higher commission rate whenever possible.
Always keep your eye out for quality companies that may have sweet affiliate deals.
Think not only of how much money you make but also of the amount of value your readers will get by using your links. This is a great way to earn trust, and your readers will feel like you actually care about them. Because in all honestly blogging and YouTube videos are all about your viewers and readers.
Feel free to agree or disagree with me. 😉