David Fiske A subtle blend of affiliate marketing and web development

As a reasonably prolific blogger/affiliate marketer, I thought I would construct a sensible map of where newbie affiliates should focus their energies.

Naturally, there will be some who agree and disagree with my map - that's what comments are for!

Let's crack on...
 
YOU ARE HERE

The newbie affiliate has to start somewhere and that place would be perhaps without a website and definitely no experience of affiliate marketing.

Perhaps a subscriber of free email newsletters, the newbie affiliate is willing to believe anything. They are told it's easy - they believe it. They are told there are millions of people wanting to buy a book about widgets - they believe it.

When you first start out, it's hard to know who or what to believe.

If you are in this position, the first point of call is the affiliate marketing blogroll which grabs the latest posts from the UK's best affiliate marketers.

AMAZON / CLICKBANK

The easiest way to get started is becoming an Amazon affiliate or a ClickBank affiliate. The Amazon program is UK based and designed for a UK audience. It is by far the easiest to get going with.

Most affiliates would agree that ClickBank may not be the best please to start for UK affiliates.

The easiest website to set up is one about your favourite books, DVDs or video games. Amazon caters for this superbly and a site like this should be considered a test bed for affiliate marketing.

AFFILIATE NETWORKS

After a while of promoting Dilbert DVD's, newbie affiliates get an urge to progress further. They sign up for various networks including Tradedoubler and Affiliate Future.

A banner or two is added but that is pretty much it.

EASY SITES

This is where the affiliate no longer has one site but a small portfolio of two, three, ten or maybe more websites. All look similar and do similar things.

Whilst it's easy to knock out websites, it is difficult to knock out highly individual niche websites. And if it isn't niche, it isn't likely to make you the millions you are after (or perhaps not even hundreds).

COMPLEX SITES

This is where the affiliate discovers fancy stuff like product feeds. The sites become a little more complex than the sites above but essentially, that's all they are - simple websites using clever technology.

The chances of succeeding with this is about the same as the last idea.

INDIVIDUAL SITES

This is the pinnacle of internet affiliate marketing. Creating a highly unique, niche website.

The site targets a specialised, but large field of readers, offering unique services and features on the website.

It's no longer about adding banners, it's about creating a constantly evolving website.

It's about creating a site that grows because of it's users and because of you.

It's about creating something special that you find interesting and worthwhile.

It's about creating your identity online.

WHERE NEXT?

Pay Per Click (PPC) is prominent amongst experienced affiliates and several of them make staggering amounts of money.

But essentially, it can only take just one very unique website to make yourself successful.