Taking the Plunge – Getting Going in Affiliate Marketing
One of the big differences I’ve noticed between the most successful affiliates and the least successful ones is the ability to take the plunge and get working on a project. There are people in this world (myself included) who tend to over think a project to the point of paralysis…or worse…there are people who dream big but procrastinate until a prime opportunity has passed. The most successful affiliates, on the other hand, are never afraid to take the steps needed to get that next project up and running. I’m not saying that every project is successful, but at least they actually do what they are dreaming up – and if it fails, whatever, they learn a lesson and move on to the next project.
For a person thinking of getting into the affiliate business, I think one of the biggest first steps (and point of procrastination) is getting a web site up and running. I know that this can be a daunting task for most…what should the domain be? What will the site cost? How can I design a site when I’m not a designer?
In the spirit of helping affiliates answer these questions and get on track for success, I offer you these links to help you get started on your next (or first) affiliate project:
What this Going to Cost? – Find out from this video that affiliate guru Shawn Collins put together:
Buying a Domain – I recommend you use Go Daddy. Yeah, their commercials might be in poor taste, but they have great rates for buying domains. Use the promo code DIGG to get 10% off your domain purchase.
Hosting Your Site – We’ve had some good experiences with Site5. Also, I know Shawn mentions 1&1 Internet in his video.
Building a Site – As we’ve mentioned before, you don’t have to program a site from scratch. There is an awesome, free content management system called Website Baker that can give you an easy to use, reliable, and professional looking site in no time. We set our designers to work on creating a couple of templates for Websitebaker, and let me tell you, they look insanely good.
Hopefully these links will help motivate you take that first step and get your site up and running. And if anyone else can recommend a host, domainer or CMS, leave a comment and let us know!
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Comments
Hey nice post.
Can you offer any advice on someone who can already build sites, including custom CMS etc...
But is finding it hard making the jump from normal site and link building to affiliate site / link building?
As I said I am a proficient web designer etc but for some reason feel completely unable to venture into affiliate marketing.
I think it is just a very daunting task, choosing a niche, finding and choosing an affiliate corp and deal that suits the site, then deciding on how to promote it, CPC vs Organic etc.
Sorry about the rant, any advice you can give would be amazing, cheers
Chris
Posted by: Chris | April 26, 2007 02:02 AM
Great Post James. I think we all get paralized sometimes, and really just doing something is better than doing nothing. Out of all the effort we do, it's that 10% that really works (and maybe another 10% that sort of works) that make up for the other effort.
To Chris, do everything. I am not trying to be obtuse, but my best efforts have come from trying things that looked appealing - and then sort of accidentally tripping on what works. But these are accidents I am analyzing all the time and am prepared to jump on.
Activity generates results. Not all activity, but without activity, you will have no results.
As for a niche, just pick something you are interested in and use that. That is usually a better long term answer than just always jumping on the current fad.
Uh, sticking around here a lot works pretty well for me!
Posted by: QuoteUS | April 26, 2007 09:57 AM
Well said QuoteUS. :)
My response to Chris' questions got a bit long, so I turned it into a separate post. Check it out here - http://www.insuremeblog.com/affiliate/2007/04/after_the_plunge_its_time_to_s.html
Posted by: James Omdahl | April 26, 2007 10:07 AM