If you’re just starting out trying to make money online, one of the best ways is to become an affiliate marketer for physical products. This is especially true if you are starting with very little money but a lot of enthusiasm. It’s also great if you are not yet ready to create your own product.
As you begin checking out products to sell, you will find a huge variety of physical products available. How do you pick the product(s) that will help you create a successful business?
It’s best to start in a niche that you already know something about because then you can position yourself as an expert. People want to buy from someone who knows what they’re talking about and, if they detect that you’re faking it, they will leave your site in droves. They want to buy from someone they trust.
So don’t pick a niche just because the products sell for a high price. Your reviews will sound forced and no one will be convinced to buy.
Marketing of physical products involves looking at the whole range of products and recommending some of them to your readers based on their needs. Your job is to figure out their needs using keyword tools, research and your own common sense.
For example, if you are selling kitchen appliances, you should be familiar with the pros and cons of each appliance and be able to rank them in terms a cook would understand. If you know their needs and wants you will be able to connect with your readers.
If you’re not a cook, you won’t know what’s important to a real cook and you might think they are interested in a “cheap bread maker,” or “bestselling bread maker” when they could care less about price if the machine does what it’s supposed to do.
Physical affiliate marketing can either be a seasonal business or one that is evergreen with year-round demand. For example, toys are an evergreen niche because there are always birthdays and other reasons to buy toys for the kids.
At the same time, toys are a huge market from October through December because of Christmas shopping. So toys are great as both a seasonal and evergreen niche.
Dieting is an evergreen niche. Related products are sold all year long and include items such as nutritional supplements, treadmills, diet plans and more. Even so, there is usually a spike in interest in the summer and just before New Year’s Eve when people suddenly want to lose weight to look great.
On the other hand, if you decide to sell Halloween costumes, you are confining yourself to a seasonal business. You might occasionally sell a costume during the year but most of your income will be made in October.
Most affiliate promotions will be aimed at Amazon products but there are also many other markets you can join. Even if your Amazon business is thriving, it’s always good to spread out your income sources in case Amazon makes a major change that kills your business. This has already happened to some Amazon affiliates like when Amazon slashed their affiliate commissions during the pandemic in 2020. Its also worth noting Amazon increased profits by over 200% during the pandemic. Working with companies that treat affiliates this way is not for everyone.
Two great affiliate marketplaces to mention are Commission Junction and Share-a-Sale and there are a number of others worth checking out too. You can also go directly to a store website and sign up for their affiliate program if they have one. For example, both Target and Walmart have affiliate programs. There is usually a link for signup at the bottom of most websites that offer an affiliate platform.
Most people want to get outside opinions before they make a major purchase. There are so many products to buy, so many different choices, that it can be intimidating. So if you put together lists of “best” items for a certain use and do some proper research into the different products your readers will be delighted.
Before you start your affiliate promotion, create an action plan and focus your efforts. Don’t create a site that sells everything in a niche. Decide on a theme for your site. For example, if you create a site selling every baby product imaginable, you will have a hard time attracting traffic because the big retailers will already be serving people in that niche.
Instead, why not create a site focusing on baby strollers? Recommend the best baby strollers and talk about the pros and cons of each one. Create an article about each stroller on the market. Make your site the go-to place for anyone who is thinking about buying a stroller. Be the authority on baby strollers.
Add a blog to your site and review the products in your niche. These reviews can be text or video. Both work very well in convincing customers to buy through your link. It is important to give them enough information for them to then make an informed decision when it comes to purchasing.
Above all, keep in mind that your ultimate goal is a click on your link and a sale. If you give them the all of information they want and are looking for, they will be much more likely to buy through you.
