Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular (and simple) ways to make money online. Instead of creating and selling your own products, you can promote other people’s products and earn a commission for every sale you make.
If you manage to make it work, you can run your affiliate marketing campaigns from anywhere in the world, set your own hours, and make a great passive income.
However, one of the biggest barriers to entry for people looking to get into affiliate marketing is the lack of start-up capital. While the barriers to entry are lower than they’ve ever been, it can still be tough to get started if you don’t have any money to invest.
With this in mind, I have created an article that will break down some of the main challenges you’ll face when starting affiliate marketing with no money, and give you some actionable tips on how to overcome them.
Can You Start Affiliate Marketing With No Money?
At its core, affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing technique in which a business rewards affiliates for each customer they bring to the company (this is usually tracked through an affiliate code or cookie placed on the customer’s computer).
The more customers you can bring in, the more money you will make.
In my personal experience, affiliate marketing is also one of the easiest ways to make money online, and a great way to improve your digital marketing skills. But what if you’re starting from scratch with no money to invest in your marketing efforts?
Well, the good news is that it is possible to start an affiliate marketing business with absolutely no capital whatsoever. The bad news is that it’s going to be a lot harder than if you had some start-up capital to work with – so you will need to be prepared to put in a lot more time and effort to find success.
In general, I find that the vast majority of people who try to start affiliate marketing in this way end up quitting before they ever see any real results. The reason for this is that, without any money to invest in your marketing, you’re going to have to rely solely on free traffic sources.
And while there are plenty of free traffic sources out there, they all take time to build up and are highly competitive – but it CAN be done. On that note, here is a quick guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing with no money.
Find a Niche
In affiliate marketing, a niche is simply a group of people that share a common interest. This can be anything from dog owners to people who want to learn how to play the guitar.
The key is to find a niche that is large enough to be profitable but not so competitive that you will get drowned out in the noise. This is especially important when you have no money to invest in marketing since you will need to rely on free traffic sources.
To find a good niche, you can start by brainstorming a list of potential ideas, and then you can use a tool like Google Trends to see how popular these topics are. Some popular niches include:
- Health and fitness
- Beauty and fashion
- Technology
- Travel
- Personal finance
- Dating and relationships
Select an Affiliate Program
Once you’ve found a niche that you think has potential, the next step is to research the affiliate programs that are available to you. There are literally thousands of affiliate programs out there, so it’s important to select one that is a good fit for your niche and your audience.
Some things to look for in an affiliate program include:
- A high commission rate
- A wide range of products or services to promote
- A good reputation
- Good customer service
Choose Your (Free) Traffic Source
Once you’ve found a niche and an affiliate program, the next step is to start generating traffic to your website or blog. Remember, you have no money to invest in paid traffic sources, so you’ll need to focus on free methods.
There are a number of ways to generate free traffic, but almost all of them revolve around social media.
Of course, you could simply email your affiliate code out to every person in your email address book, but that’s not very effective (and it will probably just annoy your friends and family).
A better way to use social media is to build up a following of engaged fans and followers, and then share your affiliate links with them on a regular basis. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the most popular social media platforms that you can use for this purpose:
Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and it’s also one of the best places to promote affiliate products. The key is to find relevant Facebook groups in your niche and then share your affiliate links with the members of those groups.
It’s also a good idea to create your own Facebook page dedicated to your affiliate marketing business. This will give you a place to share your links and engage with your audience on a regular basis.
Twitter is another social media platform that you can use to promote your affiliate business. On Twitter, you can share your affiliate links with your followers, and you can also use Twitter to find relevant people in your niche to follow.
YouTube
In my opinion, YouTube is probably one of the best places to promote affiliate products if you have no budget to work with. It’s free to create a YouTube channel, and you can use your videos to promote your affiliate products in a number of ways.
Since you are reading this, you likely already have a computer and internet connection, so those will be your only expenses.
Start by creating videos that are related to your niche. For example, if you are in the health and fitness niche, you could create videos about healthy recipes, workout routines, or product reviews. Once you have a few videos up, you can then use those videos to promote your affiliate products.
There are a number of ways to do this, but one of the most effective is to include your affiliate link in the video description. You can also include a call to action at the end of your videos, asking viewers to click on your affiliate link.
LinkedIn is excellent for organic reach to B2B clients and customers. You can generate a lot of leads by sharing your content on LinkedIn because it has such a high authority with Google. When you share an article on LinkedIn, be sure to add a call-to-action and your affiliate link within the post so that people can click through to your website.
You can also join LinkedIn groups relevant to your niche and share your affiliate links with the members of those groups. Just be sure not to spam the groups, or you will get banned.
TikTok
Finally, we have TikTok, which is a relatively new social media platform but one that is growing in popularity very quickly. TikTok is a video-based platform, so it’s perfect for promoting affiliate products that are related to video, or those that are better explained visually.
To get started, simply create videos that are entertaining and informative, and be sure to include your affiliate link in the video description. Remember, TikTok is a predominantly young audience, so your videos should be short, attention-grabbing, and to the point.
Create High-Quality Content
No matter what platform you choose, you must focus on creating high-quality content. This is the only way to attract an audience that will be interested in what you have to say, and it’s also the only way to build trust with your audience.
If you’re not sure what kind of content to create, a good place to start is by creating how-to videos, product reviews, or helpful tips and tricks related to your niche. If you are still stuck for ideas, take a look at what other people in your niche are doing and see if you can improve upon it.
Build an Email List
As an affiliate marketer, your email list is one of your most valuable assets. This is because you can use your email list to promote your affiliate products directly to your audience rather than relying on social media platforms that could change their algorithms at any time.
To build your email list, you will need to create a lead magnet, which is a piece of content that offers value in exchange for an email address. Once you have your lead magnet, you can then promote it on your social media platforms.
When people sign up for your lead magnet, be sure to send them high-quality content that will help them solve a problem they are facing. This will build trust with your audience and make them more likely to purchase products from you in the future.
Once you have a few thousand email subscribers, you can then start promoting your affiliate products to them. Just be sure to segment your list so that you are only promoting relevant products to relevant people.
Promote Like There Is No Tomorrow
Once you have your list and you have built up an audience, it’s time to start promoting your affiliate products like there is no tomorrow. However, don’t just go at it blindly. You need to have a plan and a strategy in place so that you can maximize your results.
Write down your goals and objectives, and then create a promotional schedule that you can stick to. The key is to be consistent with your promotions and to always be testing different products, offers, and strategies until you find what works best for you and your audience.
How to Start Affiliate Marketing With Almost No Money
After you have got a few successful sales under your belt you might want to consider reinvesting some of that money back into your business. Doing so will help you scale up your operation and potentially make even more money.
In my opinion, the best way to do this would be to start a blog in the same niche as your affiliate product. Not only will this help you build up an audience of potential customers, but it will also give you a platform where you can grow and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
A blog will also give you something to promote on social media and other free traffic sources, which will help broaden your sales funnel and increase your chances of making more sales. Here are the steps to creating a successful affiliate blog:
Purchase a Domain Name and Hosting
The first step to creating a successful affiliate blog is to purchase a domain name and hosting. A domain name will probably set you back around $10 per year, and hosting will probably cost you around $100 per year (but you can find cheaper).
Fortunately, most hosting providers will give you a free domain name when you sign up for their hosting services which helps to save a bit of money.
Install WordPress
Now that you have the essentials covered, you will need a platform on which to build your blog. In my opinion, the best platform for affiliate marketing is WordPress.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that enables you to create a website or blog without any prior coding experience. It is also user-friendly, making it ideal for those who are not tech-savvy. With that said, WordPress does have a bit of a learning curve. But once you get the hang of it, it becomes very easy to use.
There are two ways to install WordPress: manually or with a one-click installer. If you go the manual route, you will need to download WordPress from their website and then upload it to your hosting account. This can be a bit complicated for beginners, so I would recommend using a one-click installer (which you can find on most hosting platforms).
Choose a Theme
Now that WordPress is installed, it’s time to choose a theme. A theme is basically a template that determines the layout and design of your website or blog. There are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from, both free and premium. For affiliate marketing, I would recommend choosing a simple and clean theme so that your content can take center stage.
Install Plugins
Now that you have a theme, it’s time to install some plugins. WordPress plugins are small pieces of software that add functionality to your website or blog. They are not essential, but they can be very helpful, especially for affiliate marketing.
There are thousands of WordPress plugins to choose from, both free and premium. For affiliate marketing, I would recommend installing a plugin like ThirstyAffiliates, which helps you cloak your affiliate links and makes it easier to manage your affiliate programs.
I would also recommend installing a caching plugin like W3 Total Cache, which helps to speed up your website by caching your pages and posts. And finally, I would recommend installing an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO, which helps you optimize your website for search engines.
Work on Your SEO Skills
In order for your blog to be successful, you need to learn how SEO works so you can drive organic traffic to your site. The best way to do this is to create high-quality content that is keyword-rich and informative. Each piece of content should be thoroughly researched and well-written.
Unfortunately, SEO is a long-term game and it can take months or even years to see results. But if you’re patient and you stick with it, eventually your hard work will pay off and you will start to see traffic coming to your site.
Promote Your Blog on Social Media and Other Free Traffic Sources
Once you have some content published on your blog, it’s time to bring all of your strategies together. Hopefully, by now, your social media channels are picking up pace and your email list is growing. From here, you can start putting out content for your audience and promoting your blog on other free traffic sources like forums and discussion boards.
Just remember to keep it consistent and don’t give up if you don’t see results right away. It takes time and effort to build a successful blog, but it’s definitely worth it in the end.
Conclusion
Starting an affiliate marketing business with no money is a difficult task, but it can be done if you are willing to put in the time and effort. By following the strategies outlined in this post, you can give yourself the best chance for success and start generating traffic and sales for your affiliate marketing business.
Once the ball is rolling, you can then start reinvesting your profits into paid traffic sources like PPC ads to further accelerate your business (and profits).
