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"The Art of Finding Winning Products"
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Jerry was a freelance eCommerce web designer when he stumbled upon the holy grail of opportunity and passive income - affiliate marketing. Until then, Affiliate marketing felt like something for professional marketers and people who really knew how to maneuver the digital world. The word itself felt intimidating and he felt hesitant to figure it out expecting complicated jargon of how it all works.
But a quick google search later revealed that affiliate marketing wasn’t an exclusive club for the elite digital marketers of the world. In fact, amateur bloggers and people with little online know-how were reeling in passive income by simply talking about certain products and services they themselves trusted and used.
He soon started implementing this into his work and started reeling in an extra $2000 a month, a steady amount for the minimal time it requires. Not bad for something that requires such little effort!
This brings us to the ultimate question: What is affiliate marketing anyway?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where an affiliate that is promoting or reviewing a product or service is rewarded by the business based on clicks or signups through the affiliate link. See? Easier than you thought!
In fact, don’t be surprised to uncover that most promotions and reviews of products or services on the internet are to gain revenue through affiliate marketing. This can sometimes give affiliate marketing a bad name and make it hard to trust online sources promoting anything, but most influencers choose to only promote products they trust and love.
We sat down with Jerry and asked him all the questions a newbie would have about starting affiliate marketing on their blog, business website, or socials.
We’re hoping that you can get your start on affiliate marketing too, and start earning a solid passive income on the side - or on a full-time basis!
As a freelance eCommerce web designer, Jerry discovered affiliate marketing as a way to earn some extra cash by simply promoting products that he already used himself.
Having no previous experience with it, he simply self-educated and started to look into dropshipping affiliate programs that he could endorse to his clients. As dropshipping started to become a go-to business idea, he started to explore the different dropshipping platforms out there.
He started out using Oberlo but came across a lot of problems with fulfillment and unhappy clients, leading him to look elsewhere for more reliable dropshipping suppliers.
He discovered the Spocket affiliate program and began testing out products and suppliers, with a great outcome and happy clients.
“I came to Spocket due to faster shipping and better products. Having all the USA and EU-sourced products was a huge plus, not having to delete the other shipping variants out of my stores every time. It’s also really easy to use Spocket, which made me feel good about recommending it to my customers.”
The best part was that Spocket integrated seamlessly with eCommerce platforms, making it a great option for anyone.
“Choose a product and company that you find valuable.”
Jerry saw value in US product selection for his clients, and he wanted his name and reputation attached to something he believes in. To top it all off, the affiliate program gives him competitive pricing which is a huge advantage in winning over customers.
Having various plans and subscription options on Spocket also gave Jerry the ability to tailor to his client’s stores from beginner to expert. The extra trial also helped in finding if it was the right fit all together and gave his customers peace of mind not having to purchase a subscription right away.
Jerry found a special niche in building eCommerce stores for people. Although it took off in recent years, he very much finds clients through advertisements and supplements his suggestions with affiliate links to make some extra money on the side.
Affiliate marketing essentially turned into a side hustle (with very little effort) when you believe in the product that you’re advocating.
He relies on clients, and he picks his clients based on honesty and integrity.
Jerry stressed the importance of getting to know the product you are promoting by testing it out for yourself and making sure that it resonates with your own standards and values.
Start by asking yourself: Would you use this product/service for yourself?
“Do the research and make sure that you understand the positives and negatives of promoting such a product/service. This is incredibly important because if people have a bad experience with something you’re promoting, they will automatically not believe anything else you say.”
Building relationships and trust with your visitors is key to a successful affiliate program, and this can only be done by doing research on the product you’re marketing and making sure it aligns with your values.
Jerry found the following factors to be important in product search when choosing dropshipping platforms and products for his clients. You can use this to guide you through finding the right products for your dropshipping store:
Jerry gave us a tip that there is a growing interest in dropshipping in Europe, opening up a world of opportunities for those who dare to take the risk. Not to toot our own horn, but Spocket has a growing array of EU dropshipping products ready to go at any time.
Getting started with affiliate marketing can be scary, but doing it right from the beginning can pay off and build a solid foundation of trust for you.
Jerry summed it up beautifully and told us that you shouldn’t shortcut the research into the product. This helps build trust, which eventually helps you build your affiliate network. He noted the following councils to avoiding mistakes as you start out:
As affiliate marketing becomes increasingly popular, more people will be getting into it, meaning more competition. This might mean that you’ll have to fight harder for traffic to your domain, but it only reiterates the importance of building trust by only advocating for products/services that you truly believe in.
Affiliate program-wise, more companies are getting into it and creating more competitive commissions. This can be both good and bad since the idea of making more commission can seem great even when you’re not crazy about the product.
All in all, affiliate programs are growing.
“Spocket has a nice easy to use platform and it adds a level of professionalism to being an affiliate marketer. Having an easy-to-use platform makes it so much easier to get signups.”
An easy-to-use platform makes affiliate marketing easier. As people are more inclined to sign up when the process is easy and seamless with their platform. With integrations to Shopify, Wix, BigCommerce, Ecwid, and Squarespace, it makes using Spocket that much easier.
So, now that you’ve seen Jerry’s first-hand use of affiliate marketing to make an extra $2000 every month, you’re probably itching to get started on your own.
Spocket has an incredible affiliate program that not only helps entrepreneurs get started on their dropshipping business, but it helps people like you earn an extra few grand every month to inch you closer to your financial dreams. IF you're still on the hunt for awesome affiliate programs after that, check out our list of top affiliate programs.
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