In part 1 in this series “How do I become a successful affiliate through internet marketing” we explored the first variable which is “You” and looked at some of the factors or qualities you need to have in order to become a successful affiliate online.

The product or service you wish to promote ~ Variable 2

The next variable to consider is what is the affiliate product or service that you want to promote. Is this a product of your own making or is an affiliate product or service. Either way it is really important that if you want to promote anything it must be something you believe in and have had a positive personal experience with.

What is a good product or service to promote?

This is often asked, the answer is, what ever you are passionate about, what do you like doing? There is bound to be a product or service that will closely match what you enjoy.

All too often people are focused on “what makes the most money” question, however if you have time to actually think about it, what works for one person may not work for the other and one reason for this could be a lack of passion or even interest. Also keep in mind that you may be spending many hours writing about or promoting the product or service so it will need to be something you actually like to give you the inspiration to continue, the money will come in time providing you keep focused and committed to the end goal.

What is a Niche?

There are other considerations too, what will sell online ? In order for you to sell an affiliate product or service effectively online you will need to find a profitable niche. You will need to ask the question “is this a potentially profitable niche?” So, what is a niche and how do we find out if it is profitable? A niche is simply a specialized area of a general area or topic.

For example if we were going to promote “golf” that is a general area with many possibilities and lots of competition, however if we decided to promote “golf swing e books” that would be a niche and a specialized area in the area of golf.

How do I find a profitable niche?

To find out if a niche is profitable, the optimum affiliate product or service would have a large number of people searching for this product (looking for it on the internet) with a high level of purchase (for that niche) combined with minimal competition, which is to say that there are not too many people already promoting this particular product or service.

The only way to find this out is through research. A good educational affiliate online program will show you exactly how to do the research so that you can find a potentially profitable niche. Researching niches is highly undervalued, but a few hours spent on research can make the difference between success and failure as an affiliate so it is time well spent.

Never forget ~ Internet ethics

A quick word about internet ethics. Don’t be tempted to promote a product you have no knowledge of, don’t let your self be talked into recommending something you have no experience with or a company you have never dealt with. It might cost you a little to buy a product, actually use it and then see if it is something you would be happy to promote, but it is money well spent. This way you can review the product honestly, review the company that sold you the product including their guarantees and after sales service. This will increase your credibility and reputation online as an ethical person to deal with.

In part 3 of “How to become a successful affiliate through internet marketing” we will explore the next variable , ‘Knowledge’ and go into more detail about the knowledge required to become a successful affiliate online.

If you liked this post, subscribe to my RSS feed for regular updates.