Would you like to make money working from home? Of course you would – that way you would not only avoid a stressful commute to work via car/train/bus, etc, but you would be able to choose the hours you worked and have greater freedom – including financially. The fact is, if you have a computer which is connected to the internet, then you can work from anywhere in the world – your home or even a tropical beach. “But how can I actually earn money” you ask……..
What’s stopping you?
Possibly you have been put off setting up a website in an attempt to make money because of the following reasons:
• You don’t know how to get started
• You are not a computer programmer
• You don’t have the money/expertise to set up an online shop
• You don’t want to invest lots of money in stock to sell via website
• You don’t want the hassle of dealing with customer support issues
• Etc, etc, etc……..
The fact is you can make money online without being an expert in web design or programming. You don’t even need any stock. You don’t need to deal with customers. But how will you make money? The answer is Affiliate Marketing – you advertise other companies products/services and earn a % of any sales you refer. Hundreds of thousands of people world-wide earn money this way – and you can join them.
No doubt you’ve heard of price comparison sites such as GoCompare with their Meerkats, etc. When you select your car insurance you leave their website and go to a car insurance provider website, where you can then make a purchase.
So have you ever wondered how sites such as the Meerkats price comparison site make money? They make money by being affiliate marketing websites – they earn a % of every sale they refer. They don’t hold any stock. They don’t communicate with customers, they don’t arrange insurance, etc. They just refer a sale. Thankfully, you can also copy their business model. You can easily set up an affiliate marketing website.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
An affiliate marketing program is a revenue sharing program where an affiliate (you) earn commissions by referring customers to a Merchants website (e.g. www.easyspace.com) .
For example, if you joined the Easyspace affiliate program ( you can sign up as an Easyspace affiliate here), you can access lots of professionally designed banners and text links – which are unique to you. You can place an Easyspace affiliate banner or text link on your website, blog, etc, so that your site visitors know about our products.
If somebody clicks on your link, goes through to Easyspace.com website and purchases something from us e.g. a domain name or web hosting, etc, then you will earn a commission payment for this.
How to get started:
The first thing you need to do is decide what your affiliate marketing website is going to be about. What sector will you target? I would advise you choose a sector that you are really interested in – that way you will have sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. E.g. if you are passionate about Formula 1, then you could make a website about that. Or if you’re interested in handbags then you could create a website all about your favourite hand bags e.g. styles, designers, hand bag shops, history, etc, etc.
Register a domain name
Once you have decided what sector you are going to target e.g. fashion, travel, gadgets, sports, bingo, food, toys, etc the next step you need to take is to register a domain name for your website. If you are a beginner to affiliate marketing then you may want to consider registering a ‘Keyword Rich Domain’ i.e. a name that describes exactly what the website is about. If the name you want is not available, then you can choose a name which has hyphens between the keywords.
For example, if you are passionate about baking chocolate cakes then you may decide to create a website with the domain name www.chocolate-cake-recipes.co.uk (still available to register at time of writing this blog post). Try to choose a name that is memorable, describes your sector and has only 1-3 keywords (e.g. chocolate, cake, recipes). If you can’t get a .com or .co.uk, then don’t worry – there are lots of alternatives such as .org.uk, .info, .co, .uk.com, .me, .eu, etc, etc.
Get web hosting
Once you have decided on which domain name you want, checked it’s still available and registered it, the next step is to purchase web hosting.
Web hosting is where your web page files are stored on the internet. A Web hosting provider such as Easyspace allows other people to see your website on the World Wide Web.
Easyspace offers a number of different web hosting packages that you can choose from. For more info visit the web hosting section of the Easyspace website.
It is important that you use a trusted, reliable and professional web hosting company, such as Easyspace.com to host your website.
Setup your website
Once you have decided on your domain name and web hosting, the next step is to set up your website. Depending on your expertise, experience and time you have available, there are three main options for this:
1. Design your website yourself – If you are capable of designing a website e.g. using HTML in Notepad or Dreamweaver software, etc, then this will give you control over the design.
2. Get somebody else to design it for you – for example, Easyspace offers a web design service that you can use. For a free Easyspace web design consultation, visit the easyspace web design section.
3. WordPress – This is a content management system (CMS) that enables you, without any technical knowledge to set up a website of your own. It is fairly easy to use and is used by millions of websites world-wide. It uses a template system where users install and can choose between design themes. Themes allow users to change the design and functionality of a WordPress website, while keeping the content the same. There are thousands of design themes on the internet for you to choose from.
If you choose any one of the following Easyspace web hosting packages then they come with a ‘1-Click install’ of WordPress: StarterPlus Hosting, Business Hosting and Pic’n’Mix Hosting. WordPress will enable you to quickly get your website set up e.g. with a blog, contact us page, home page, etc.
Once you have your domain registered, web hosting in place, and web site designed and live – which with Easyspace can all be done in only a matter of hours – the next step is for you to add content and affiliate links to relevant online shops in your sector, into your website. It is important that you regularly update your affiliate site, so as to encourage Google to increase your websites page ranking towards to the top spot.
If you have completed the above steps then you are on your way to earning money online.
Sign up as an Easyspace affiliate today!
Below are two examples of affiliate sites to inspire you:
http://www.purseblog.com/ – The blog was started in February 2005 by Meaghan Mahoney Dusil, the resident bag enthusiast and editor, and Vladimir Dusil, the tech head. Having started as a fun side project during the preliminary age of blogging, PurseBlog has transformed into a full-time obsession and occupation. With over 95,000 daily visitors, the site has become one of the most trafficked niche blogs in the shopping segment.
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/ – Al Carlton started Coolest Gadgets back in August 2005. Coolest-Gadgets earned $61.5k in December 2007
