Affiliate Marketing for Beginners - A Complete Guide for 2022

Want to make passive income online? 

If yes, you’re in luck. 

That’s because 2022 is the perfect year to do it. 

Here’s proof:

There are currently 7 billion searches per day on Google (up from 3.5 billion in 2019).

Experts estimate that by 2040, 95% of purchases will be done online.

1.79 billion people bought something online in the past year.*/

Source: worldometers.info 

Jaw-dropping, huh?   

Seriously, this era is the best time to be alive for people like you and me (a.k.a. people who cringe at the thought of waking up at an ungodly hour and gritting our teeth through two hours of endless traffic just to get to the fluorescent-lighted office that we hate). 

Now, there’s even better news. 

To make a huge stream of passive income online, you don’t even need to spend years creating your own product. 

You can promote pre-existing (and already-loved) products, eliminating the need to spend a ton of time and money on research, product development, salaries, and all the jazz connected with starting up your own business. 

Affiliate marketing. 

Now, if you’re a beginner and you want to know exactly what it is, why you should do it, and how to get started…

…you’ve come to the right place. 

In this blog, I’ll show you:

Why affiliate marketing is the best online business for 2022

An in-depth, start-to-finish, step-by-step guide on how to get started (even if you’re a total NOOB)

How to do affiliate marketing right in 2022 (it’s not the same as it was 10 or even 5 years ago)

And so much more!

Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.

As a decade-long affiliate marketer earning $40,000/month in affiliate commissions, I’m the perfect person to guide you on your journey.

So, ready to get started?

Let’s go! 

What Is Affiliate Marketing? (What All Beginners Should Know)

Travel back in time with me for a moment. 

Imagine it’s 1982, or some obscure date before the internet came to change all our lives forever. 

You’re in your parachute pants or velour leggings, looking for a way to earn more money (probably to buy more parachute pants or velour leggings ?). 

Now, you learn that Uncle Sam a few blocks down is making thousands of dollars in profit from selling organic hand lotions. 

Since you lead a book club of hardworking moms, you know you have the perfect buyers for Sam’s lotions. 

What you do next: go over to Sam’s and tell him you’ll promote his products to your book club…for a slice of the price. 

In the end, it’s a win-win-win. 

The moms get soft hands, Sam sells more lotion, and you make some money without having to go the extra mile to create your own product. 

Sounds great, right? 

That’s exactly what affiliate marketing is. 

You build an audience (the book club), then find affiliate partners (Uncle Sam) whose products you can promote.  

The end result is also a win-win-win.

Your audience gets a product they love, the company makes more sales, and you get a slice of the price. 

Really simple, huh? 

But in case you wanted a more definite description, here’s how Investopedia talks about it:

Source: investopedia.com  

And here’s a definition from the Oxford Dictionary: 

Source: google.com

In short, affiliate marketing is a mode of marketing in which affiliate partners promote a company’s products and earn commission from everything they sell. 

Let me illustrate. 

Imagine you’re a fitness coach. 

You build a website and start a blog teaching people how to get fit despite a busy schedule. 

In time, you attract a legion of nine-to-five workers who want to take better care of their bodies. 

These people become your devoted audience. 

Each week, they visit your blog to learn more tips and tricks on keeping healthy and fit despite the constant hustle of their lives. 

Now, let’s say you wanted to monetize your blog. 

What you would do is find an affiliate partner, or a company whose products you can promote for commissions. 

Let’s say you choose Gene Food.

Gene Food is a company that specializes in creating customized diets for people based on their DNA.

What you would do is sign up for Gene Food’s affiliate program.

Source: mygenefood.com 

If you get accepted (you likely will if you already have a strong blog following), you’ll receive customized links that you can use throughout your blog. 

When your audience clicks these links and buys the products you’re promoting, you get a commission from each sale. 

Ok, so what makes me think your audience will buy the stuff you promote? 

That’s where trust and authority come in. 

If you can build a blog that speaks to your audience’s heart, steps into their shoes, and solves their most pressing problems…

…they will buy what you promote. 

Cool, huh? 

Why Affiliate Marketing? (3 Big Reasons It’s the Best Online Business Around)

Ok, so why affiliate marketing? 

Why not just sell your backyard celery online?

Or create a course and upload it on Udemy?

Here are three (big) reasons you should skip the first two suggestions and go for affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing Won’t Empty Your Pocket

Here’s the thing about starting up any business:

You need capital. 

That’s true even if you’re starting up an online business. 

For example, it’ll take money to develop your own online course (think course platform, course materials, video editing software, a camera and gear, etc.). 

With affiliate marketing, all you need is the bare minimum…

…which in most cases is no more than $15 for a domain and web hosting. 

Check out BlueHost’s awesome deals here. 

Source: bluehost.com 

Just think of it. 

Instead of heading over to Starbucks to splurge your $15 on five venti-sized cappuccinos…

…you can start your own business and start earning passive income. 

Affiliate Marketing Won’t Load You with Risk

Quick question. 

Why do people choose to invest in a franchise instead of building their own brand?

It’s less risky.

That’s because the brand they’ll be flying under already has proven-and-tested products, plus a devoted customer base.

The same is true with affiliate marketing.

Instead of creating your own sports gear and crossing your fingers hoping people will love it, you can promote well-known sports brands like Nike, Addidas, and Reebok.

Instead of building a name for yourself from scratch, you can promote online courses that have already helped thousands of students succeed in their lives and careers. 

The list goes on. 

With affiliate marketing, you can earn huge cuts in commission with minimal risk. 

Affiliate Marketing Is Flexible 

Imagine that you’ve developed your own brand of dog food to market to pet lovers across the globe. 

But the longer you do business, the more you realize that pet lovers don’t only own dogs.