Which Affiliate Program Is The Best For Beginners?
While this question is open for debate, we believe Amazon’s affiliate program is the best for beginners. Amazon’s affiliate program is called the “Amazon Associates” Program. It is a very easy to use platform and they accept almost everyone (with some conditions)
Amazon Associates Program Pros
Low Entry Barrier: It is very easy to get accepted in to the amazon associates’ program. You only need about 10 posts and to make sure your site complies with Amazon’s guidelines.
Access to hundreds of thousands of products.
Products cover most niches.
Brand Recognition. Amazon is a famous online marketplace that most people recognize and trust the brand.
Amazon’s Customer Service is excellent and takes care of all the potential problems for you.
Links are easy to use and manage.
Amazon Associates Program Cons
Very Strict Rules: You must follow the rules and guidelines carefully or risked being banned by amazon.
1. Amazon Specific Affiliate Disclaimer
2. Do not copy pictures from the product. Use site stripe only
Low Commission Rates: While Amazon used to have higher commission rates that is no longer the case. They really don’t treat their affiliates very well in terms of compensation.
You Will Need To Make 3 Qualified Sales In 180 Days Before you are officially accepted in to the program. You are basically are on a trial period. If you do not meet that quota you will be suspended from the program all together. You can reapply but all your affiliate links will change.
There Is A Two Month Wait BEFORE You Are Paid. There is a very long wait time until you actually get see your profit. Part of the delay is Amazon likes to make sure the item is not returned before they send out commissions.
Tracking Cookie Is Only 24 Hours. This mean if someone clicks your link they have 24 hours to make a purchase for you to get a commission. After that you don’t make any commission.
Need Amazon Specific Disclaimer. By law you must have a disclaimer on the page if you are using affiliate links. Amazon has a rule where you must have a specific disclaimer that you are using Amazon’s links. While this is not a deal breaker it is annoying to make sure you have the special disclaimer which is why this made it on to the cons list.
How To Join Amazon Associates Program
Go to https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
and read over the overview of the program. Then click sign up at the bottom of the page. It will take you to the sign-up form. Please make sure you already have a site and at least 10 posts. Fill out the form and wait for approval.
Affiliate Programs VS Affiliate Networks
Affiliate Programs are individual programs usually by the brand or by products. Affiliate Networks are marketplaces of affiliate programs for multiple brands.
How To Find Affiliate Programs
What you will want to do is type “your niche” or “your product name” + “affiliate” or “affiliate program” in to the search engines to find affiliate programs. It really is that simple!
How To Find Affiliate Products
Type your niche in to the search engine. On google it always shows products for sale at the top or the top right. This will give you an idea on what is selling in your niche. It also allows you to see if your niche is profitable because if there are products then there is market.
Other Affiliate Programs For Beginners
(For Sites With 25-30 Posts)
Type: Affiliate Network
Pros
Free To Join
Access to hundreds of brands
Cons
Brands come and go all the time.
Does not cover all niches
Fiverr Affiliate Program
Type: Affiliate Program for a marketplace of freelance jobs.
Pros
Free To Join
Thousands of people to choose from for specific tasks and jobs.
Cons
Varying degrees of prices, work ethic, and quality.
CJ Affiliate (Formally Commission Junction)
Type: Affiliate network
Pros
Big Name Brands Are known to use CJ
Free To Join
Cons
Brands come and go
Etsy
Type: Affiliate Program For Handmade Goods, Online Marketplace.
Pros
Free To Join
Access to thousands of handmade products
Cons
You cannot have an all Etsy links site. You must have product links from other sources.
Clickbank
Type: Affiliate Network that focus on digital products (ie programs, courses, eBooks, software)
Pros
Digital Products
Cons
Quite a lot of the programs are complete garbage or outright scams. ClickBank says each program is vetted but that is VERY hard to believe.
Ever heard of “Social Media Jobs” or “Paying Social Media Jobs”? Well We had not when we signed up using our personal email address. Now we get an extra 40 or more spam emails a day and there were NO jobs. So the moral of the story is personally vet EACH and EVERY program before you decide to promote it. (In this case we will be doing a review)
Conclusion
We definitely think Amazon is the best affiliate program for beginners but as you move along in your business you will want to add more links to your site and join more lucrative programs.
Tip: Don’t try and promote everything as this will make you look untrustworthy.
Amazon’s low commission rates make it hard to do business with them exclusively. For more experienced marketers we actually do not recommend Amazon at all. Beginners to affiliate marketing have different needs than experienced marketers. Amazon is a great program to get started with but it should not be your sole monetization plan.
We also recommend at least having at least 30 posts BEFORE you apply to any affiliate program (including Amazon). This will build out your site, show some authority, and get some traffic coming to your site. It is easier to market to an existing audience than it is to completely start from scratch.
There are many places to find affiliate programs for most niches. If you are unsure if there are affiliate programs or products for your niche try the mentioned methods above.
