Have you ever been tempted by an affluent and location independent lifestyle away from the corporate treadmill? So perhaps you wondered what skills exactly you need to succeed in making money online? Read on for a run-through of affiliate marketing skills you need to master so you can succeed in making money on the Internet.
Affiliate Marketing Skills Are More Diverse than You Think
It is a common misconception that affiliate marketing is simple: You put a link to a merchant with an affiliate program on your website. Potential buyers click your link, purchase from the merchant, and you get to pocket a commission.
But in the real world, affiliate marketers use many different promotion methods like website content, online advertisements, email marketing, various social media, videos, and live events.
So, while the particular skill set can vary, affiliate marketing requires a wide range of skills.
Also, there are myriad more considerations between people clicking your link and a commission made. These considerations will always involve a basic tool kit of skills to become a successful affiliate marketer.
They will concern psychology, language, and technology.
Like a tripod, you need three legs for your affiliate business to stand on.
But wait, I am not talking about the tripod for a camera, but the tripod headstand in yoga. Sounds too weird? Hear me out!
Okay, here on the left, that’s a tripod handstand picture from the Yoga Pradīpikāon, a classic yoga text from the 18th century. So the three legs here are, in fact, your head and two arms.
Additionally, the headstand is called the king of all the yoga poses because of all its wonderful effects on your body and mind. We cannot thrive without a strong and healthy brain, one of the physical benefits of a headstand. It stimulates the functioning of the pineal, hypothalamus, and pituitary glands.
Let’s start with the head.
Affiliates Need to Get into the Heads of People – Including Your Own
The first of the 3 affiliate marketing skills is your head, which is about understanding whatever you can about the human psyche. Understanding your own mind and those of others.
For yourself, because you will need to control your mind to have the grit and perseverance to make it through the initial fruitless months. How quickly you will generate sufficient revenue, if ever, depends on your skills and dedication. But it’s generally a good idea to prepare for about 3 – 6 months of hard work without significant income.
And for other minds, understand what motivates people, how they make decisions, what you can do to enrich their lives. Good affiliate marketers are masterful observers of the human psyche. Whatever you do on the Internet to make money from affiliate marketing, you do it for other people. The more you can put yourself into the shoes of others, the better your marketing material will be.
People in most professions surround themselves with like-minded peers. As an affiliate, you need to get into the head of people for any new vertical, aka industry, you look at. And the appreciation, fascination, and empathy with this variety in human behavior is a key affiliate marketing skill.
Finding the Right Words is an Essential Affiliate Marketing Skill
The second leg, or to remain in the yoga pose analogy, your right arm, is the ability to write.
Regular writing is a great transformation tool to come to terms with emotions, order your thoughts and knowledge, and literally write your future.
In fact, regular journaling is a fantastic way to prepare for affiliate marketing (as for many other endeavors in life), and you can, in time, move from journaling to blogging.
Whatever your promotional strategy, you will need to create new content in affiliate marketing continually. This could be new posts and pages on your website, new social media posts on Instagram, or updating information on your LinkedIn page. Clearly, you will need some copywriting skills to craft content that engages readers.
Writing copy that sells is a hot and widely discussed skill in affiliate marketings you will need to get familiar with. And only if to recognize good writing in case you prefer to outsource your content creation. A very useful reference for both newbies and seasoned marketers is ‘The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells’ by Robert W. Bly.
And Ah Yeah, Let’s Talk Technology
The third leg or your left arm in the yoga analogy is some technical skill.
Begnning with registering a domain name, selecting the right host, and setting up your site with the right content management system (CMS), the list is potentially very long.
Generally speaking, the technical skills you need today to succeed online aren’t as demanding as they once were. But of course it is still advantageous to understand search engine optimization, optimizing your site for speed, doing minor coding modifications yourself, automating website processes and so on.
Technical web development skills will always be an advantage, but not having them yet should not discourage you either.
Bringing it All Together
The gold standard in dealing with customers today is Integrated Marketing or IM. IM is the seamless integration of all customer experience with an organization or business.
I have described the affiliate marketing skills using the tripod headstand pose in yoga. What gives the pose its stability is the core, strong abdominal muscles. In yoga, finding the core is finding your center that gives stability to everything.
And in affiliate marketing it is your particular approach, your passion that you bring to the business.
As an affiliate marketer, you don’t just sell, but you help other people solve their problems with your life experience and expertise.
And as you expand your affiliate marketing skills in psychology, copywriting, and Internet technology, you are in fact developing an unbeatable skillset for the 21st century.
