If you need extra income, you should consider doing affiliate marketing…

Monetizing a blog can be difficult, especially when you’re just starting out. How can you tell what your readers actually want?

This was my greatest challenge when I launched my blog.

Prior to the launch of my blog, I had read several e-books and posts – and the authors advised that I monetize my blog with affiliate offers.

As a newbie, I followed the laid out rules. I even filled my sidebar with affiliate banners and started blogging.

Day in and day out, I’d log into my clickbank account, hoping to see $50 – $100 in sales but nothing happened.

I was fed up and decided to take a better more logical approach. It was when I started promoting health affiliate products.

If this sad story sounds familiar, hang on and I’ll show you the 5 things you must NEVER do when promoting any affiliate product. It worked for me and I’m sure your own case will not be different.

I made a terrible mistake when I first started my affiliate business. Of course I didn’t know the negative effect of using hype at the time, but I was using it nonetheless.

If all you do is exaggerate the benefits of a particular offer, without considering your ideal customers’ interest, you’ll lose the trust they have for you.

Hype is an ugly marketing trick. Have you ever felt unhappy when the so-called gurus tried to exploit you? Making money as an affiliate marketer calls for honesty and integrity. Potential customers are counting on you to show them the way.

Don’t disappoint them with your hype and dishonesty. The bottom line is to promote only offers that are truly helpful. If there is any part of the module that isn’t so good, make it known to your readers.

Does this sound weird? After all, as affiliates we’re supposed to sell in order to make commissions. All right, I understand you perfectly, but there is a clause there.

The truth is that affiliate marketers are not supposed to sell anything. In fact, it’s not their primary duty.

The role of an affiliate marketer is to motivate, inform and educate potential buyers. If you try to sell the offer, when you eventually lead the prospects through to the salesletter, converting them would be difficult.

Instead, presell in an honest manner and creatively lead the person to the store to complete the sale. Use valuable content to teach people what to do. Teaching sells so well online – use it.

That’s how to pre-sell. Share your best information and don’t hoard any no matter what happens.

I know a lot of affiliate marketers who send new products every week to their subscribers. This can be irritating and I advise you don’t do it.

The email list is a vital component of your blogging business. You should nurture your subscribers and get them to trust you.

Once you can achieve that, it’d be a lot easier to monetize the list and make more money.

Bear in mind that sending an affiliate offer that you know would be helpful to your list isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why you should collect leads in the first place.

What I’m saying is that you should minimize promotional email blasts. Balance the free information you share with premium offers. That’s how to build a reputation online, which money can’t buy.

The sidebar is a viable spot to add affiliate banners. But don’t overdo things and confuse your readers.

You’ve got to understand that people came to your blog because they’ve got needs in their lives. Every day, millions of people search the web, looking for answers…

Quality content is the only answer you should provide. Yes, with quality content you could easily recommend a helpful affiliate product and make money too.

If you do place advertisements on your sidebar, there is no need to have more than four banners of your favorite affiliate products – keep the sidebar clean.

Preferably, promote offers you currently use to run your business, or promote products you would try yourself. It’s the easiest way to persuade readers to purchase and share with others.

And when they buy through your link, you’ll earn a commission and who knows how much that’s going to be.

What are you waiting for to start making money via affiliate marketing? Remember, bloggers who don’t make enough money from this profitable business model don’t have the required knowledge to make it work.

What you need to get started is an affiliate marketing coachthat knows what works, and knows how to take baby steps to achieve your internet marketing objective. Leave a comment below if you enjoyed this post. Thank you for reading…