So, you want to get into affiliate marketing, but you have zero followers. How can you start affiliate marketing without a following? Is it even possible?
To start affiliate marketing without a following, promote on forums, in groups, and to friends. Use hashtags on social media to get exposure, even without followers. Also, focus on building up your following by adding other users, liking posts, and commenting on posts.
This article will explain how to start with affiliate marketing, even if you have no following. I will show you how to make money right away, even without followers, and how to build yourself up from scratch and collect new followers from day one. Let us get into it.
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What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing refers to promoting products as an affiliate. As an affiliate, the company will pay you for every sale you bring to the company. Many companies have affiliate programs you can sign up for instantly. You will get a special link to the product, so the company will know which visitors and sales came through you.
You will get a commission for every sale you make. For example, if the company set the commission to 10 percent, you will earn $10 for a $100 sale.
Can You Do Affiliate Marketing Without a Following?
Yes, you certainly can. It is a myth that you need an established blog to do affiliate marketing. This article will show you several ways to make money with affiliate marketing, even if you do not have a following. I will also show you how to build up a following rather quickly.
Promote to Family and Friends
You may want to skip this step if you are afraid of annoying your family and friends. However, if you know people who would benefit from the product you are promoting, and you are confident that it is a good quality product that is well worth the money, there is no reason you can not promote it to family and friends.
You can send your affiliate link via email or a messaging app, like WhatsApp, to your family or friends.
Promote on Forums
There are many forums online on all kinds of topics. For example, if you are promoting a skincare product, look for forums that are related to skincare, where people share skincare tips. You can join the forum and promote your affiliate link.
However, do not spam. Make sure the forum allows you to post links so you don’t get banned. Also, do not be overly promotional. Join the forum to add some advice and help people out. For example, if someone has a question about taking care of their skin, you can reply to their post and give them some tips. At the end of the tips, you can subtly promote the product and say that this is a good product that might help them.
I would recommend using Bitly to shorten your affiliate links if you promote your links on a forum. Otherwise, it will be painfully clear that it is an affiliate link. It will also look ugly. Bitly shortens the link so that people can’t see the original link but are still taken to it when they click on it.
Promote in Comment Sections
Many blogs have comment sections where users can share advice and tips. The same rules that apply to forums apply here. Do not spam. Ensure you add valuable information to the discussion and only add your link as an aside after your valuable information. You want to be adding to the discussion, not spamming it with an affiliate link.
Promote in Groups
You can find groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram about specific topics. Again, you need to make sure you are adding to the discussion. Be relevant – do not promote a skincare product in a group dedicated to travel or vice versa. That will get you banned from the group. Also, check the Facebook group rules to make sure that the moderators allow you to post links. If they say that no promotion is allowed, do not do it.
Promote on Facebook
You might not have followers on Facebook or Instagram, but you probably have at least a few friends on Facebook. You can share a new status saying you are using this great product and recommend others to check it out. Alternatively, you might add the link to your profile information, so you don’t have to annoy your Facebook friends.
Promote Using Hashtags
Using hashtags is a great trick that allows you to get seen on social media even if you do not have any followers. You might not have any followers on Instagram, but the hashtag you are using might! Yes, people follow hashtags on Instagram just like they follow people. Although you can not follow hashtags on Twitter, people still search recent posts for trending hashtags.
For example, if you are promoting a skincare product, you can use some of these trendy hashtags:
- #skincare
- #bestskincareproduct
- #skincareaddiction
- #skincareadvice
- #skincaretips
Using these hashtags on Twitter and Instagram will help people find you in the search section. Many people on Instagram also follow hashtags. Not only will your post be seen, but you can get followers this way as well.
This video shows you the best way to use hashtags on Twitter for maximum exposure:
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How To Build Up Your Following
The above methods allow you to make sales right away, even without a following. However, for the long term, I would recommend that you focus on building up your followers. You will be able to build a sustainable business if you focus on building up your follower count. Here are some ways to build up your following:
- Follow others on social media: Many people you follow on Twitter and Instagram will follow you back. Not all of them will, but it is the best way to get followers if you start from zero. Later, unfollow those who did not follow you back.
- Like posts: Liking people’s posts on Instagram or Twitter will help you get more followers as well.
- Retweet tweets: Retweeting things on Twitter that you find useful will also help you find followers.
- Add comments: Add comments to Instagram posts or comment on Tweets to get more followers. These comments help others see your posts, and if it is valuable information, others will follow you.
- Use hashtags: I already explained what hashtags are earlier. Using hashtags will allow you to be seen and help you gain followers.
- Build a website: Start a blog on a site like WordPress and put out a new blog post every week or a few times a week. Getting followers to your blog is hard, and it takes a lot of time. Consistency is key here, as eventually, if you target popular SEO keywords, you will get readers to visit your blog from Google.
- Start a Youtube channel: A Youtube channel is like a blog. It takes time to get noticed, but eventually, you will probably get noticed. One day, you may see your subscriber count skyrocket.
Conclusion
Not only is it possible to make money as an affiliate without a following, but there are several ways to do it. However, as mentioned, the best course of action is to focus on building a following. Consistency is key. It takes time to build up a following, and you may only get a few followers a day at first.
However, make sure to stick to it. Eventually, over the long-term, building a following is the way to go with affiliate marketing. Commenting on blogs and forums or promoting to your friends is only going to take you so far.