You are currently viewing 11 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes to Avoid (And What to Do Instead)

11 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes to Avoid (And What to Do Instead)

If you’re looking for the top affiliate marketing mistakes…

I’ve got your back!

Because today, I’ll be covering the top affiliate marketing mistakes most people make, and how to avoid them.

Whatever happens:

Avoid these mistakes at all costs.

You ready?

Let’s check ’em out…

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, I may get a commission at no extra cost to you. Go here to read the full disclosure.

11 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
(And What To Do Instead)

1: Neglecting The Marketing

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an affiliate is to not learn marketing.

It’s called affiliate marketing, yet new affiliate’s neglect the marketing part.

They think because of the internet, there’s a “magic system” that’s going to do it all for them.

However:

They’re very much mistaken.

One of the best things you can do is learn everything you can about marketing products.

2: Picking The Wrong Niche

Not all niches are equal.

Some have the potential to make you money.

While others have no potential whatsoever.

A lot of affiliate’s go with whatever niche they think is good, which is a huge mistake.

Follow this simple checklist when choosing a niche to avoid this problem:

  • Pick a niche where people (actually) spend money, and where other affiliate’s are already making money
  • Make sure the niche interests you
  • There should be multiple products available so you have different solutions for different problems
  • The niche needs to cover a wide range of topics

3: Not Building An Email List

When it comes to affiliate marketing, you need to build an email list.

Here’s why:

Over 70% of people who visit your website will leave and never return.

So it makes sense to capture their contact information first.

Also, you’ll make around $36 for every $1 spent when it comes to email marketing, which is a crazy high ROI.

4: Thinking Affiliate Marketing Is Get Rich Quick

Affiliate marketing takes hard work, and it can take a while before you make money.

Those who think it’s a “get rich quick” kind of venture, and treat it as such have already failed.

They fail to realise affiliate marketing should be viewed as a business that requires time (and hard work) before it profits.

And:

That a business provides solutions to people’s problems.

If you view affiliate marketing as get rich quick, you’ll make nothing.

Because your focus is on making a quick buck, instead of helping people.

View affiliate marketing as a business, and provide solutions to people’s problems.

If you do, people you market to will buy from you so their problems are solved.

5: Not Willing To Spend Money

As the old saying goes…

You need to spend money to make money.

Too many people want everything for free.

Over the years, I’ve met thousands of people who are not willing to invest money into their “business.”

Know of any offline businesses that never spent anything on the business, but now it’s booming?

Probably not.

That’s because you (sometimes) have to spend money in order to get anywhere.

For example:

On tools and software, advertising, everyday expenses, and courses or books to help you grow.

If you’re not willing to spend money on yourself or your business, you might as well just give up now and do something else.

6: Not Producing Quality Content

Do you produce any kind of content?

If you do, make it awesome.

Too many affiliate’s create a website/blog, but the content they publish is complete garbage.

They do this because they’re producing content for the sake of producing content.

And for the sake of trying to make money.

But here’s the problem with this approach:

It doesn’t make you money.

Because if the content is crap, those viewing the content will think it’s crap.

So they won’t buy whatever it is you’re trying to sell.

You might as well create killer content from the get go.

7: Promoting Everything Under The Sun

You need to be selective in the products you promote.

You never (ever) want to promote anything and everything just to try and make money.

This approach won’t work.

Yet:

That’s exactly what a lot of people do.

You should always promote only high quality products, that you know with 100% certainty will actually help your audience.

Ideally, the products you promote you should purchase yourself.

If you don’t, how do you know how good the product is?

Here’s my personal philosophy:

“Only promote products I’ve purchased and use, or have used myself, that I would happily recommend to my mother.”

If you decide to promote “whatever” just to try and make money, you’ll almost certainly fail.

You may make a bit of money, but it’ll be short term gain, with long term destruction.

8: Too Much Pitching

Most people love spending money, but they HATE being sold to.

Especially all the time, by what seems like a pushy used car salesman.

This is (yet) another mistake made by new affiliate’s.

They promote products way too much, which ends up making them look desperate and “pushy.”

Think about it like this:

If you’re walking around a car dealership, what are you going to do if the salesman is pushy?

You’ll probably be put off, and not make a purchase.

This is exactly the same as those you pitch products to.

Instead of pitching all the time, give value (for free) and help your audience.

Do this AND pitch products, so it’s a win win for everybody.

9: Shiny Object Syndrome

Where people jump from one thing to the next, to the next, then to another thing.

Every day there are new products that reveal a secret or a shortcut to (apparently) making money online with affiliate marketing.

And that’s where people become a victim to shiny object syndrome.

Because they’ll jump from this “tactic” to the next, then on to another when the new big thing is launched the following week.

Here’s what you should do instead:

Focus on actual marketing strategies, and decide how you’re going to market your products.

Then stick with it, and work it until it works for you.

Don’t jump from one thing to another, then on to another later on hoping to find a new “magical tactic.”

You’ll end up getting nowhere.

10: Not Using The Right Tools

Ever hear of builders building a house without a hammer, nails, and other required tools?

Likely not.

You need the right tools to get the job done.

Just like a builder needs the right tools to build a house.

Most affiliate’s look for tools such as “push button software” which doesn’t exist.

Don’t be like those affiliate’s.

Use genuine marketing tools, and you’ll be more effective in your marketing.

11: Not Tracking Your Marketing

Marketing 101 tells us you need to track everything related to your marketing.

Over 100 years ago John Wanamaker uttered this now famous saying:

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; I just don’t know which half.”

And you won’t know which half unless you track your marketing.

You can easily track your marketing with link tracking software.

Suppose you’re advertising with 20 different platforms, and you have affiliate links on 10 different blogs.

If you make sales, how do you know which traffic source generated the sales?

Unless you’re tracking, you won’t know this.

Tracking everything you do is important.

You’ll know EXACTLY where every click comes from, then you can use this data to optimize your conversions.

Recap Of The Top 11 Mistakes Most Affiliates Make
(And What To Do Instead)

1: Neglecting the marketing

2: Picking the wrong niche

3: Not building an email list

4: Thinking affiliate marketing is get rich quick

5: Not willing to spend money

6: Not producing quality content

7: Promoting everything under the sun

8: Too much pitching

9: Shiny object syndrome

10: Not using the right tools

11: Not tracking your marketing

Conclusion

Well, there you have it.

11  affiliate marketing mistakes to avoid, and what to do instead.

Most are plain common sense.

Yet it’s those mistakes that are made the most.

Now, over to you…

“Are you currently making any of these mistakes?”

Leave a comment below and let me know.

I’d love to hear from you!

Sharing Is Caring

Leave a Reply