How to Become a Thought Leader/Influencer to Sell More Affiliate Products

Selling affiliate products is a business model that appeals very much to people who want to start earning money as easily and quickly as possible. That’s because affiliate marketing allows you to begin earning money immediately: you don’t need to build a product, or to spend a lot of money allowing someone else to build it. This also means that you don’t need to take any risks.

But herein also lies the problem. Because affiliate marketing naturally appeals to those looking for quick fixes, it means that very often, they will attempt to take the fastest route to the point where they start making money. The problem? The fastest route is not always the best. And by taking “shortcuts,” you can actually risk missing the highest earnings.

The Two Options

There are two ways you can earn money from affiliate products. One is to rush to find a product, then quickly create a sales page (a single web page that is dedicated to selling that item), and then send people to that page through advertising.

The other method is to spend time building up an audience first. To build an audience that trusts you and listens to what you have to say, which you can then market a product to. This way, you are flipping the formula on the head: gaining an audience then finding a product to match, rather than the other way around.

Let me tell you this: the latter option is by far the superior strategy. Why? Because when you build an audience that trusts you, and that wants to hear from you, you have a direct route to an audience that is qualified and perfectly targeted. This can be the difference between launching to 500 orders on day one, versus working hard to gain a slow trickle.

When someone trusts you, they will trust your recommendation. And when you already have an audience of thousands, it’s FAR easier to get the word out.

How to Get There

So how do you get to this point? It’s a challenge that many marketers struggle with, but the key is to play the long game. That means spending time delivering amazing value and high quality content, and using this in order to slowly build up momentum. You must have something new to say in your niche, and you must choose a topic that you are passionate about. That will resonate with your audience, and as a result, they will hang on your every word.