Welcome to Day 4 of our Masterclass: How to Start Affiliate Marketing?

Today, let’s talk about traffic sources and how you can use them to promote offers.

There are multiple sources of traffic that can be monetized through affiliate marketing: first, you’ve got your free sources out there like social media … then you’ve got your paid sources (SEM & Media Buy), and then there’s email marketing and video watermarking right there with you too! (…just to name a few).

Monetize your own traffic

Build your own website, attract some viewers to it (that’ll be the traffic), and then display some ads on your pages (that’s how you monetize). If you’re a total beginner when it comes to building a website, there’s nothing more perfect for you than a Content Management System.

The long name might make it sound complicated, but it’s not.

Content Management Systems (CMS), such as WordPress, are the ideal choice for people with little or no site-building experience. WordPress is a CMS that will help you build and run an efficient site like a pro. CMSs are all-in-one solutions and are all the rage these days as they help you publish content regularly and allow you to modify that content with ease, without the need for much technical knowledge.

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Getting traffic

Once your website is built, you’ll still need to attract visitors. Getting traffic to your newfound site is usually the tricky part for most people. There are countless ways to obtain traffic, though. 

Some common methods involve:

• SEO – Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media – Get traffic from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, etc.
• Browser advertising such as Google Ads (previously called Google Adwords)

The Mail Reader

Haven’t you ever registered to a newsletter? What made you want to receive information from a website?

Email marketing, when emails are gathered through newsletters/mail catchers (and not by buying email lists or finding emails on Craigslist) and done the right way—this can be one of the most effective promotional methods out there today!

Your visitors have requested to receive emails from you because they like your website’s content and find it interesting. Almost everything you’ll be sending them will be clicked and has greater potential to turn into a sale—or at least, a lead.

You’ll be able to build a rather extensive mailing list just by featuring a simple magnet on your site… an email magnet! (And yes, you can also display ads and offers there as well.)

Learn how to build a mailing list, how to write efficient emails, and doing it all with a dependable HTML-friendly template will surely be profitable for you, in the long run. 

Don’t forget a kickass call-to-action, either!

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Remember, gathering emails through classified ads is not a good email traffic source.

These people don’t want your promotional emails. They think you are a real person who wants to date or meet. Fooling them and getting them to convert your offers is not acceptable and results in very poor traffic, traffic not accepted by most providers and makes you susceptible to getting cut from offers — or the entire platform.

Watermarking

Watermarking your content leads to what we call “type-in traffic.”

This can be an effective long-term traffic-building method. Once you have unique original awesome content, watermark it!  It does not only link you as the content owner/creator, but it also creates brand awareness!

Make sure your domain fits your content for a smoother sales funnel

Remember! Stealing content from others is a NO NO! Be a good player! Find non-copyrighted content or buy exclusive content! You wouldn’t want others to steal your ideas and content, so why do that to others?

Social ‘Shoutouts’ (also known as paid or sponsored posts)

The goal of a “Shoutout” is to increase visibility to one’s site or brand using established social accounts that already have an important following and fanbase.

You pay the owner of a popular social account to get your brand mentioned on their page or story during the agreed time frame (it can last anywhere from a  few hours—to a few weeks) and you just sit back and watch the social traffic come in!

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This is definitely an easy way to get qualified traffic and can be less expensive than buying traffic on prime spots!!

You can create and invest in your own Social traffic base by selling and exchanging Shoutouts of your own with like-minded interested site owners.

FeatureHub.com is always offering the ability to buy promotional posts.

Do you know an influencer in your niche? 
Hit them up, get their rates, and watch your traffic climb!

The Organic Visitor

Visitors typically stumble upon your website this way with the help of a search engine or by simply typing in your domain.

You can use your words to promote a product or site—and have it come across as natural, conversational commentary.

Remember the equation of success:
1 ADULT DOMAIN + 1 CONTENT & KEYWORD-rich SITE…
=  QUALITY TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS! 😉

The Social Butterfly

Social traffic has been known to be one of the hardest types of traffic to convert, but once you’ve found the right formula, social media can be a treasure trove full of hits.

Develop a social presence (jokes, facts, or images), follow the latest trends, and engage with communities to get some interaction.

When the time comes for your promotional post, find a way to mix in humor or appealing imagery so your post can moonlight as both promotional while remaining consistent to the same level of quality as your other, non-promotional posts.

Something your followers can still enjoy.

Buy Ad Spots – Media Buying

Buy ad spots on other websites that already have existing traffic relevant to your interests. With Media Buying, the burden of finding traffic is not on you.

Among some of the best adult ad networks out there, there’s TrafficHaus, TrafficJunky, Traffic Force, TrafficFactory, JuicyAds, AdXpansion, ExoClick, PlugRush, EroAdvertising, Star-Advertising, AvaTraffic and Plugz

However, it’s important to note that successful Media Buyers are not born overnight. To reach a level of Media Buying “greatness”,  you really need to know what you’re doing, be good at crunching numbers, be good with campaigns, and most importantly know that it can take months or even years of practice, experience and ultimately trial and error before you see profitable campaigns.

So, if you’re a true beginner in every sense of the word, we strongly suggest beginning by creating your own website first—rather than attempting more advanced methods of traffic generation right now. These other methods we just touched on will come later.

We’re not trying to discourage you or anything, we’re just laying out the facts. Media buying is a different beast, but it’s also a long-term effort where you can easily lose it all if you’re not careful.

Now, what will be your traffic source(s)?

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