How to Start Affiliate Marketing with No Money (4 Tips)

Are you interested in affiliate marketing, but worried you'll need loads of cash to get into the business? Well, we have good news for you. You can definitely start affiliate marketing with no money down. There are just a few things you need to understand first. Here's 4 tips to start affiliate marketing with no money.

What is Affiliate Marketing All About?

With affiliate marketing, you make money by promoting products and services to your audience members and referring them to the websites of retailers selling those products and services.

When someone you refer purchases something or completes an action, such as signing up for a service or an email list, you earn a commission. This marketing technique benefits both the advertiser and the affiliate. The affiliate gets paid while the seller makes a sale.

Bloggers Use Affiliate Marketing

These days, many bloggers use affiliate marketing to earn money. You may have heard that some of the best bloggers out there are making as much as $40,000 each month on affiliate sales alone.

Of course, to make this kind of money, you have to have a huge, loyal audience. But what if you don’t have that kind of following? Let alone a blog at all? Can you still become an affiliate?

Fortunately, the answer is yes.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing with No Money

We want to start by saying that having a blog and website should be your ultimate goal as an affiliate marketer. It is hands down, the best way to run a successful affiliate marketing business.

However, when you're new to the business and you're on a shoestring budget (or have no budget at all) there are a few things you can do to start generating the income you'll need to eventually start your website and blog.

Create a Social Media Presence

Being an affiliate doesn’t mean you have to become a blogger right away. Instead, you can begin monetizing your online presence through social media. You can do this by placing affiliate links within your posts, updates, and profiles.

Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and so on are packed with millions of users. You can easily integrate links into your posts and see results. Just make sure that you follow the rules and restrictions of these sites, as you technically don’t own your accounts.

Leverage Facebook

A lot of people, in fact, billions of people, are on Facebook these days, which makes it the largest social media platform. If you have an account, you can promote affiliate products on your page.

The important thing is to focus your page on a subject of interest to your audience. It could be health, money, fitness, relationships, or pretty much anything else folks are interested in learning about.

Leverage YouTube

Have you ever considered starting a YouTube channel? If not, then this is the best time to do it. YouTube is an incredibly effective platform for affiliate marketing and has millions of users.

The most successful YouTubers are earning millions each year just by making videos promoting products they enjoy. This is perhaps one of the best ways to become an affiliate without investing in a blog and website.

Just know that you probably won't have very many subscribers in your first few months. But if you keep posting interesting and useful videos, you'll eventually build the audience you need to succeed.

Join an Affiliate Program

Once you've established your following on social media or YouTube, you can begin to apply for affiliate network programs like ShareASale and Rakuten. These programs are constantly seeking publishers who can promote well.

Fortunately for you, we've made it even easier for you to find companies that offer affiliate programs related to your niche. We compiled the largest Affiliate Program Guide to help get you started on your search.

However, to join these programs, you'll need to qualify, and that usually means having a solid online presence and following. So it's important that you have quality content to be considered a good source.

What Should You Do Then?

If you've set your mind on becoming an affiliate, there’s no way to go but up. And if you're truly determined, you should always approach your work with the best practices and strategies in mind.

Building an audience is critical, as well, so follow the rules of the trade. And when you do become a good source of information, expect people to recommend the products you write about. Your opinion will become gold in the end.

So to answer the question, can you do affiliate marketing without money? The answer is a resounding yes! It just takes time, patience, opportunity, and determination. The rest is history. It's never too late to start!

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