The challenge of earning a living through novel writing is a familiar struggle to you as an author. With the influx of multiple self-publishers and novels in the book industry, there is an urgent need for alternative income streams for authors. The good news is, affiliate marketing is a way out.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is an aspect of online marketing. It involves partnering with companies or businesses to promote their products or services and receiving a commission for sales or actions made through your referral link. In affiliate marketing, while the parent company earns from the sales made, you are entitled to a commission for each sale, lead, or click generated through your unique affiliate link.
Importance of Affiliate Marketing to Authors
Affiliate Marketing is very beneficial to authors in so many ways.
- It allows you to focus on your passion while generating extra income.
- Through affiliate marketing, you get to build an online presence which makes it easy for people to find you and read your works.
- Aside from reaching new audiences, you build networks and connections for future collaborations.
- Affiliate marketing offers you data and insights on audience needs and behavior to enable you to restrategize.
Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing as an Author
Affiliate marketing is quite easy and the guide below will help you through your journey. If you’re ready to boost your income with affiliate marketing, there are some key things to note.
Select the Best Affiliate Program
As a novel writer looking to earn from affiliate marketing, it is necessary to choose a program that is geared towards meeting your needs. There are varieties of affiliate programs available ranging from big to small and the popular to the unpopular ones. Hence, there are factors to consider while trying to pick the best.
While selecting an affiliate program, consider the commission rate and the duration for earning from a customer’s purchase. Also, the total amount one must earn before a payout is issued should be considered.
Some popular affiliate programs that are good fits for authors include ShareASale, ClickBank, Amazon Associates, Barnes and Nobles, Book Depository Affiliate Program, and Commission Junction.
Build a Meaningful Audience
Your journey into affiliate marketing will not thrive without a loyal audience. This is because you need an audience to promote your products (which include books) and other services before you can earn. To achieve this, build an email list and a social media following with an audience that is interested in what you do. Also, if you have a blog, ensure to drive traffic to it to boost your readership.
Craft High-Quality Content
You need content to succeed in affiliate marketing. To generate income from the sale of a book or any related product or service, ensure you craft an engaging and informative content. Such content could be a social media post, email newsletter, book review, blog post, etc. Most importantly, your content should aim at promoting only tested and trusted products and must include your affiliate link.
Disclose Your Affiliations
Disclosing your relationship with the product or service that you are promoting to your audience is very necessary. This helps to build your audience’s trust and strengthens their decision-making. You can make this disclosure by including it in the content of your blogs, social media posts, or email newsletters. For instance, “I earn commissions from sales made through this link.” Such a statement is a disclosure that complies with the Affiliate Marketing Regulations to ensure transparency.
Conclusion
Affiliate Marketing is a sure way to boost your author income and build your online presence as a writer. To succeed as an affiliate marketer, ensure to build a well-meaning audience, create high-quality content, and go for the best affiliate program. Endeavor to gain your audience’s trust by complying with affiliate guidelines.
Written by Emily Cyril