Can I do affiliate marketing without a website? Even though the answer may seem to be “no”, it can actually be yes!
The most important part of affiliate marketing is getting your link out there and in front of people who are searching for that very thing.
Your job is to create a relationship with people seeking your product, present that product in its best light and in a way that encourages the visitor to purchase.
This post was originally published September 14th, 2017 and has been updated to be current with new information. This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure is here.
Welcome to Fearless Affiliate.
My name is Irma and I help new bloggers to learn the ropes. There is a lot to take in that first year of blogging, from choosing a niche to changing your mindset from worker bee mentality to that of successful entrepreneur.
Be sure to sign up for my free weekly newsletter of tips and exclusive offers for bloggers and online entrepreneurs. Get my 5 Minute Guide to Affiliate Marketing for opting in! Just click the image to get started.
How To Do Affiliate Marketing Without A Website
There are a few people out there doing this kind of marketing without a computer, but it is more challenging. Having a website helps immensely, but I will give you examples of ways to make money without a without a website.
Some affiliate networks that you can sign up with are:
ClickBank:
Clickbank is the most popular, and well-stocked, supplier of digital affiliate products. Most of their e-products that can be purchased and then downloaded immediately, making them lucrative to affiliate marketers.
Because the products are digital, they also satisfy the needs of the customer for a quick solution to a problem. win-win
Related Post: Get Started with Clickbank!
CJ Affiliate by Conversant
Numerous physical and digital products from a variety of merchants for every niche imaginable. CJ has been around for a long time and is a legitimate affiliate network.
Blogging related products from CJ include: Grammarly, Fiverr, Aweber, plus products like Swagbucks (make money online or frugal living niche) and Trip Advisor (travel niche).
ShareASale:
My favorite of the bunch, I am an affiliate for numerous products from SAS. Namecheap, Tailwind, and Shoppers Voice, to name a few.
They also have physical products from a wide variety of merchants, like NFL gear. People can click your link, make a purchase and have items delivered to their home, like a mattress in a box or dental realignment products.
Amazon Associates:
Amazon is big and anything on their website is fair game for their associates to promote.
The associates program works better for some niches more than others, but if someone clicks your link and the customer chooses to purchase something else, you will get commission on it. Commissions vary for different types of products, and are lower than many affiliate products.
However, you can still earn good money from people who already have items in their cart and just need a top-up item.
eBay Partner Network:
“Earn money by driving traffic and prompting sales across one of the world’s largest and most diverse marketplaces”.
Be part of the 800 million partner listings available on eBay. Sign up to the program, find products to promote, create a link and start promoting.
Note: There are many more, as well as all the private affiliate programs that are associated with the products they promote, for example supplements, diet aids, and pet training programs.
The program that you sign up with will give you a personal link, so that sales can be tracked back to you and you will earn your commission. You want to get your link out to as many places as you can and there are many options!
6 Ways To Do Affiliate Marketing Without A Website
1. A Hubpage!
You can join HubPages for free and create one page “mini website/blog” to direct visitors to your offer and link. You can share your passion for free, as well as meet others who are doing the same.
Write your own articles, and say what you want to say to promote products, using photos and your links.
2. Post on blogs/forums
You need to find a forum in your niche, otherwise your promotion will be out of place. Make sure to check the forum rules about links in your signature, but if that is a “go”, insert your link into your signature and post away!
Warrior Forum and Quora are two great places to start.
It will be helpful to become a regular poster at the blog or forum
This establishes trust that you aren’t a spammer or scammer. Offer posts with value; random posting with lots of links is considered spamming, and can get you banned.
It might be a good idea to post a few times before you put your link into your signature. Be sure to look around the entire forum to see where you can be most effective organically.
3. Write an eBook to give away or sell it cheap on eBay
You can promote it on your social media accounts as well. This is a great way to get your name out there, especially if you encourage others to share and like your “freebie”.
Your book does not have to be very big – 20 pages will do –and you can call it what you like.
For example “The Ultimate Guide” or a “Special Report” or any other buzz words that will encourage people to download it. Your book should be informative, and not just ads.
4. Social Media
Be sure to read the terms of service before you start promoting ads on your social media network of choice. There may be rules as to how many links you can place.
Social media works well for product reviews.
Make sure that the content that you post is related to your niche, add a few photos and then direct them to your link.
Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are great places to get started. Join other people’s groups/boards to find a network of like-minded individuals.
5. YouTube videos
This is by far the best way to do product reviews, unboxings, and demonstrations. Being able to physically show your audience a product and what it looks like in real life, will help you gain trust and customers!
A tool that you can use are Screencast O Matic.
There are a lot of YouTube videos explaining the process of getting started on YouTube
I personally find this amusing, but what better way to learn than at the source.
Keep in mind that if you enable the “share” button, you are giving anyone permission to take your video and share it on their website or social media platform. This can be good or bad, depending.
If you do not want this, then disable the share button.
6. Write ads for classified websites
Or reviews! Go ahead and write a review post with the link to the product that you are promoting, and post it on Craigslist, epage.com, or Kijiji.com
Be sure to place your ad in the correct category for whatever you are promoting, and note that there may be more than one category that you can use. For example, dog training manuals can be placed in education as well as pet categories.
Conclusion
Being a blogger is one of the least expensive businesses to start. You only need website hosting ($50 a year) and a domain name ($12$15 a year). For under $100 a year, you can put affiliate links into blog posts and earn evergreen income for as long as your content is relevant.
I have an affiliate marketing course for beginners that you may be interested in. From getting set up, to finding quality affiliate programs with quality products to promote, to growing your business. This affordable course empowers beginners to make money online.
Our beginners course is designed to help you earn while you learn. Click the image to learn more 🙂
Happy blogging and follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
