Ever since the 4-Hour Workweek was released, everyone seems to have the same goal. To wake up in the morning, open their laptop, and see nothing but payments coming into their bank account. That’s the dream, right? Make money while you sleep. For 99% of people, affiliate marketing is how they get it done.

So what exactly is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide

Overview
As I said, there are basically two sides of the affiliate marketing equation that you can choose from, assuming that you’re not going to build an affiliate network such as Commission Junction.

You can become a merchant and have others promote your product, in exchange for giving them a commission from the sales that they make.

Or, you can become an affiliate marketer for one or several products that you’d like to promote and market those to consumers, in order to make money.

While most people start by taking the affiliate route and it definitely is the easier path to take, building enough traffic to make a meaningful income just from affiliate sales isn’t quick or easy.

That’s why I’ll walk you through the 4 basic steps that you can take to get started on both sides of the affiliate marketing industry.

Here are the basic steps.

How to become a merchant in 4 steps
Step 1: Coming up with a product idea
Step 2: Validating your idea
Step 3: Creating the product
Step 4: Finding affiliate program partners
4 steps to becoming an online affiliate marketer
Step 1: Review products in your niche
Step 2: Build an email list with your prospects on it
Step 3: Educate your audience with live webinars
Step 4: Grow your business with PPC advertising
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