What is the best approach to affiliate marketing for beginners? With all of the different avenues out there to examine, which 
one of them would be best for someone new to the internet marketing arena?
Well, the answer might not be as satisfying as one may hope. There’s no “one size fits all” recipe that will make you an overnight success- though there are many recipes out there that serve as great guides.
Despite all of the platforms and guides that will assist in opening up affiliate marketing for beginners, one thing should be decided. That one thing is- are you looking to be a general affiliate marketer, or should you stick to a form of niche marketing?
Making this decision from the get-go will save you time and effort in the long run. Here are the differences between the two.
General Affiliate Marketing
Pros
General affiliate marketing can be a good idea so that you can more easily flow with trends and take advantage of a wide variety of different opportunities.
Without being confined to one topic or one niche, you can broaden your horizons a little and send your efforts in different directions to see what sticks.
Cons
Though this approach is tempting, it isn’t always the best idea. It isn’t hard to bite off more than you can chew, particularly if you’re a hungry beginner. If you’re new, you might make mistakes (which is normal). But the thinner you spread yourself, the harder it is to find those mistakes, and less likely you’ll be to correct them.
Niche Marketing
Pros
Niche marketing is a good platform for a beginner because it revolves around a topic that the marketer is already familiar with. Because of this, it’s easier to generate materials to support your marketing endeavors, such as websites, blogs, ads, and social media posts. You don’t need to learn to be the expert if you’re nearly there from the beginning, so all you need to learn at this point is how to match affiliate products to your niche.
Cons
One of the few cons about niche marketing is that your traffic source or customers need to be found and cultivated within that particular niche. It can become rather tedious over time, depending on how focused the niche might be. Also, you’re bound to the niche. This is fine until you see other types of topics or niches trending and doing well, making you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels.
Which is the Best Approach for Beginners?
I would suggest to someone who is just entering into their walk as an affiliate marketer that they create a blend of the two items (General and Niche Marketing). Start with a niche that you know inside and out, and build from there.
After you get your sea legs as an affiliate and have learned to incorporate some good marketing habits online, broaden your horizons by one more niche. Allow your first niche to be your testing grounds, where you can see what works, what doesn’t.
Take your newfound knowledge of what works, and apply it to a new niche down the road. Some people find it easy to maintain affiliate marketing materials that span several niches and don’t seem to have any problem with time. You’ll never know until you have at least two different niches under your belt to determine how many you can handle. Some folks have a tough time with one depending on the scope of their niche.
Regardless of the approach you choose, it would be wise to remain cognizant of these choices when diving into internet marketing. If you know the lane you’ve picked, it’s easier to determine your strategy.
Never be Ashamed to Seek Help
The easiest way for a beginner to internet marketing to go off track, and remain off track, is to not seek any help or guidance. Nobody is successful in any other area in any business without learning the ins and outs of said business.
For example, say your only experience with fixing cars is simply driving them. Does that mean just because you can drive a car that you’re going to be able to start a business fixing them? Hopefully not.
But for some reason, just because people know how to use a computer, they think that they can just jump into affiliate marketing and be a pro overnight. With the economy on shaky ground, more people than ever have plunged headfirst into the affiliate marketing arena without a clue of what it takes to be successful.
Because of this, failures and discouragement come quickly. Nobody is above receiving some help, especially folks new to the industry. Help is easy to find in many different marketing circles that can save a beginner’s days’ worth of trial, error, searching, and spending.
Goals, Focus, and Systems
Set your Goals
Remain Focused
Develop a System
If you’ve set realistic goals, remain focused on achieving these goals. As you go, you’ll notice that you’re developing a pattern as you separate the wheat from the chaff as far as marketing practices are concerned. You’ll get more familiarized with what’s involved with affiliate marketing and lean toward every avenue that has provided you with measurable success.
There is a faster way to go about doing this, though. The faster way is to glean from those who have already achieved success. Many obstacles and trials are avoided when you hear how others make a sustainable income through online marketing.
Final Thoughts
A successful system that can give you an edge over other affiliates out there is a huge leap for a beginner. And suppose you can glean from others while still remaining true to the options you selected above (niche, general, or both). In that case, you will be well on your way to building your online business with a clear head on your shoulders and your eye on the prize.
And that’s exactly what being an affiliate marketer is- a business. Treating it as a hobby will reap a hobby’s reward, and when treated as a business, it will reap a business’s reward.
If you are new to affiliate marketing or even a seasoned pro, you will need ideas to keep going. With over 10,000 titles my website has all of the material you would need to help find your perfect niche. E-books on just about any subject you could think of would provide plenty of material to study and become a pro in any niche.
This is a guest post from Larry Stephens, if you would like to be considered for a guest post please contact me.
