Newbie Guidance Please

[thetruth]

Wow, Matthew! Thanks a lot!

I've learnt a lot just from what you've said there.

I have lots of great ideas now for me to start implementing, and i'll keep everyone posted with how things work out. But i'm feeling very optimistic right now.

[angienewton]

@ angienewton

Do you have any tips on getting the most out of affiliate marketing?

A couple of things that interest me, or just things that I like, are Driving, and My Personal Health and Fitness (I'm interested in healthy nutrition as well as muscle and weight gain)

There is a lot to affiliate marketing but the best advice I can give is to just get started. You'll learn as you and will have lots of questions along the way. Other than that, my #1 tip is to learn how to do keyword research and SEO to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts. I'll be happy to help you with that but in the mean time, you can get an idea of how to do it by reading this awesome post on a web page optimization checklist.

Health and fitness, nutrition, etc. is a tough niche BUT if you can find a way to stand out and offer your readers something different from everyone else, you can succeed. For example, I have a weight loss/fitness site and blog. It's all about my personal weight loss and healthy living journey. My niche is women over 30 who want to lose 100+ pounds. That doesn't mean I'm not selling to or helping others outside of that niche but that is my focus. You need a tight niche to make things work in that field.

Once you choose something, we can brainstorm as you go along.

Oh and the basics to start (affiliate links included are Lynn's, the owner of the forum)

Domain name from Go Daddy
Hosting from Host Gator
Wordpress theme (free for now and you'll upload this to your hosting account via cpanel)
Aweber mailing list manager

The only other thing I would highly recommend is joining Lynn's elite membership group (my aff. link) here on the forum which will be re opening next week. This is a group where Lynn works closely with us and everyone is focused on taking action and building their businesses.

Let us know if you have more questions!

[Engage]

Another little thing to learn...

Affiliate marketers like to be affiliates and market.

Just keep in mind that much of the advice you receive on webmaster forums is offered by folks that will make a commission if you take their suggestions.

This is not a personal indictment of anybody in particular, or sellers in general. There's nothing wrong with selling, and making an honest living is a good thing.

However, because this industry is about selling, it is lead by sellers, and this has a profound impact upon the education new comers will receive anywhere they might go to seek advice.

Don't confuse the webmaster education industry you find online with a university, public school, or non-profit charity, just because you are getting advice for free.

Just remember, the webmaster education industry is a store, not a school.