How Do I Start In Affiliate Marketing For Free? 4 Easy Steps

How Do I Start In Affiliate Marketing For Free? 4 Easy Steps
How Do I Start In Affiliate Marketing For Free? 4 Easy Steps

If you’re asking the question “How Do I Start In Affiliate Marketing?”, then you’re probably in a situation where I was at when I found myself paralyzed with a lot of information but not really certain about the direction that I should go.  Especially if you’re trying to dip your toe in making money online, it’s easy to run around in circles at the expense of your time and money.  As a result of that confusing experience, I’m going to share with you the 4 concrete steps that I’ve taken to finally gain traction on the elusive topic of making money online through affiliate marketing.

You’ll see that by taking action, you will have more laser focus on the immediate tasks in front of you so you don’t get distracted with shiny object syndrome.

As a result, a lot of the information overload and confusion kind of stops becoming noise and starts to make sense since you’re actually “getting your hands dirty” by doing and internalizing what it takes to get started in affiliate marketing.

So just do these actionable steps below, and you’ll be well on your way towards starting your own affiliate marketing business and, more importantly, having fun with it!

Sign Up With A Web Host

In order to make money online, you will need your own website
In order to make money online, you will need your own website

The very first step in getting started in affiliate marketing is to sign up with a web host, because in order to make money online, you need to have a website.

There are a lot of web hosts that you can choose from.

Just to give you an idea of some of the hosts that I’ve used to create a website, I’ve used the following in no particular order…

  • Solo Build It (formerly Site Built It)
  • Amazon EC2
  • BlueHost
  • MDDHosting
  • Kinsta
  • Digital Ocean
  • Wealthy Affiliate

Of the above web hosts, if you’re new to creating websites or you can’t be bothered trying to figure out domain names, privacy, security, etc. right off the bat, then I recommend getting started with Wealthy Affiliate (click here for my review).

That’s because you can create a free starter account without even needing to give up your credit card information.

Once you have the starter account, you will immediately be able to create your own WordPress website so you can get right into building a website.

Most importantly, the starter membership also lets you to learn about affiliate marketing in a very tangible way, which is the next step.

Get FREE web hosting and learn the ropes about how to make money blogging

Take The Training / Get Hands On

Wealthy Affiliate Live Training Classes
Wealthy Affiliate Live Training Classes

Once you have a website, you’re now in position to actually write helpful and engaging content that your target audience should find useful.

There are a myriad of online resources (some free, some paid) that offer such training such as:

  • The Authority Site System by AuthorityHacker
  • Project 24 from Income School
  • The Affiliate Lab
  • ClickBank University
  • The Action Guide from Solo Build It
  • Wealthy Affiliate

However, the above list is not even close to being exhaustive (as there are simply too many to point out).

Heck, you could even try to make sense of a lot of the free literature you might find on the internet and take a crack at starting your own affiliate marketing business at no monetary cost (though you’ll probably be spending a lot of time learning by trial and error).

Live training at Wealthy Affiliate, where you can ask questions in real-time in the Live Chat (see the right side of this screenshot)
Live training at Wealthy Affiliate, where you can ask questions in real-time in the Live Chat (see the right side of this screenshot)

Personally, I’ve used Wealthy Affiliate’s training courses and live classes to learn how to make money online effectively by minimizing on the mistakes that people have made (and are sharing such lessons with you).

In fact, the free starter membership includes a 10-lesson training course, which have even more specific and detailed tasks that you would perform as you progress through the course.

By the end of the course, you will have a website that is already set up to continue writing effective content for as long as you want to keep building up your free website based on what’s taught in the training.

You will also be able to leverage your learning to start securing your own piece of web real-estate by buying a domain name that helps to build your brand.

So rather than going through another round of noise and confusion trying to figure out which training course to take (and pay for in most cases), just take the free training that Wealthy Affiliate provides.

Wealthy Affiliate Starter Member Training Module
Wealthy Affiliate Starter Member Training Module

Of course, it’s a bit much to just start out and expect to write quality content that is not only respected by actual people but gain the respect of search engine algorithms from the likes of Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, and more.

That’s why you’d want to at least get hands on in your training.

That way you can internalize the principles taught within the course, which will make you wiser and better able to sift through the fog of information overload in the internet literature.

Get started with affiliate marketing training that is proven to be successful

Ask Questions / Get Coaching

No training program is perfect from the standpoint that you can just go through a course and become an expert straight away without asking questions as well as getting support and/or coaching.

If it was that easy, everyone would be taking that perfect course and everyone would be successful.

But as you can see in real life, it can’t be that easy because there are successful entrepreneurs as well as many more not-so-successful ones who have given up.

Wealthy Affiliate experts who are mentoring me as I ask them questions
Wealthy Affiliate experts who are mentoring me as I ask them questions

In my mind, buiding your own online business is analogous to raising a child – it takes a village to raise one properly.

Indeed, you are likely going to have a better time if you seek and accept help so you feel supported.

After all, we know how difficult it can be if you have to go through life-changing experiences (like raising a child) by yourself.

This is why in addition to taking the training that I advocate doing in step 2, you need to seriously do the mini-tasks within the training so you’re in position to ask questions if something’s not clear or you get stuck.

Here's an example where I tried to pay it forward by helping a fellow WA member with her question
Here’s an example where I tried to pay it forward by helping a fellow WA member with her question

Heck, even though I’ve been earning money online through affiliate marketing since 2006 (so this is not my first rodeo), I still go back through the training and I still ask questions when I need clarification.

We’re all in various stages of learning in our journey so there’s no such thing as a dumb question.

Therefore, I’m glad that there’s a community willing to pay it forward and help out, especially since this community exists in the same platform as where I’m building the website as well as taking the training. 

You shouldn’t feel like you’re alone in this journey, especially if you’re learning how to get started in affiliate marketing through the Wealthy Affiliate platform.

You should never feel like you’re alone in your affiliate marketing efforts.

Establish Good Habits

Brushing teeth is one of the good habits that we take for granted
Brushing teeth is one of the good habits that we take for granted

The last concrete step you can take to get yourself started in affiliate marketing and making money online is to establish good habits or routines.

What do I mean by this?

Well, if you brush and floss your teeth every day, or you work out every day, or you do finances and pay your bills every month, these are all examples of performing regular tasks that you’ve allocated time out of your life consistently and periodically.

In these examples, you know that if you brush your teeth and floss daily, then you’re less likely to have cavities, gum disease, and all the painful complications that come with tooth decay.

Furthermore, if you work out everyday, you know that you’ll likely be healthier and less prone to chronic health problems down the road.

Not everyone enjoys going to the gym to exercise, but a lot of people can make exercise part of a routine that ultimately helps with long term health
Not everyone enjoys going to the gym to exercise, but a lot of people can make exercise part of a routine that ultimately helps with long term health

And, if you do finances consistently, you will know where you spend your money so you can take action to live within your means and not get into leveraged situations where you let someone or something else control your life.

Granted, these aren’t exactly things most people get excited about doing, but because they’re easy routines and they lead to your long term benefit, then you don’t mind doing them frequently and consistently.

So the same is true for establishing good habits in your online affiliate marketing business.  Do these things frequently and consistently, then they’ll lead to the long-term success of your business.

What are these habits?  I recommend that you do the following…

  1. Treat every moment of your life’s experiences as potential content for your online business and/or blog by documenting them!
    • Take pictures – you likely have a smart phone that you can do this quickly, easily, and naturally
    • Take notes – your smart phone probably has a notes app, but you can also write it down on paper or notepad the old-fashioned way if you remember to do it
    • Record a voice memo – your smart phone likely also comes with a voice memo app so if you can’t be bothered writing something down, you can record your voice to phone whatever thought or note you want to “jot down” verbally
  2. Don’t let a fleeting idea, inspiration, or brainstorm fade away – document and capture it!
    • You can write it down on good old-fashioned paper or notepad, or capture it in an online equivalent of a notes app
    • You can email yourself the idea so you can get back to it at a later time
    • You can even record a voice memo (though it might be hard to organize and find it if you don’t label the audio file accordingly)
You never know when you get an idea or inspiration. So you better be ready to capture it somehow or else it's lost for good
You never know when you get an idea or inspiration. So you better be ready to capture it somehow or else it’s lost for good

The bottom line is that you want to make it a habit to capture and/or document whatever comes to mind as you go through the training, attend a class, perform tasks, or just observing things as you live your life in general.

You never know when you get inspired or a great idea just pops into your mind, and you don’t want those moments to fade away!

As a result of capturing these fleeting thoughts and moments as you go through life, you will not run out of ideas on what to write about or what to do in your online business.

Personally since I spend a lot of time at my day job, I get a lot of my ideas and inspiration at unpredictable times and they often pop up while I’m at work.

So I actually use a handy feature in the Wealthy Affiliate platform called Site Content, which is like a virtual notepad so I can quickly capture ideas as long as I have access to a computer and the internet.

That’s something I readily have access to since my day job involves a lot of time spent in front of a computer. 

Even if I can’t work in front of a computer, I could still access Wealthy Affiliate’s Site Content on my phone anyplace and anytime I have an internet connection.

I've made it a habit to regularly capture my thoughts and ideas in WA Site Content editor
I’ve made it a habit to regularly capture my thoughts and ideas in WA Site Content editor

You could also use Google Docs and Google Sheets if you’re so inclined, but Google Drive is blocked at my day job so that’s why I favor Site Content.

By the way, Site Content also has other benefits like revision control (so you can restore work from an autosave if something gets screwed up) as well as a publish feature that is integrated with your website (so you don’t need to re-write content).

In any case, documenting spontaneous things as I go is a powerful habit to maintain, and you’ll find it takes you much farther in your online business than if you were just winging it.

Heck, it might even be a competitive advantage for you since most people don’t bother doing this!

Develop the habit of always capturing your ideas & not letting them fade away.

Final Thoughts / Conclusion

If I have to spend most of my weekdays in cubicles like this, then I must be efficient with my time to engage in my side hustle to leave the rat race
If I have to spend most of my weekdays in cubicles like this, then I must be efficient with my time to engage in my side hustle to leave the rat race

In conclusion, you can see that doing these 4 actionable steps will get you started in affiliate marketing and making money online quickly and successfully.

You’ve seen how Wealthy Affiliate provides you with all the resources and tools you need to perform all of these steps instead of going all over the place trying to pull this off on your own.

I know as someone who is blogging as a side hustle, I must be efficient with my time or else my efforts in personal growth and taking control of my future will ultimately get dropped.

This is the main reason why I use Wealthy Affiliate as a web host, an affiliate marketing training resource, a support community, and even a note-taking or documenting tool.

It pretty much has everything I need in one place so I can be more efficient with my time as well as my money.

Trying to live my best life by side hustling in something that I'm passionate about - travel, hiking, chasing waterfalls...
Trying to live my best life by side hustling in something that I’m passionate about – travel, hiking, chasing waterfalls…

So if you’re serious about getting started in affiliate marketing and making money online with your own business, then I highly recommend giving Wealthy Affiliate a test drive and take your first steps towards controlling your future!

Finally, if you want to learn more about my experiences with Wealthy Affiliate, you can read my review. Just click here.

10 thoughts on “How Do I Start In Affiliate Marketing For Free? 4 Easy Steps”

  1. It is so amazing the attention that affiliate marketing is getting and the reason for this is that you can have success while making a good income from the comforts of your home. However, you must put in the work in order to see the results. Thank you so much for sharing the 4 easy steps that must be taken to journey in this exciting line of work.

    Reply
    • Yeah, it seems like affiliate marketing is getting lots of attention these days, especially as people are seeing how lucrative it can be.

      I’m betting that more and more people are noticing how influencers are able to live out what I’d consider to be fantasies.  

      At the same time, the hard work and learning never stops because just when you think you have making money online figured out, everyone else figures it out too.

      Then, you have to stand out from the crowd in a different way to even get noticed.  Or figure out how to throw hooks in different lakes and streams, so to speak, for the efforts to pay off.

      I think such is the reality of this business, and why it’s important to pick the right platform like WA so you’re at least on a level playing field.

      Then, you can figure out how to leverage your passions so you don’t feel like you’re drowning all the time.

      Reply
  2. Incredible tips! It’s definitely hard to become successful in affiliate marketing and the process of becoming a successful affiliate marketer can be overwhelming. I can definitely relate to this since I’m over 6 months into affiliate marketing and sometimes feel downright confused. After reading your article I feel more empowered and inspired than ever to keep on pursuing success.

    Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    • Thanks for the feedback Terence.

      I can definitely relate to the overwhelming aspect of affiliate marketing because as you can see, there’s a lot of noise out in the literature about this.  

      That’s why I wanted to rely my own personal experience to just cut right to what you need and hopefully help someone else in a similar position that I was in.

      Reply
  3. Thanks for your detailed review on how to get started in affiliate marketing for free. I love step 2 advice to get on-hands training.  You review Wealthy Affiliate which is an excellent resource to learn how to start your affiliate marketing career.  Wealthy Affiliate incorporates all of your tips. It especially allows you to get feedback, coaching and tips from lots of other affiliate marketers.  I love that WA is free and doesn’t charge you unless you decide to upgrade.  You do get a lot of training for free with WA. Thanks for your review.

    Reply
    • Thanks for your feedback Shalisha!

      Having gone through a handful of affiliate marketing and hosting platforms, I agree that Wealthy Affiliate definitely delivers value to the aspiring affiliate marketer, which we all can be as long as we have the will to pursue it.

      I think WA’s ability to let you test drive their platform and perform all of the 4 steps outlined in this article to get you on your way is powerful.  

      Having done the trials where you have X amount of days before you’re locked in (and have to cancel beforehand to get your money back), I’ve personally seen how vendors and/or contractors are on their best behavior to convert you before that trial period ends.

      But once that honeymoon period or grace period is over, the fangs come out, and I remember that pit-in-the-stomach-feeling when I knew I was ripped off.

      Thankfully with WA’s platform, you’re in control.  

      You can choose to stay a starter as much as you want before deciding to upgrade and unlock everything, or you can choose to decide that affiliate marketing is not for you and walk away no questions asked.

      Reply
  4. Wonderful tips I found in your article.

    Notes App and Voice Recorder App are very useful to take down my thoughts. I also use Evernote to pen my ideas and use it as my journal. Our smartphone actually can help us be more efficient in many ways.

    Cultivating the right habits is also very important. That really makes a lot of difference in progressing to the next level. 

    Looking forward to get more tips from you, and to share with you how to create our own future online. 

    Thank you.  

    Reply
    • Thanks TYP for your feedback.  Yeah the phone is pretty handy with all the apps that you can use.  

      However, I guess I have a bit of a unique situation where my workplace doesn’t allow cell phones in certain places due to the likelihood of technological espionage (I work in the tech industry).

      The smart phone when I’m out on hikes become problematic because I’m limited by battery life.  So I prioritize the GPS (Location Services) which uses most of the batteries, and  I have other apps turned off so I don’t lose navigation and tracking during the hike.  

      In this instance, I use the gool ol’ pen and paper.  Never fails and even if it gets wet in the rain or I accidentally get dunked in water, it won’t fail.

      -Johnny

      Reply
  5. I’m not sure how much you can earn on a free membership, but it’s worth a try. So you can learn all about the Wealthy Affiliate platform, start your own business and take the first steps in the field you want to do. These are very good tips for beginners.

    Reply
    • Hi Bojana,

      I agree that you can’t reliably make money online for free, but you can definitely get started and learn the ropes of Affiliate Marketing as well as get hands on with a website to apply what you’re learning for free.  

      Usually taking that first step is difficult, especially if you have to figure out what to spend your resources on when you don’t have the hindsight to know what’s working or not.  

      I know from personal experience that spending money upfront is a pretty expensive way to find out if something did or didn’t work!

      Thanks for your insight.

      -Johnny

      Reply

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