What A great way to make extra passive income each month! I've been gradually learning the ropes over the last few years.
Affiliate marketing can be a bit time consuming to get going, But once you start making money, It flows in with ease!

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

You become an affiliate for a company, And you advertise their products for them. When you get someone to make a purchase, You make a commission. Different companies pay different commissions.
So you can decide what products you want to promote.

How Do Promote The Products?

You usually promote the products by offering some value to the customer, Whether it's a pin on Pinterest!
Or a blog post.
You can even promote products on Facebook. But it's important not to be spammy about it! If you get spammy, People will be less likely to buy the products.

Ranking On Google

Ranking on Google can Help that passive income come in. Google will send traffic to your site, Or Blog post, And if people click your link, You'll make money.

Google likes content that is not duplicated over the web, So while it's okay to do research for your blog topic, Do NOT copy! Make your own unique Article.

Your Own Website Vs. Steemit!

I'm not going to sugar coat things with this; I love Steemit. But there are some advantages from operating on your site.
Here are pros and cons for using Steemit for your Affiliate Marketing posts.

Steemit

Pros

• You can make money on your post, AND Affiliate commission.

• I may be wrong, But when you write on Steemit, because of all the good content we have here, It seems easier to rank on Google. I've noticed some of my posts ranking on Google for long tail keywords! I have never seen myself on Google for my website.

• If you rank on Google with your Affiliate posts, You will make more commission, AND the platform will get more sign ups. Meaning you could end up with more followers, AND The price of Steem may rise as the demand goes up! Your stake on the platform will be worth MORE!

• Steemit is FREE! You don't have to pay for a website.

• You can set up a second Steemit account to do your regular blogging and your Affiliate blogging! I have another account that I use to promote products!

Cons:

• You are using the Steemit site, Instead of your own. Therefore you cannot change the layout Or the background of the site. Or put your ads on it.
  (Affiliate Marketers usually make a little money on ads too)
• As of right now, You cannot download all your blog posts and move them to your site for a later date, If you change your mind about Steemit. You'd have to do it manually.

I am personally staying with Steemit to promote products, I've had better results here. Even though it looks more professional to have your site. I don't want to have to juggle Steemit, My website in addition to my business and such.

Participating In Online Forums

You can also promote Affiliate links in many online forums. If you know a forum that is always taking about your passions. You can provide value to those people AND include affiliate links. You can even recommend they follow your Steemit/Website blog for more stuff.
You can put your website link in your signature as well.

SEO

It's important that you optimize your posts, so they rank on Google and will receive more traffic! This is free and can make a big impact.
Other things that are important to SEO

• Good Content (Steemit has a lot of it)
• Have Authority, (Backlinks) (Steemit has a lot of these)
  Make sure to use keywords related to your post, That many people would use naturally. Avoid keyword stuffing though. Using lots of long tail keywords, and shorter ones can help your post rank.
  A good way to see what keywords you should use, Is by going on Google And starting to type in your topic. See how Google Autofill for you? Use those!
  Like if you write a post about Adult Coloring, Here are some things you may want to use in your post. NATURALLY.
• Adult coloring books
• Coloring books are for adults
• Coloring for relaxing, Stress relief.
• Johanna Basford

This is what helps get your website/blog to the top in the search results.

Picking A Niche!

Choosing a niche is essential for promoting products! You choose a topic that isn't too common, But people have a desire to buy and learn more about.
I'm not super good at this, But there are lots of niche lists online that will help make your job easier.
I haven't followed a particular niche with promoting products; I just promote whatever it is I like to use.
But you may see better results by sticking with a familiar theme, So your followers know what to expect and can follow you.

Keep up your social networking game!

Make your Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter lots of fun to look at, So you can have more followers!
This can be hard to balance out But can make a big difference; You shouldn't rely completely on Google or Steemit for your traffic. Instead, you should take it into your hands.

Other Tips!

Some of these may apply to people who have their website only.

• Ping, Search engines to keep them updated until they do it automatically.
• Do NOT Keyword stuff your articles (this includes Steemit)
  It looks bad, And Google won't want to rank it.
• Don't use invisible Text; Google will penalize you. (This is for people with their site)

How To Get Started!

Here are sites you can join to start promoting products. Amazon is my favorite! Plus you can advertise digital products too. There are lots of e-books, Games, Etc, that can be promoted to earn you money!

Amazon associates.amazon.com
ClickBank www.clickbank.com
Payspree www.payspree.com
Max Bounty www.maxbounty.com