9 Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Are you interested in earning money from your blog through affiliate marketing? That is a smart choice, my friend. In fact, I made my first dollar within a few weeks of starting my blog and then $200USD more, 2 months after, without experience! So today I’m sharing with you the top 9 affiliate marketing mistakes (most of which I personally made) and how you can avoid them.

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.

TOP 9 AFFILIATE MARKETING MISTAKES EVERY BLOGGER SHOULD AVOID

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Thinking it is a get-rich-quick scheme

This is the number one affiliate marketing mistake you should avoid.

Did you think that by simply adding affiliate links on your published posts, you will receive commissions instantly?

I’m sorry to break it to you hun but it doesn’t work that way.

Just because you decide to become an affiliate doesn’t mean you’re immediately going to earn money.

Being an affiliate for any type of product or service is just like being a salesperson who works on commission. If you want to make good money, you must believe in the product.

In my case, I do not believe in the product and service alone, I also believe in the person or company that creates them.

Aside from this, you will also need to explain to your audience how and why they should try the product.

Finally, you have to think about how much you’ll earn on each sale so that you can determine how much time and effort you can devote to making that sale.

I learned a great formula on how to determine the number of affiliate sales you need to achieve your goal for each month (plus many more tips & tricks) from this amazing affiliate marketing course by Cate Rosales which you can check out here.

Not picking a niche you enjoy

Another common affiliate marketing mistake is not picking a niche you are passionate about and truly enjoy.

Just because a niche is popular doesn’t mean you will succeed in it as an affiliate marketer.

Remember, it is not all about money.

In order to be successful in affiliate marketing, you should choose a niche that you know and enjoy.

Take me as an example, I write about blogging and all things creative because I am passionate about these topics and I will never get tired of researching and writing anything related to them.

My friend Ekta over at Tia Says is also passionate about the same niche. In fact, she has written an amazing article about the basics of affiliate marketing for beginner bloggers which you can find here.

My point is, if you don’t enjoy the topics or can’t relate to the audience and their pain points, it will reflect in your content, solutions, and of course, sales. 

You must be able to write content that shows your enthusiasm for the topics and solutions you offer your audience.

Research your potential niche options to ensure that you can earn enough money with your audience and provide the solutions they need, all while enjoying talking about the niche topics.

Not having an email list

If there is one thing you should start doing as a blogger, that is to build an email list.

Honestly, this is the biggest blogging and affiliate marketing mistake I did as a newbie and I just wish someone had encouraged me to prioritize this in the beginning.

Contrary to what I initially thought, building an email list is actually not that complicated.

As long as you know who your target audience is, you can start building your email list even before you have affiliate products to share.

The best way is to share a problem-related freebie or a ‘lead magnet’ to get them on the list and then share your knowledge and experience. The products and “finds” can come later.

Bluchic offers an amazing collection of lead magnet templates which you can easily customize through Canva. You can learn more by clicking this link or the image below.

Also, make sure to choose the right email marketing platform for your blog or business.

I personally use and recommend ConvertKit but there are many other great platforms such as Mailerlite, Flodesk, and Constant Contact.

Not sure how to get started? That is absolutely fine! Suzie from Start A Mom Blog can teach you how to grow your email list to thousands through this course!

Avoiding research

The most important thing that you can do for your blog and affiliate marketing business is to research everything.

You have to regularly research your audience.

Also, you have to always research the products you want to promote including the creators of these products.

Remember, your reputation is on the line.

If you promote a product that turns out to be a scam or the seller doesn’t live up to their promises, you may lose your credibility.

Bottom line is…always do your due diligence. 

To save you tons of time, you can check out this Affiliate Programs Masterlist by The She Approach which contains 500+ high-paying affiliate programs you can join depending on your niche. Ana, the creator of this list, is a seasoned blogger and affiliate marketer so you can be sure that the programs included in this list are legit.

Not writing honest product reviews

Another affiliate marketing mistake is not doing honest product reviews.

Customers really do pay attention to these and your audience will appreciate your honest evaluation of a product, even if you do make a percentage of sales.

Just be upfront about whether you get money if they purchase a product or not. That is what an Affiliate Disclosure Statement is for.

If you are an Amazon affiliate or want to be one, Dale Persons from Blogging Her Way offers an ebook that will teach you how to write an amazing review, as well as other types of blog posts that will make you money through Amazon.

Writing low-quality content

As an affiliate marketer and blogger, you may be tempted to toss something up that isn’t up to your standard.

I know because I’ve done that too many times.

But seriously, there is no point in putting up inferior content. It only makes you look unprofessional and damages your reputation.

If you need quality content, you can always hire a professional writer from Fiverr or purchase PLR (Private Label Rights) and rewrite it in your own voice.

Or better yet, learn how to write an amazing content yourself!

Adding too many affiliate links

I love using a lot of affiliate links in my posts, however, not to the extent that every sentence or paragraph has one.

Adding too many affiliate links can make your content look like spam. They can also give your readers the impression that your top priority is making a sale rather than helping them.

Make sure to limit the number of affiliate links to the focused solution in emails and blog posts.

Not investing in a good affiliate marketing course or ebook

Many beginner bloggers think they can do well without investing in any learning materials.

Yes, that might be true. But the question is, how many months or years will they have to spend before they can finally figure it out on their own?

Having said that, this is definitely one of the most common affiliate marketing mistakes you should avoid.

Honestly, I probably would have not earned hundreds of dollars within 3 months if I had not invested in this ebook and this course.

Bottom line is, the sooner you invest in your learning, the sooner you can grow your blog and earn money through affiliate marketing.

Not building relationships

One of the best things about becoming a blogger and affiliate marketer is the friendships you make along the way.

Building relationships with your community will make you the ‘go-to’ person for your subject matter.

Many bloggers skip this because they don’t want to be ‘public.’ However, if you are open with your audience, you will make more money. 

The best way to do this is to join Facebook groups or create your own. You can also engage with your followers on other social media platforms.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON AFFILIATE MARKETING MISTAKES

You don’t have to learn about these top affiliate marketing mistakes the hard way. Keep these tips in mind and soon, you will see yourself as a profitable blogger.

How about you? Have you tried affiliate marketing yet? What is the biggest mistake you have done?