The Holidays are Coming – Do You Have Your Affiliate Marketing Strategy Ready?

Hooray for online shopping! I have a feeling I’ll be relying heavily on Amazon and other favourite dot-coms this year since I’ll be spending the holidays in beautiful Hawaii. I couldn’t be more thankful, considering how far online shopping has come in the past 5 years. Not only are all of my favourite stores available online for easy shopping, I feel secure using my credit card, knowing no funny business will occur and my purchases will arrive without trouble.

Shopping online is “just as credible as shopping at the mall”, according to internet marketing guru James Martell, and I would have to agree with this astute assessment. Plus it’s just fun to receive packages in the mail instead of the usual ole bills. Online shopping has become so popular in recent years that brick-and-mortar storefronts have begun offering incentives to shoppers if they visit the physical location during the holidays. As nice as these incentives may be, it’s still not going to get me out of bed at 5 O’clock in the morning to make sure I’m the first in line for a customized charcoal grill.

For Affiliates, the Holiday Season Starts in July

If you’re involved in affiliate marketing, the holidays should be your busiest and best time of year for generating sales. With so many people turning to online shopping to avoid the headache of long checkout lines, congested stores, and repetitious holiday music, affiliate marketers are in a prime position to promote their favourite products online. Not everyone goes straight to their favourite stores web address, most people like to shop around for truly unique and noteworthy gifts, this is where you clever affiliates come in to the picture. Trouble is, if you wait till the last minute to get started the holiday rush will pass by in a blur, so now is the time to start preparing and the best way to do so is by setting some achievable goals.

Goal Setting – Easy as 1-2-3

1. Write it down – Want to make $200 a day during the holiday season? Though some folks would be happy with half that amount, it’s still a reasonably attainable goal. Whatever your goal, write it down and post it where you can be reminded of this goal each day. Seeing the goal posted around your house will keep you inspired to make your goal tangible. It will will also encourage you to think about any obstacles which may slow your progress.
2. Enlist help – No man is an island, and many hands make light work. Figure out just how much has to be completed, by whom, and by what date, then contract copywriters through Elance.com if it fits within your budget. Have your artistically inclined child create some nifty graphics to help promote your product, and outsource any work you don’t want to handle yourself. Lighten your burdens as much as possible in order to progress towards your goal that much faster.
3. Mark the Calendar – Because you’ve delegated so many tasks to others, mark your calendar with various deadlines and stages of completion which must be met as the days and weeks progress towards the holidays. Turning your goal of $200 a day into smaller, easily achieved goals of small stages of measurable progress will help make your dream a tangible reality. Working this way will take you all the way from Black Friday to New Years with ease.

Affiliate Options – More than Cell Phones and Credit Cards

Just as online shopping has dramatically improved over the years, so too have the product options for affiliate marketers. Now there’s a product or service available for just about any interest or niche. Affiliate marketing equates to free advertising for your favourite products and brands, meaning there are more options than ever when it comes to pairing up with the service of your choice.

Browsing through some of the options lately, I’ve discovered affiliate opportunities for Hawaiian gifts and Jewelry, Kona coffee, and all-natural medicine for people and pets, and this is just the tip of the affiliate iceberg. Find the affiliate option that works best for you, and soon that goal of earning $200 a day may transform to buying a flashy sports car and then matching Ferrari watches for you and your spouse.

Freelance writer Rachel Cook got her online writing experience from running a self-published tarot blog and doing guest posts on a friend’s related website. After being introduced to Elance by a friend, she quit her daytime job soon after and now writes articles as a full-time job. Now making more money than ever before, Rachel browses sites like www.enzolifestyle.com when she wants to splurge her excess cash on herself.

Image by Manuel Alejandro Leon from Pixabay