Free Affiliate Programs

When starting out many newbies to internet marketing look for free affiliate programs because they are short of cash.  That’s usually why they get interested in the first place – to make money online, not to spend it. The possibility of free affiliate marketing programs seems like a good idea.

So, do these exist and are they any good?

The short answer is that free internet marketing programs DO exist and some of them are very good at getting you started.

Click here for the best FREE affiliate program training

The other side of the coin is that there are many traps for the unwary.  Programs that offer free advice or training only to get you to click through to their website so that they can try to sell you on some expensive tuition.

Or free programs that, at a critical point, force you to pay to continue.

Or some programs that are free but absolute garbage.

Those are the ones that end up costing you in the form of lost cash, lost time, pent up anger and possibly leaving this potentially lucrative business before giving it (and you) a proper chance.

I got caught by a few of these programs when I started out.  The first aimed me squarely at the PPC (Pay-Per-Click) end of the affiliate business.  This is potentially a great money-maker but not – in my opinion – for the beginner in online marketing.  So, yes, I lost several hundred dollars before pulling out without making one cent.

Lesson Number One – Avoid PPC!

By that time I had learned about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  This is free!  The search engines point traffic at your website, the visitors read your terrific content articles and they click through to your vendor’s landing page where they pull out their credit cards and buy, buy, buy!

The only part of this that is completely true is that SEO is free.  The rest needs hard work and dedication.  But it IS completely achievable if you learn and follow some tried and tested rules and procedures.

I have been making some good money for some time now, simply doing SEO.

So what affiliate programs did I follow, and were they free?

After the two or three false starts I came across Mark Ling’s Affilorama web site.  Mark is one of the gurus of internet marketing who has produced a number of training programs for making money online.  These range from free – yes, free – tuition videos for the absolute beginner to high-end (read: expensive) training courses for advanced marketing types.

The fact that these courses are so popular speaks volumes for their quality and value. I eventually had the pleasure of meeting Mark in London some years ago to talk about his aims and ethos.  He is a thoroughly down-to-earth and decent family man who believes completely in giving value for money in everything he does.  But by then I had done his flagship AffiloBlueprint course and was already seeing positive results. Meeting Mark face-to-face only confirmed that I had made the right choice.

But back to the free affiliate program idea.  Affilorama produces a good basic set of videos for the newbie, and these are well worth trying.  Mark has a good way of explaining things in great detail so that you can understand all you need to know to get started. It is perfectly possible to learn how to set up your first website and plan your first marketing campaign using just these free affiliate program videos.

Later, if you want and feel the need, you can upgrade to more sophisticated training programs that – yes – will cost you money.  But, by then, you should be willing to invest a little in order to make your work more efficient and productive.  All businesses need some investment to be successful.

The other great advantage of Affilorama is the community spirit that existing members have built up.  There is an extremely active forum that I visit almost every day, and I always pick up some useful advice or tips to help me work better.  One of the problems for newbies in internet marketing is the loneliness often experienced.  You feel you are on your own and that there is nobody you can trust to help you.  A good peer forum is in many ways the perfect answer.  Over time you can build up relationships with others in similar circumstances, and this helps your confidence immensely.

An Affilorama member also has access to a good range of useful, free tools for helping to make SEO work more effective.

So, if you want access to free affiliate programs that are helpful and productive, you should check out Affilorama.  It won’t cost you anything and it could be the best step you ever take in starting your internet marketing business. It was for me.

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