Do you have a strong passion for a particular topic or a hobby you could happily spend each waking hour focused on? Most people have something they’re passionate about. It could be knitting, making rocking chairs, collecting pencils, soap operas, shoes, making beer, you name it there’s someone who has a passion for it.
For me it was baking. What started as a hobby in 2008 turned into a full fledged custom cake business. Cake was my life. From competitions, taking classes with Bakers you see on Food Networks Cake challenges, to teaching and then me ALMOST opening a brick and mortar storefront. Cake was my life. But I realized that I realized in the process of securing a building that I did not want to be confined to a space all day and besides custom cakes is physically taxing. There is a lot of lifting, rolling, kneading. The thought of me standing all day doing light-moderate physical work quickly made me realize that was not what I wanted to do long term. Besides around the same time I was beginning my health and fitness journey and felt really conflicted spending my day making a cookies n cream cake with chocolate ganache and then talking to people about eating clean. One of them had to go.
I realized I wanted something that gave me more freedom and remembered attending a webinar for internet and affiliate marketing and decided to give it a try.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to build an online income part time or full time, you can work from home. It’s extremely low risk and it’s easy to learn.
Here’s how to turn your passion or hobby into an affiliate goldmine:
1. Choose the passion/hobby you’re going to build a website or blog around. You’re going to be writing, thinking about, planning and talking about your topic every day. Make sure it’s a topic you’re passionate about.
2. Make a list of 50 article topics or blog posts you can write, record as an audio or make a video about. If you’re passionate about your topic then you’ll be able to easily come up with 50 things you want to talk about. And know that you don’t have to write if writing isn’t your thing. You can make audio recordings or make videos too. You just need to be able to enthusiastically discuss your topic.
3. Get online and research affiliate programs. Look in affiliate directories and visit the websites of companies you have used, respect and enjoy. Look for affiliate programs that have a good reputation.
4. Create your website or blog. There are many options here, one of the easiest is to purchase a domain name and set a WordPress blog up on it. There are tutorials and guides to help you do this yourself.
5. Grab that list of 50 topics and start creating content. Content is your foundation and the way you’re going to attract visitors and make sales. Content can be in the form of:
* Reviews
* Articles
* Reports
* Case studies
* Interviews
* Courses
* Audio and video content too!
Be sure to strategically place your affiliate links in your content. The goal is to inform your audience and presell relevant products or services.
For example, if your passion is knitting and you’re talking about a holiday knitting project you might link to a store where you buy your patterns, assuming you’re an affiliate for them. Your reader may click through and make a purchase earning you a commission.
6. Create a plan to market your affiliate business. The more people who see your content and visit your blog or website, the more money you can make. It just makes sense to promote your business. Social networking is a great way to accomplish this because it lets you interact directly with other people who are interested in your topic.
However you can also use:
* PPC
* Banner and text advertising
* Article marketing
* Newsletter/ezine marketing
* Joint venture partnerships
There’s little that is as rewarding as making money doing something you love. Why not take a few steps to turn your passion or hobby into an affiliate goldmine? There’s little to no risk and the joy and wealth that can be obtained may be life changing.
Of course I’m not going to leave you guys hanging. Ill write a blog post to expound upon each of the points listed above but its really not rocket science. Once you have a system in place you’ll find that making your first dollar online is easier than you think.
Every know and then I still get a itch to make a cake and I fully believe that I baking will become one of hobbies again but that’ another story.
What are you passionate about? What’s your hobby? Wouldn’t it be great if you could also make money from your unique passion?
Until next time,
Wishing you Health, Wealth & Success
