Debunking The Myth That Affiliates Are Coders
Have you ever come across any affiliate marketing myths at forums or
on industry blogs? There’s a ton of them out of there — like it’s easy
to get rich quick online, or you don’t have to do any work to make a
fortune.
Well, now you can add another myth to your list. There’s a perception
that affiliate marketers are actually coders, people sitting at a
computer and punching out HTML and PHP code all day, making themselves
millions in the process.
Of course that’s simply not the case, and in this post we’ll briefly discuss why.
Affiliate Marketing Requires Business Expertise
MYTH: Affiliate marketing is purely a technical discipline that only requires coding and technological skill.
FACT: There’s a lot more to affiliate marketing than technical aptitude. Affiliates are first and foremost
marketers.
They anticipate market trends and identify new business opportunities.
They conduct market research, isolate target consumers, and then pick
the best strategic touch-points to deliver an impactful sales message
that will generate the highest possible conversion rates.
Affiliates also have the ability to navigate the intricacies of
campaign management including: keyword bidding, campaign budgeting,
negotiating media buys, split testing to name a few.
Coding is a Nice to Have (not a must have) Skill
MYTH: You have to be able to code to run your own campaigns.
FACT: Coding is only one aspect of running an affiliate marketing
campaign. Admittedly it’s a very important component that every campaign
has to have in order to function, but it’s not a skill that you
necessarily have to have yourself. There are solutions available that
will do the coding for you, so you can focus on the higher-level
strategic parts of your business.
Website and Landing Page Creation –– It’s easy to build,
launch and test websites and landing pages without writing code. Some of
the resources worth checking out are:
- WordPress — the most well known in the business
- Squarespace — designed for ecommerce, $20 per month for unlimited sites
- Wix — great customer service, drag and drop interface, and it’s free
- Breezi — another free tool, the interface is a little more restrictive than Wix but worth checking out
Outsourcing — Outsourcing is a great option to get the your
coding jobs done accurately and efficiently. Like any type of hiring, it
takes time to find the right person for your business. Many affiliates
have found that 90% of the time, the guy they thought was the perfect
fit for the job doesn’t work out. So a great way to start is to
outsource a trial project to several contractors and see who is the best
fit.
Learn Coding Basics
If you are interested in learning how to code yourself, the more
power to you. Even if you choose to outsource your coding, having an
introductory level of knowledge will help you work with contractors
effectively.
- Virtual Training Company (VTC) — An online training school that offers over 1,000 classes. Access to the classes is just $30
- Lynda.com — Provides more in-depth training than VTC and memberships start at $25 / month
- Code Acedemy — Classes focus on HTML, PHP, Java Script, Python and Ruby, best of all it’s free!
Do you agree that affiliates aren’t coders, or do you have any
additional resources you’d like to share with other affiliates? Please
comment on this post with your thoughts. I’d love to hear what you have
to say!
–Dylan
March 3, 2009 . Posted in Keyword Research, SEO and tagged content network, Keywords, PPC Campaign, SEO. Bookmark the permalink. 
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By Jason
March 17, 2009 at 1:04 am
I got to say that Wordze is the best tool that have used. It’s not free but very reasonable. I also like Google’s new search-based keyword tool located at http://www.google.com/sktool.By Ray
March 19, 2009 at 6:44 am
They might be quite handy one but once when i had a bad experience with Wordtracker i opted and switched to the one which can be found out here: http://www.serpanalytics.com/tools/top_keywordsIts totally free and finds out nice results with many other more informations about a keyword..
By lminnik
March 27, 2009 at 9:45 am
Well maybe something like SEMRush is the tool for you. Enter a domain and it will give you the domain’s approximate search budget along with targeted key phrases.It’s invaluable information when scoping out competitors.
By Mark
March 28, 2009 at 2:55 am
I would tell that Google is stepping ahead to provide you a single bit of tool for every purpose. But the google keyword tool is somewhat like piting up on it. I have used this in past with another tool from serp analytics but found some broad results from google. So i throw it off and now only using only tool from serp analytics and it can be found here http://www.serpanalytics.com/tools/top_keywordsBy keyword-research.info
March 30, 2009 at 12:44 am
Wordpot is another good one to add to the list. The free version has limitations, but it has many good features.I have a similar free keyword tool list on my website here: http://www.keyword-research.info/free-keyword-research-tools
By Bouncers Bounce House Inflatables
October 8, 2009 at 8:59 am
I think the best tool is Market Samurai. The keyword research section of the software is always free (although I think the rest of the features make it worth purchasing!).By Isha of Market Samurai Resources
November 1, 2009 at 2:45 am
I agree. Market Samurai has to now be in that top 7, and the keyword research part of it will always be free.To get it for free you simply take the free trial and not take it up after the trial has finished. That way you will still have access to Market Samurai’s Keyword Research module.
Isha
By Benjamin Hall
April 25, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Adwords is really good in driving traffic to your website. however, they are very strict right now and they would not easily approve websites that they thought have low quality content. I also use project wonderful and facebook advertising.By SEO Associate
May 8, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Well, the fact that all these tools are free makes them less valuable in my eyes because I have been using other paid tools like Market samurai and Keyword country for a while and they are pretty awesome compared to these free tools.By imeyesite
May 13, 2010 at 10:10 pm
One of the most important factors in ranking search results is the searcher’s network. This means that every matching search result is evaluated based on who is executing the search.But the best keyword research tool, the most appropriate keyword research software is imeyesite.
By Myron Herling
May 31, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Cool, found what i was looking for.By Ed of Software Rave
June 20, 2010 at 2:27 am
The easy keyword research tool I loveusing is WordTracker free tool.
It is simple that anybody can use it.
More so, you can easily use it to discover
niche ideas by inputting “discovery keywords”
like “how to”
By Brian @ The Market Samurai Site
July 26, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I have to agree with Isha. Market Samurai is the best tool I’ve used in ages. Even the FREE module works a treat and will always be free to use but I do recommend you give the FREE TRIAL a go.By Vince the Market Samurai junkie
August 2, 2010 at 10:09 am
Like some others I believe Market Samurai to be an up and coming contender.Yes the keyword tool is free but it’s the rest of the package that hold the most power.
You can check the backlinks of the top sites with your keywords as well as your own. You can create affiliate ads from the software and post them to your site or blog. You can even research content to post on your site or spin it to generate new content.
http://www.marketsamuraijunkie.com/free-trial.html
By Evelynn Villafane
September 10, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Wonderful article, This has helped me very much with my seo learning! I continue to learn a lot from your blogs.By Money Reasons
September 26, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for the great list! For a newer blog like mine, free is the best option right now!If I every make any decent money, I’ll consider that market samurai software. It looks pretty cool!
By Ian @ Micro Niche Finder
October 2, 2010 at 7:17 am
It’s Google’s keyword tool all the way for me.I do use other paid tools but as far as free ones go its Big G’s.
Also take a look at their Ad planner, you can get some great keyword ideas from that too – and its free
I did try wordtracker once but I didn’t like it. I dont kno why so many marketers go on about it???
By Dallas SMM
October 19, 2010 at 10:04 am
Thanks for this astounding information! I will definitely have to use this in my blog!Farewell!
By how to make a website free
December 6, 2010 at 3:55 am
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.By необычные подарки
December 10, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Первые два комментатора глаголÑÑ‚ иÑтинуBy cityville
January 5, 2011 at 1:57 am
i was beginning to really feel i would possibly end up being the sole lady which cared about this, at the least at this point i comprehend i’m not extremeBy kaza
August 9, 2011 at 3:10 pm
until now I used only adwards and wordtracker for keyword search..after reading the comments I decided to try market samurai..hope its good like it said..By Internetiturundus
August 28, 2012 at 4:26 am
Great tips and thanks for sharing!Übersuggest is a thorough keyword suggestion tool that takes your keyword and pulls Google’s suggestions for it. The tool first displays the top ten keyword suggestions for that phrase, and then it offers up to ten suggestions for each letter of the alphabet.
Check it out
http://ubersuggest.org – free keyword suggestion tool
I hope that’s useful.
Kind regards
Margus
By seoul national university
November 24, 2012 at 1:38 pm
It is in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of information. I am happy that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.By Carole
December 18, 2012 at 5:59 am
Using the Google Keyword Tool for Search Engine Optimization is an incorrect application of this tool. The Google tool can indicate keywords that are popular, but its best use is for Google Adwords. If you want a Keyword Tool for supercharging your SEO activity, then I would stay away from the FREE tools and opt for a purpose built keyword research engine. Good luck everyone with your Keyword research activities.By whitening cream
December 29, 2012 at 9:08 pm
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He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him.
Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
By Joey C
January 8, 2013 at 9:38 am
If we talk about online seo tools, I should recommend http://www.colibritool.com They not only have support for GA and Keywrods Suggestions but also Competitors measurements, site’s traffic, backlinks, goals etc.By best los angeles seo company
March 22, 2013 at 6:49 am
Keywords tools is so important for keyword research. And I am feel good to use Google adwords tools. It’s so reliable to me. So I am very interested about this.By click here to read
April 1, 2013 at 5:37 pm
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June 11, 2013 at 5:38 am
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