author: Matt Diggity

How to Make Money with ShareSale: A Complete Tutorial

Introduction

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on how to make money with ShareSale! In this video, I'll guide you through the process of getting accepted into their program, finding the best affiliate products to promote, and effectively promoting those products to maximize your earnings. My name is Matt Diggity, and as an affiliate marketer since 2009, I have had great success with ShareSale, consistently earning a few thousand dollars per month.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a make money online business model that allows you to recommend products and services to your audience and earn a commission for each sale you generate. It's like being a middleman or middlewoman, introducing your audience to products you love and getting rewarded for it. One of the greatest advantages of affiliate marketing is that you don't need to create a product yourself or deal with inventory and customer complaints. Your job is simply to recommend products, something you probably do naturally in your everyday life.

The Benefits of Affiliate Marketing

No Product Creation: With affiliate marketing, you don't have to design or create any products. You can focus solely on recommending products you believe in.
Passive Income: Your recommendations are posted online, allowing you to make money even while you sleep. The internet works 24/7, so your earning potential is not limited by time.
Various Platforms to Recommend Products: You can utilize different platforms to recommend affiliate products, including blogging, social media, and more.
- Blogging: Start a blog or website where you can write review roundups or individual product reviews. This approach can generate free search traffic from platforms like Google.
- Social Media: Utilize platforms like YouTube and Pinterest to recommend products to your followers and earn commissions.
Affiliate Links: You will receive a unique affiliate link from the brands you partner with. Whenever someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission.

Why ShareSale?

ShareSale is a platform where affiliate marketers can find a wide range of products and offers to promote. Here's why I love ShareSale and why you should consider it:

High Commission Rates: ShareSale offers competitive commission rates, ranging from 10% to 75% on many programs. This is significantly higher than what you would typically find on platforms like Amazon Associates.
Top Brands: ShareSale features reputable brands that are known to convert well because of their established reputations. Some notable brands include Reebok, FreshBooks, Etsy, and ButcherBox.
Reliable Payment and Transparency: ShareSale pays on time and maintains a good reputation in the industry. You can trust that your commissions will be accurately counted and paid out.
Free to Sign Up: Joining ShareSale is completely free, and once accepted, you gain access to thousands of offers without the hassle of searching the internet.

Signing Up with ShareSale

To sign up with ShareSale, follow these steps:

Use the link provided in the description to access the sign-up page, giving you a head start in the application process.
Create a username and password on the first screen, indicating your country.
Enter your website URL, but if you don't have one yet, you can provide a social media profile, such as a YouTube channel.
Specify the language of your website and answer the provided questions.
Submit an email address, preferably one connected to your domain, for a faster application process.
Fill out your contact information and verify domain ownership.
Choose your preferred payment method.
Wait for approval, which, in my experience, typically takes around 28 hours.

Finding and Promoting Affiliate Products on ShareASale

Once you have been accepted to ShareASale, you can start exploring the platform and finding affiliate products to promote. Here are some steps to get started:

Login to ShareASale: Visit the ShareASale website and click on the "Login" button. From there, click on "Affiliate Login" and enter your credentials to access your dashboard.
Dashboard Overview: The dashboard homepage provides a snapshot of your account activity and earnings. The top left section displays an activity feed with recent transactions and important information. On the upper right side, you can view your current balance and receive alerts. The top merchant section summarizes how much money you have made with each program. The trending merchant section suggests programs that may be of interest to you.
Finding Products: To find products to promote, click on the "Merchant Search" button on the navigation bar. This will take you to the merchant search page, where you have two options for searching: by category or by power rank.
- Browse by Category: If you already know the category that your audience is interested in, click on the relevant category on the left-hand side of the page. For example, if your niche is automotive, clicking on the automotive category will display offers related to cars, such as radar detectors, car parts, and car covers.
- Power Rank: If you're unsure about the niche category you want to operate in, click on "Power Rank" on the main merchant search page. This will take you to a list of ShareASale's top 100 offers, ranked based on overall performance.
Exploring Merchant Details: Let's take a closer look at an offer on ShareASale to understand how it works. Clicking on the offer's details will reveal important information about the program and its potential earnings. For example, the FreshBooks program offers $55 per sale and provides additional incentives for sign-ups and conversions. The Earnings Per Click (EPC) indicates that you can earn around $2.56 for every 100 clicks, and the conversion rate is 6.04%. Notably, FreshBooks offers a 120-day cookie duration, giving you the opportunity to earn commissions even if the customer makes a purchase months later.
Joining a Program: If you find an offer that suits your audience, click on "Join Program" and provide a brief description of how you plan to promote the program. Once you've submitted your application, you can check the status of your pending applications on the merchant status page.
Getting Affiliate Links: Once you're accepted into a program, you can obtain your affiliate links by clicking on the "Get Links" button on the offer page. Text links are usually the most effective for promotion, but you can also use the custom link generator to create links to specific pages on the merchant's website. Additionally, check the deals and coupons section to see if any special offers are available to help improve conversions.
Promoting Your Offer: With your affiliate links in hand, it's time to start promoting your ShareASale offers. If you have a blog or website, you can leverage search engine optimization (SEO) to attract free organic traffic from platforms like Google. SEO helps to optimize your content so that it ranks higher in search engine results, increasing the chances of visitors finding and converting through your affiliate links. If you need guidance on SEO, check out the provided link for a comprehensive video on ranking content on Google.
Building Relationships: As you start generating affiliate sales and establishing a presence in the affiliate marketing space, it's beneficial to reach out to your affiliate manager. Affiliate managers can provide recommendations on high-converting products, custom coupon codes, and even negotiation opportunities for commission rates. Remember to focus on how promoting their products benefits them, and be proactive in initiating these conversations once you are generating at least $100 per month in sales.

By following these steps, you can effectively find and promote affiliate products on ShareASale, increasing the potential to earn commissions and grow your online business.

Strategies to Increase Affiliate Commissions

As an affiliate marketer, finding ways to increase your commission rates is crucial for boosting your earnings. However, convincing an affiliate manager to raise their rates requires offering them something valuable in return. In this article, we will explore effective strategies to get those higher commissions and provide you with a script that has a 62% success rate.

Understanding the Affiliate Manager's Role

Before diving into the strategies, it's important to grasp the responsibilities of an affiliate manager. Their primary goal is to drive as much traffic as possible to their product. They strive to ensure that their product is featured prominently on relevant platforms, such as "best phishing poll" lists.

Strategy 1: Offer to Write Additional Content

One effective strategy to negotiate higher commissions is by offering to write more content reviewing the affiliate manager's product. For instance, you can suggest adding their phishing poll to a "best phishing poll for beginners" article. By showcasing your willingness to promote their product further, you create additional value for the manager and demonstrate your commitment.

Strategy 2: Move Them Up Your Review List

Another approach is to propose moving the affiliate manager's product higher up on your review list. If you have already included their poll in a review of "best phishing polls," offer to rank it more prominently. This strategy shows the manager that you acknowledge the value of their product and are willing to give it even more exposure to your audience.

The Conversion-Boosting Script

To assist you in your negotiations, we have developed a script that has proven successful in achieving higher commission rates. Keep in mind that building a prior rapport with the affiliate manager helps improve the effectiveness of this script. Start by introducing yourself and addressing the possibility of increasing commission rates:

Hey Joe, how are you? Do you have authority to increase commission rates?

Next, highlight the efforts you have made thus far to promote their brand:

The [Put Your Blog's Name Here] team has been putting in major work squeezing your brand into our content at every opportunity we get.

Then, mention that you have identified more content opportunities, but you need to evaluate the return on investment (ROI):

We've identified more content opportunities, but we're doing some ROI calculations before we jump into a more substantial commitment to your brand.

What this section accomplishes is emphasizing the potential growth they may miss out on unless the commission rates are raised. Additionally, it subtly hints that redirecting that growth towards a competitor could be a possibility.

Remember not to offer writing additional content or moving them up the list initially. By refraining from doing so, you allow the manager to take the initiative and propose these actions themselves.

Enhancing Your Negotiation Success

Developing a prior relationship with the affiliate manager is crucial for effective negotiations. Therefore, aim to establish a connection early on, even before initiating the negotiation process. Understanding an affiliate manager's preferences and goals can be insightful and will enable you to tailor your offers accordingly.

For more insider secrets on effective negotiation tactics with affiliate managers, check out our interview with an affiliate manager video. You can find the link in the description below.

Choosing the Right Product

Selecting the right product to promote on platforms like ShareASale requires some trial and error. Not every product that looks enticing will necessarily resonate with your audience. However, when you find a product that does, it is essential to capitalize on its potential. Create diverse and engaging content, exploring every possible angle to maximize its value.

Don't forget to subscribe for future videos that provide more valuable insights and strategies like the ones discussed in this article.

By implementing these strategies and using the negotiation script provided, you can enhance your chances of securing higher commissions as an affiliate marketer. Remember, it's all about effectively communicating the value you bring to the table and understanding the affiliate manager's goals and needs.In conclusion, sharesale offers affiliate marketers an excellent opportunity to earn money by promoting a wide range of high-quality products with competitive commission rates. with the right strategies and platforms, such as blogging or social media, you can leverage sharesale's network to maximize your earnings and create a sustainable passive income stream. start your journey with sharesale today and unlock your full affiliate marketing potential!