Once you have identified your target audience it is time to begin to develop your plan of attack; your campaign strategy. A large part of developing that strategy is deciding precisely how you are going to go out and market your products. There are literally hundreds of ways that an affiliate can market their products; however, in the interest of getting your campaign off to a solid start on its pathway to success we will only discuss the basics. You can fill in the blanks yourself after getting your feet wet in the world of marketing on the web.

The simplest and least expensive method of advertising for an affiliate is through the use of blogs and forums. A web log (hence “blog”) is an interactive medium where the blogger can provide information to a market and that market has the option of interacting with the author (most of the time) through the comments feature on the blog. A forum is a community feature very similar to a blog and tends to focus on one central theme.

For example, let us say that you are attempting to market a new form of video game. If you were advertising through a blog you would want to find a section of the blog which deals with video games, gaming software, gaming equipment, etc. You could then create an interesting and informative blog post (or respond to someone else’s post) and include your affiliate link you were given in the signature section of your blog.

In fact, you can start your own blog by going to www.wordpress.com and clicking “start your free WordPress blog.” This will allow you to become familiar with some of the aspects of blogging and incorporation of marketing efforts into it. Later, we’ll cover a more effective, yet slightly more complicated way to use WordPress blogs in your marketing efforts.

When marketing on a forum, you would need to find a forum that was devoted entirely to video games; specifically, the genre of video game you are attempting to market. You could then create or respond to a post and include your affiliate link in the signature.

There are two things you need to remember when advertising on a blog or a forum:

1. Make sure that your postings are interesting and informative, and
2. Don’t make it obvious that you are hoping to sell something.

Due to the rising popularity of social networking among Internet marketers (social networking being the process by which you use community sites to get the word out about stuff to as wide an audience as possible at no cost to yourself) most blogs and forums have very strict rules with regards to advertising on their sites; specifically, you are not allowed to do it. Many of them will remove your post or comment and restrict your access to the site if they catch you attempting to use their resources to gain free patronage.

“So wait,” you are probably thinking, “if we aren’t allowed to advertise through blogs and forums why are you telling us to do it?” Simply put, you are going to learn to be sneaky. No, you cannot specifically promote your products but you often can include your affiliate link with each post. Most blogs and forums will give you the opportunity to create a “signature” which will be included each and every time you create a post on their site. By adding your affiliate link you are essentially handing out your business card to every person who happens to read your post or blog comment.

Human nature is steeped in curiosity; at least some of the readers who read your post are going to be curious enough about you and what you said to check out your link (this is especially true if you have taken the time out to create a truly unique content). Word of mouth is your best friend when it comes to successful marketing; those that read your post and visit your site will tell their friends. Before you know it you will have an entire network of customers ready and willing to part with their hard earned cash.