As a small business owner and entrepreneur who found financial freedom through ClickBank affiliate marketing, I‘m going to walk you through exactly how to succeed as a beginner on this highly lucrative platform.
In this 10,000+ word, completely free guide, you‘ll discover:
- A step-by-step understanding of ClickBank and how it works
- The blueprint for choosing profitable products in popular niches
- Promotional tactics to get thousands of clicks to your links
- Traffic-driving strategies to convert visitors into buyers
- Real examples and sample numbers from my own experience
- Mistakes to avoid at all costs
- And much more…
So if you want to start earning life-changing commissions through ClickBank, regardless of your previous experience, keep reading. This in-depth guide reveals everything I‘ve learned over the past 5 years as a ClickBank "super affiliate."
Let‘s get started!
Chapter 1: Understanding ClickBank and How It Works
Before we dive into tactics, I want to make sure you have a clear understanding of what exactly ClickBank is and how it operates.
ClickBank is a global online marketplace that connects creators of digital products (known as vendors) with people willing to promote those products (known as affiliates, like you and me).
Here‘s a quick overview of how it works:
- Product creators list their offer on ClickBank‘s marketplace (ebooks, courses, software etc.)
- Affiliates browse these offers, choose ones to promote and get unique referral links
- Affiliates drive traffic to their links using various online marketing tactics
- When someone buys through an affiliate‘s link, the affiliate earns a commission
It‘s a win-win arrangement. Product creators expand their reach and sales, affiliates earn generous commissions.
Some key advantages for affiliates:
- Access to a huge digital product selection – over 6 million items across 100+ categories
- Global audience reach – ClickBank operates in 200+ countries
- Commissions ranging from 30% to 75% of each sale
- Payments processed automatically every 2 weeks
- Detailed sales and traffic reporting
In 2021, ClickBank generated over $845 million in sales and paid affiliates over $560 million in commissions. And it shows no signs of slowing down, making now a prime time to dive in.
Let‘s look at getting your account setup properly…
Chapter 2: Signing Up for ClickBank and Getting Setup
Signing up for a ClickBank account is completely free and only takes a couple minutes. Just head over to ClickBank.com and look for the signup form, as shown below:
Enter your name, email, account username and password. Agree to the terms and click "Continue."
On the next page, fill in some basic personal profile information like your name, address etc.
Once submitted, ClickBank will send a verification link to your email. Click it to verify your address and complete the signup process.
Tip: Be sure to properly fill out your tax and payment information under settings right away so you don‘t experience delays in receiving your earnings.
After logging in, you‘ll arrive on the main dashboard which summarizes key account stats like views, clicks and earnings.
The main sections you‘ll want to familiarize yourself with are:
- Marketplace: Thousands of digital offers from different categories to browse through and select offers to promote.
- Account: Manage your personal profile, tax info, affiliates and payment settings.
- Tracking: Generate affiliate links to track sales, create banners and coupons.
- Reporting: Monitor your affiliate link activity, clicks, sales and commissions in real time.
Take some time navigating each section to understand how things work. It will pay dividends as you scale your promotions.
Now let‘s get to the fun and profitable part – finding hot offers to promote!
Chapter 3: Choosing Profitable Products and Offers to Promote
Promoting the right offers is absolutely essential to succeeding with ClickBank. But with over 6 million products available, how do you find the most profitable ones?
I‘m going to outline the exact process I use, refined over years of extensive testing and optimization.
The keys areas to evaluate:
- Relevancy to your interests and expertise
- Assessing demand and value
- Competition analysis
- Converting offer pages
Choose a Relevant Niche
The best approach is to promote offers closely related to topics you‘re already knowledgeable and passionate about.
For example, as a fitness enthusiast, I achieved my first ClickBank success promoting workout and diet programs. Leveraging my expertise in this niche allowed me to create much more authentic and engaging content.
I recommend making a list of your hobbies, interests and areas of specialty. Platforms like ClickBank have products spanning hundreds of niches, so you‘ll likely find relevant offers.
A few evergreen niches that tend to perform well across ClickBank include:
- Health, fitness & weight loss
- Wealth & investments
- Dating & relationships
- Self-help & motivation
- Survival & prepping
- Pets & animals
- Hobbies like woodworking, sewing etc.
Don‘t feel limited though – almost any niche has money-making potential.
Evaluate Demand and Value
Once you‘ve identified relevant niches, the next step is finding profitable offers.
You want to look for products that provide tremendous value by solving a specific pain point or need for consumers.
A few indicators of potential demand:
- Gravity score – ClickBank‘s proprietary metric that shows how many affiliates have earned commissions promoting a given product recently. The higher the better.
- Average sale price – More expensive products convert at lower rates, but your dollar earnings per sale are higher. Look for at least $20+
- Reviews – Positive testimonials indicate satisfied customers and higher conversions.
As an example, here‘s a workout program with indicators of high demand:
A gravity score of over 400 along with over 500 positive reviews suggests this is likely a winning product.
Always dig deeper into potential offers before promoting to ensure they deliver on their promises.
Assess Competition
It‘s ideal when a product has some competition – it validates profit potential. But you want to avoid offers with excessive saturation where you‘ll struggle to stand out.
I like to search product names in Google to quickly gauge existing affiliate competition.
For example, a search for "Old School Body Hacks Reviews" shows moderate competition:
There are certainly affiliates promoting it, but not at a fully saturated level. With the right strategy, there‘s still an opportunity.
As a general rule of thumb I look for under 100,000 results for lower competition keywords.
Evaluate Landing Pages
One final check is to examine the offer‘s landing page – the page you send traffic to and where buyers convert.
You want pages with:
- Strong headlines and imagery
- Clearly conveys the offer and benefits
- Social proof elements like testimonials
- Clean layout and easy checkout process
Here‘s an example of a high-converting landing page:
It immediately grabs attention with the imagery and headline focused on weight loss results. Further down, it uses video testimonials and guarantees to build trust and value.
Pages like this tend to convert traffic better, earning you higher commissions.
OK, you‘ve selected some kick-butt offers with profit potential. Now let‘s talk about the fun part – driving boatloads of traffic to your affiliate links!
Chapter 4: Promoting Your Offers and Affiliate Links
Many beginners struggle with affiliate marketing because they lack the right promotional strategies and tools to get their links in front of buyer audiences.
But have no fear! I‘m going to outline the exact traffic-driving tactics that have generated millions of clicks and sales for my links.
While the options may seem overwhelming at first, focus on 1 or 2 strategies to start and expand from there.
Content Marketing
One of the most effective approaches is creating informative blog posts, articles, and videos centered around the products you‘re promoting.
For example, if you‘re promoting a paleo cookbook, you could write articles with titles like:
- "10 Tasty Paleo Breakfast Ideas"
- "Paleo vs Keto: Which Is Better for Weight Loss?"
- "How the Paleo Diet Transformed My Health"
Within these articles, highlight the benefits of the cookbook, including your affiliate link for readers to check it out.
You can host this content on your own blog, or leverage platforms like Medium. Make sure to optimize with targeted keywords for discoverability.
I‘ve used this content strategy to generate tens of thousands of clicks to my ClickBank links that turned into sales. It takes work, but delivers results.
Social Media Marketing
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and more present huge opportunities to get your affiliate links in front of engaged audiences.
Share your content across all relevant social platforms. Engage with hashtags and influencers in your niche. Run promotions and giveaways.
Pro tip: Turn any piece of content into 10+ social posts by creating quotes, stats and excerpts from the source material.
I‘ve earned thousands of dollars with a single Facebook post, so make sure to leverage these traffic goldmines fully.
Email Marketing
Building an email list of potential customers in your niche takes more work up front, but can pay dividends for years through recurring commissions.
Using a tool like MailChimp to send regular broadcasts, you can share the latest content, product updates, coupon codes and promotions with subscribers.
According to Mailchimp‘s data, email generates $42 for every $1 spent – one of the highest ROIs for digital marketing!
Paid Advertising
You can invest in paid ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram and more to amplify your reach even further. These platforms allow you to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors—ensuring your message reaches those most likely to convert.
It does require a monetary investment, but the upside is you can scale traffic very quickly. With testing and optimization, you can achieve positive ROIs.
SEO Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your site‘s ranking in Google for relevant keywords. The higher you rank, the more free organic traffic you‘ll capture.
While advanced SEO could be its own massive guide, start with on-page elements like:
- Optimized titles and headers using keywords
- Internal linking between related content
- Higher quality content that users engage with
I use SEO to pull in thousands of targeted prospects to my affiliate offers each month without spending a dime on ads. It has huge potential.
Leverage Other Assets
Once you have some initial content created, look for opportunities to extract even more value from your assets, like:
- Repurposing articles into videos for YouTube
- Compiling posts into an ebook
- Turning tutorials into email courses
- Offering your content as guest posts to other sites
Each piece of content you create can become the foundation for many other promotional channels.
The potential traffic strategies are nearly endless, but start with a few that work for your strengths and offerings. Consistency and persistence pay off.
Now let‘s dive into optimizing those visitors into buyers and commissions!
Chapter 5: Boosting Conversions with Optimization
Driving traffic to your affiliate links is only step one. Ensuring those visitors convert into paying customers is equally important.
Here are some of my top tips for boosting conversions:
Capture Leads
Don’t send all your traffic directly to the offer page. Capture emails first so you can build relationships through follow-up emails and offers. This increases conversions greatly.
Tools like OptinMonster make it easy to grab emails with popups and slide-ins.
Handle Objections
If someone isn’t ready to buy right away, follow up to address any questions or hesitations they have. Win them over through helpful content that tackles common objections.
Retarget Traffic
Pixel tools like Facebook Pixel allow you to track visitors and "retarget" those who don’t initially convert through ads as they browse around the web. This keeps your offers top of mind.
Offer Incentives
Run promotions, discounts or bundle exclusive bonuses to add more value and entice customers. Most products have affiliate-specific coupons and deals for you to leverage.
Write Reviews
Posting positive reviews on the actual offer listing can help convince potential buyers who may be on the fence. Focus on real user benefits.
Show Social Proof
Case studies, testimonials and reviews build trust in the offer. Make sure to highlight them where possible.
Make It Risk-Free
Guarantees and trials remove fear of commitment for customers. Refund policies show confidence in the product quality.
With each optimization, you‘ll see increased conversions and commissions rolling in.
Now let‘s cover some common questions people have around getting started…
Chapter 6: Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to join ClickBank?
ClickBank is 100% free to join and use. You only pay when you actually earn commissions, which is taken as a small fee from each sale. There are no upfront costs as an affiliate.
How long does it take to get paid?
ClickBank pays its affiliates every 2 weeks via direct deposit or check. So you‘ll never have to wait long to receive your hard-earned commissions.
Do I need a website to promote offers?
You can absolutely promote affiliate links directly through social media, YouTube, forum posting and other platforms without a website, especially when starting out.
But having your own site lends more credibility, allows you to build email lists, and gives you more control over your promotional strategies.
What are typical commission rates on ClickBank?
Commissions vary by product, but tend to range from 30% to 75% of the purchase amount. So on a $47 product, you may earn $20 per sale as the affiliate. Higher priced products often pay lower rates.
How do I track my clicks and conversions?
ClickBank provides detailed analytics under Reporting that shows your clicks, visits, conversions, commission rates and earnings in real time through their tracking links. No guess work required.
Conclusion and Next Steps
That concludes my ultimate step-by-step guide to getting started and successfully earning commissions with ClickBank as a beginner affiliate marketer.
Here‘s a quick recap of the key points we covered:
- Understanding how ClickBank works
- Setting up your free account properly
- Finding profitable offers to promote in your niche
- Driving targeted traffic to your affiliate links
- Boosting conversions with landing page optimization
- Leveraging ClickBank‘s analytics to track your efforts
The income potential with affiliate marketing through platforms like ClickBank is truly life-changing if you apply these strategies diligently.
It does take consistent time and effort to see results, but I‘m living proof of the possibilities for people who stick with it.
So now it‘s your turn.
Choose those first few offers in your niche that excite you…
Start creating value-packed content and getting the word out…
And soon you‘ll start seeing those first coveted commissions rolling into your account.
The internet truly provides a level playing field if you bring the effort.
I wish you astronomical success on your affiliate marketing journey ahead! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.
To your success,
[Your Name]