I’ve been reading a lot of sad stories lately from affiliate marketers who got slapped recently by Amazon. In case you haven’t heard the news, Amazon cut it’s % referral rates and dropped their direct link bonus (which was 2.5 percent). If you were marketing solely using Amazon’s affiliate program, I’m sure you’re feeling a little devastated right now.

Google also changes it’s algorithms often — it seems affiliate marketers just can’t rely on a steady income anymore. Well, it might seem that way if you are not diversifying. In affiliate marketing, it’s very important NOT to "put all your eggs in one basket." You need to be diverse in the merchants you select to market for, the niches you select, and the marketing methods you employ.

Therefore, when you’re learning about affiliate marketing, don’t learn just one thing, such as PPC. Try to learn how to do two or three different strategies, and build your sites with variety. That way, no one SLAP will take you down.

Here are a few methods to consider or add to your marketing efforts today:

 

Pay Per Click (PPC): Good for almost instant profits.

Article Syndication: Submit articles to large article banks like AffSphere.com and EzineArticles.com. Your article can be picked up by other webmasters and put on their site, giving you GREAT organic backlinks!

Blogging: Good for establishing yourself as an expert in your niche.

Reviews: Write a good, honest review for a product and add your affiliate link to the content.

Press Releases: Do something newsworthy online and/or in the community, then submit it to PRWeb.com as a press release.

Video: Take an hour out of your day to make and submit a video about your product to YouTube. Be sure to include a link in your video description to your website.

Be Social: Make a site on Ning or Squidoo and link back to your original blog or website.

 

You can see that everything you do (other than PPC) can get backlinks to your site, which can only increase traffic, and, hopefully, sales!

Always be sure to do a few different types of marketing. That way you can concentrate on profits, and not spend time watching your back for the next big slap.