Gaining influence is the key to affiliate marketing success, and it is something that tends to evade the majority of people who work online. Today I want to talk about how to do it simply and effectively.

What Is Influence?

Before we look at how to gain influence, lets discuss what it actually is first of all. Influence is all about having the ability to effect the behaviour of another person. It can be both positive or negative, and it impacts on every part of human life.

Influence is often associated with power, status, and control, so it can have a rather negative connotation. When you think about it though, you realise that from day 1 of your life other people will influence what you do or do not do. From your parents, to siblings, school teachers and friends, each person you encounter in life will influence you in one way or another. Your behaviour and belief system is a total sum of all the influences you have experienced so far.

Is It Ethical To Work On Gaining Influence?

This is a really interesting question in my opinion, and the answer is “That depends on what you want to do with it”. If you want to gain influence to control others and use it only for your own gain, then in my opinion that is not ethical. If you want to use it to teach and help others, then it is ethical. However I could go into a full blown debate about ethnocentrism here, which is the belief we know what is best and is completely biased in our direction…. but I won’t. I simply want to raise awareness of how important it is to be careful when you have influence over others.

Becoming An Influencer

I have mentioned before that there is a very distinct link between becoming an influencer and affiliate marketing. The whole concept of being an affiliate is based on your ability to convince others into making a purchase of a particular product. The more influence you have, the easier this becomes. As an affiliate then the process of gaining influence is absolutely vital to understand.

To become an influencer there is one main requirement. You need to be viewed as an expert, or as having the knowledge that another person wants. This automatically raises your status to that of teacher and coach in the eyes of another person. You become a role model and someone that others want to copy. This is why celebrities make extremely good affiliates who are approached by companies to promote or affiliate themselves with the brand.

How To Raise Your Own Status As A Marketer

To gain influence over others you need to work on your own status first and foremost. You need to show others that you have the knowledge they want, and that you are willing to share it. In my opinion nothing does this as effectively as writing a blog that is full of information. What better way to present your skills in a public and accessible format?

This is why I personally recommmend blogging to all who want to work online. It is why the majority of affiliates are bloggers or vloggers. If you do not use a blog or vlog to showcase your knowledge and share it with others then you are missing out on the key process involved in gaining influence.

If you want to succeed as an affiliate then the first step is to Learn How To Start A Blog. Start working on that today and you will soon gain status. It will make you stand out from the crowd of “pushy marketers” who do not understand what real marketing actually is.

Want To Learn More?

I hope you have enjoyed this post and are interested in learning more about affiliate marketing. Do take a moment to join my email list below if not already done so: