Financial expert Dave Ramsey, founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions, is famous for his common-sense advice on paying off debt, establishing an emergency fund — and looking beyond your job to increase your income.
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As a recent Ramsey blog post noted, a job makes a lot of demands on your time and energy. A better strategy is to create passive income, which — after an initial investment of time, effort and perhaps some cash — the income stream is mostly self-sustaining.
The blog post gives a list of ideas for generating passive income to build wealth. Among them is affiliate marketing.
Earning money without trading “hours for dollars” appealed to Alex Windsor, owner of Betting Tools, an affiliate marketing site. As part of GameTime Digital, Betting Tools provides free sports betting tools, tips and other resources for sports enthusiasts.
“The idea of building something once and having it generate income over time was incredibly appealing,” Windsor said.
Within about a year after its launch, Betting Tools had earned Windsor $10,000. And that was just the beginning.
In an interview with GOBankingRates, Windsor — who previously sold a portfolio of affiliate websites for $10 million — provided insights on his business journey and shared tips to help you get started as an affiliate marketer.
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Earning passive income doesn’t need to be difficult. You can start this week.
Coming Up With a Business Idea
It might be tempting to start with the business idea itself. But a better strategy is to find your purpose and let that be your guide.
“Affiliate marketing caught my attention because it seemed like the perfect blend of my interests in writing, technology, and business,” Windsor said.
“I loved the idea of creating valuable content that could help people make informed decisions, while also earning commissions on products and services I believed in. Plus, the low upfront costs and scalability of affiliate marketing made it an accessible way to start an online business.”
First Steps
Having thought through the purpose of his business, Windsor drilled down to the specifics and got to work on his affiliate site.
“I started by choosing a niche I was passionate about — sports — and then built a website around it, he said.
“I focused on creating high-quality content that provided real value to sports enthusiasts. This included everything from product reviews to guides on various sports topics. I researched affiliate programs and partnered with companies that offered products relevant to my audience.”
Investing Time and Money
Windor’s initial financial investment was modest — about $500 on web hosting, a domain name and essential tools such as keyword research software.
“The great thing about affiliate marketing is that you can start with a minimal budget and scale as your income grows,” he explained.
What Windsor didn’t spend in cash, he more than made up for in time spent launching his site. He put in 40 to 50 hours per week, initially.
For one thing, he had to learn the ropes of search-engine optimization — ensuring that his website would get good visibility on Google and other search engines — and content marketing.
“There was a steep learning curve, and I wanted to get as much content out there as possible,” Windsor said.
The effort paid off. Today, Windsor spends just 15 to 20 hours per week maintaining the site, updating content and scouting out new opportunities.
Rising to the Challenges
Launching an affiliate site takes time, and it’s not without challenges. Perseverance is the key to riding them out and emerging stronger on the other side.
For Windsor, those challenges included the time it took for his site to gain traction and start producing earnings.
“It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re putting in a lot of effort and not seeing immediate results, he said.
Scaling the Business
While the initial phase of Windsor’s business involved a lot of trial and error, things picked up more quickly once he found his footing and refined his strategy.
As he began seeing consistent income and realized his site had real potential for scalability, he decided to go all in and make it his full-time focus.
“My ultimate goal is to create a portfolio of passive income streams that provide financial freedom and flexibility,” Windsor said.
Tips for Earning Income With Affiliate Marketing
Windsor has advice for anyone looking for ways to build passive income through affiliate marketing.
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Find a niche that aligns with your interests and skills.
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Focus on providing real value to your audience.
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Be patient and persistent.
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Continually educate yourself about digital marketing trends and SEO to stay competitive.
“If I could do it over again, I would have spent more time researching and understanding SEO right from the start. SEO is crucial for driving organic traffic, and getting it right early on can save a lot of time and effort down the line,” Windsor said.
“I would also focus on building an email list sooner, as it’s a valuable asset for any online business.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Made $10,000 Using One of Dave Ramsey’s Best Passive Income Ideas