I got a phone call from an affiliate newbie yesterday who was looking for some guidance on how to get started as an affiliate. Should she use a product like SiteBuildIt? Or should she do something else? What should she write/blog about?

I bump into questions like this all the time when I talk to followers of my blog and I never get tired of trying to steer people in the right direction here. I respond to their question with a question as well:

What are you passionate about?

I think this should be one of the first things we ask ourselves when it comes to any project that we undertake. Why? For a few reasons:

1. If you are passionate about a topic, it will be easier to commit yourself to blogging multiple times a week or even daily.
2. You will know more about your topic and be more willing to learn more through reading, product experimentation and online research and this means more and better content.
3. If you review and recommend products that you have experience with in an area you are an “expert” in, your recommendations will carry weight and your reviews and other content will be compelling.

Anyone can slap up a site or a blog and start writing on topics that they think will generate revenue, but if they really don’t know anything about the topic or care about it, they won’t be as effective as they could be and blogging or site building will seem like a chore. If you’re passionate about your topic, creating content won’t be a problem and it will show.

In terms of the Site Build It vs Blog question… I have to vote for blogging. Site Built It is a decent product and Dr. Ken Evoy is one of the best marketers in the business, but to really leverage his stuff, you have to be able to get through his instruction manual, which is a bit overwhelming for my ADD addled brain.

If you are new to the blogging game, and would like a kick-start, check out my post on Blog Classroom from a few days back.