Software Tools. Here are 10 of my recommended tools and services you need to have a successful affiliate business
Listed below are the software tools and services that I use for my online business.
I have tested many software tools and services in the past few years. Many of these did not meet my satisfaction. I found these software tools and services are recommended if you want to create a successful online business.
I have this software tools list into two different categories. Those who want to have their own domain name and a website, along with making videos.
While some people prefer to just promote affiliate products without requiring a domain name, and a website.
With either method the bottom line is one needs traffic to make profits. Getting free organic traffic with keywords ranked on Google can be very competitive.
And buying ads on Google or Facebook is costly and risky as well.
I found a list of some of the best traffic sources that are inexpensive and gets great results.
Plus, a key to successful affiliate marketing is to build a list of subscribers, with an opt in form, bridge pages, and an email autoresponder.
The first four tools are for those who don't want a domain name, website, or learn how to create videos.
1. Software Tools. An email autoresponder, optin page builder, funnel page builder.
There are many autoresponders on the market. Some of the big names are Getresponse, Mailchimp, Aweber, and Converkit.
I tried both Aweber and Convertkit and they each offer a free version. There are nice features with the free version to do most list building with. However with the free version there are some drawbacks that I describe in my Aweber v Convertkit review.
However in 2024 I found a better more affordable email autoresponder service called Leadsleap.
Even though Aweber, Converkit, and Getresponse are excellent email autoresponder services, they can be expensive if you start building a huge list of thousands of subscribers. You could be paying hundreds of dollars per month if you generate a large list.
However, with Leadsleap you can have unlimited email lists.
Plus, they not only provide you with an email autoresponder service, but include page builders, funnel builders, and traffic as well. You can signup for free which gives you unlimited email lists. They do have an upgrade which allows you to have email auto sequences as well as a few other features.
2. Services. Getting leads for your autoresponder.
Having a great funnel page and autoresponder are necessary, but it won’t do you any good without having traffic. You can purchase traffic through Facebook and Google Ads, however, I wouldn’t recommend this especially for anyone new.
Another preferred method that is reasonably inexpensive is purchasing leads. Again you need to find the right source as there are a lot of lead and list services that are not reputable. I found several good sources I have had good results with.
Check out one of my favorite lead sources: The Click Engine Traffic
3. FREE And Inexpensive Targeted Traffic
Here are my recommended sources for Free and Inexpensive targeted traffic. The free traffic sources are free to join and you can surf to earn credits to promote your offers. However, the drawback is that you have to click other members sites to earn credits. If you prefer not to surf they do have an upgrade where you can promote you offer to thousands of subscribers.
The free traffic is okay and I occasionally will get a sale, For those who have no budget or very limited budget I recommend you signup as this is a great way to start generating traffic and leads.
However the paid traffic sources work the best to achieve success. Remember that the goal is to get people to opt into your email subscriber list for sales success.
4. Software Tools. You need to have copyright free photos and graphics.
There are many websites that offer free image like pexels.com and pixabay.com Even though they have free photos, the majority of the photos you might want to use may not be free as you then have to purchase photos.
I chose Canva Pro for all my photos and graphics. In addition they have templates, videos, music backgrounds, and elements to utilize for nearly anything, from web site presentations to social media ads.
Below are my recommended Software Tools for those who want to have a domain name, website, and create videos.
5. Get a good brandable domain name from Namecheap
I used Namecheap as they have to great prices, an easy to use dashboard, and excellent support. Plus, they give FREE SSL and FREE domain privacy with each domain, whereas many other domain registrars charge for these. They have a domain search tool to find your perfect domain for your niche.
6. You need an affordable and fast hosting provider such as A2 hosting.
This is the hosting service that is rated one of the best in the industry as they have fast shared hosting services with their Turbo Boost. They have an easy to use Cpanel along with low prices and excellent support.
Check out my A2 hosting review.
7. You need to find a premium wordpress theme and page builder.
Thrive Architect And Thrive Theme Builder
When I first started on the web I used a free theme, but realized that free themes were very limiting and didn’t give me the flexibility to build a professional looking site.
I purchased Thrive Theme Builder and Thrive Architect as both of these work in combination to build an impressive site.
You don’t need technical skills, but there is a short time needed to learn how to utilize all the tools.
However, they have excellent tutorials and an onsite template guide to walk you through the process. They provide a drag-and-drop page builder with templates to make it easy.
The Thrive theme company also provides customer support for any questions you have.
A real value is that they have funnel page templates so you can customize to create your own funnel pages and incorporate an email optin form to build a list.
8. Software Tools. You need a video creator to easily make videos for YouTube and TikTok.
In the past I purchased a few video creators, but none of them were very professional and had drawbacks. I then found Pictory, which integrated all the features need to make slick videos.
You can simply copy and paste an article and Pictory will turn it into individual scenes complete with videos, photos, music background, and an AI voice to read your script.
For more details on Pictory check out my review.
9. Software Tools. RankMath
Rankmath is a wordpress plugin that helps you achieve search engine optimization for all your web pages. At first their dashboard seems a bit overwhelming with a lot of info, but they have great tutorials to guide you through the process.
Rankmath is vital for anyone to get keywords ranked on Google as it walks you through each step and gives suggestions on your titles, descriptions, and overall content to rate it so you have the best opportunity to get ranked.
10. Software Tools. Finding Low Competition Keywords and AI article writers.
One way you can get free traffic is by writing articles that are optimized for keywords.
By finding the right low competitive keywords you can get ranked on Google and Bing to get organic traffic. I have done this and takes a lot of time to write your own articles unless you have the money to hire a writer.
Some of the popular keyword tools are Ahrefs and Semrush. These are extremely good keyword tools. However, they are costly and Ahrefs starts out around $200 per month which can be too expensive for anyone starting out and on a limited budget.
I found two keyword tools that are excellent. One is Kwestify, which starts out at $12 per month and the other is RankIQ which is $42 per month.
For writing articles, many people use Chatgpt which is free. It is okay for creating outlines. However, for complete article writing it is not suitable and would not recommend it.
There are 2 AI article writers I have used. Koala writer is an easy to use ai article writer. It will write not only articles based on your keywords, but will include an outline, cite sources, and create FAQ's.
The content sounds human readable and will pass AI detection. However, that being said, I still recommend editing the article to personalize it. You can signup for the Free version that gives you a limited number of articles to write. Then if you like you can upgrade which starts out at $9 per month.
You can use it to write blog posts, Amazon reviews, and other affiliate reviews. What I like is that you can include your affiliate links and it will add them to the articles.
You can choose the length of the articles, images to include and then you can connect your website and it will automatically upload the finished article right to your Word press website.
Finally, Contentatscale.ai is an AI article writer that can creates readable articles that look like human written articles for your website. It is probably one of the best article writers, however the cost maybe too expensive for anyone starting out or has a limited budget.