The #1 problem that new affiliates have getting started is that they can’t get traffic.  They usually don’t have a high traffic website already, and a lot of times they can’t afford to put the money into paid traffic sources.  You definitely do not want to take food off the table to test out PPC or PPV, because your first few campaigns are almost guaranteed to lose money.  This is no reason to shy away from Affiliate Marketing, you just have to be more creative…

Which brings me to free traffic coupons.  Traffic sources want your business.  They want you to test them out.  And they understand that everyone is hesitant to spend money on an unknown quantity.  That’s why they give away free traffic coupons.

The biggest player that I see giving away coupons is Google Adwords.  They routinely give away $50, $75, and even $100 coupons to new Adwords advertisers.  And they also have cross-promotions with tons of people.  I’ve seen these coupons given away along with purchases of a domain at GoDaddy, or a hosting plan at Hostgator, and even in Inc. magazine (an actual paper coupon).  Think about it: spend $10 on a domain, get a coupon for $50+ in traffic.

Facebook Ads has also been known to give away coupons, but they are much more stingy about them and I haven’t seen a lot of them going around lately.  MyAds has been throwing around coupon codes left and right though, and their coupon codes stack up so you can use more than one.  Here’s a code you can use for $75 right now to get you started with them: MY75.

So what are you waiting for?  Find some coupons.  Search for them.  Ask your Affiliate Manager for them.  Ask your friends if they have seen them or if they have one laying around they aren’t going to use.  Each one is another bit of free money that you can use to test offers, increase your knowledge, and get further on the road to big numbers.