about getting paid for
selling products and
services you don't own,
or provide, and staying
on the right side of the
law. Someone else goes
to the trouble of
developing services,
software programs or
digital products. They do
all the hard work and you
collect the money.
Of course, it's a little more
complicated than that and
there is some work
involved. But to the keen
affiliate marketer, the
rewards can far outweigh
any pitfalls.
Affiliate marketing is a
revenue-sharing
arrangement between the
product developer,
known as the affiliate
merchant, and the affiliate
marketer, who is anyone
willing to promote the sale
of the product by using
any type of legal means
available to advertise.
This relationship will allow
the affiliate merchant to
grow their revenue by
paying only for the
advertising that results in
a sale. The affiliate
marketer will profit by
making a percentage on a
sale that he does not have
to manage when the sale
is completed. In other
words, the affiliate
marketer's participation
ends with the sale.
How the affiliate gets paid
depends upon how the
affiliate program is set up.
Some merchants will run
their own affiliate
program. They'll have
special types of software
that assigns each affiliate
marketer a special link
that's used in promoting
the product. The software
will track the sales of
every affiliate and the
merchant will pay the
commission periodically,
using either PayPal or
another method of
payment.
Some merchants use a
third party, such as
Clickbank, who take care
of the whole process,
including payment to the
affiliate. Clickbank also
make it easier for the
affiliate marketer by
having a fully-searchable
catalogue of products for
the affiliate to choose
from.
In selecting products or
services to promote, the
affiliate's income is directly
tied to how well the
selected product or
service sells, and the size
of the commission for
that product. This means
that it is very important to
select carefully when it
comes to choosing the
affiliate merchant you'll be
partnering with.
Be on the lookout for
programs with
commission rates no less
than 50%. You should
also give preference to
programs that pay
commission on multiple
levels. This means that
you'll also be able to earn
commissions on sales
made by people who buy
the products through
your affiliate link, then go
on to become affiliates
themselves.
You should only promote
products and services for
companies, or individuals,
that provide you with
training programs and
sales aids, such as
banners and other
marketing materials, that
you can use in your
promotional efforts.
As an affiliate, you should
try to select products that
you aren't embarrassed to
promote, and that you'll
feel comfortable
recommending to your
family and friends if they
should ask you about it.
You'll do much better if
you promote products
that you fully understand
and are already familiar
with. This way, you'll be
able to write better
adverts without having to
worry about finding the
right things to say.
Affiliate marketing is
probably the best
business model in the
world. There is no stock
to carry, no direct sales to
make and no after-sale
service to provide. It's
also free to start, which is
probably the reason there
are so many affiliates out
there.