The Basics of Affiliate Marketing Explained

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Affiliate marketing programs are a great way of making money online by promoting of products, services or brands. If you believe in the power of the internet as a marketplace, you owe it to yourself to learn more about affiliate marketing. Here are some of the basics to get you started:

What Exactly Is Affiliate Marketing?

The easiest way to understand the concept of affiliate marketing is to think of it as a business relationship where you recommend products you use and like.

As with any business relationship, an equitable agreement must be in place for it to work. When you are part of an affiliate marketing program, you become affiliated with companies that sells a product or services and you are compensated for recommending those products and services.  While you are affiliated with the company and many times use their marketing material and abide by their terms, you are still your own boss.

Technically, an affiliate marketing program gives you an opportunity to be a publisher, which means that you can leverage your online marketing and promotion skills for profit.

In exchange for generating interest, leads, internet traffic, prospects, and sales, the company you are affiliated with will compensate you. Although some compensation models may involve exchanging traffic, goods or services, the vast majority of compensation structure involves commission payments. In other words, if you want to make money online, you should defintely be looking into affiliate marketing.

Where Do I Find Affiliate Marketing Programs to Join?

To get started, you need to look at the different goods and services available for promotion. There are many ways to get involved in affiliate marketing, 2 common way are:

1 – Take a look at the websites of companies that offer products or services you are familiar with. Many companies that run their own affiliate programs will have a link stating so at the bottom of their homepage, or else this link can be found on their “Contact Us” page.  If they don't have a link, contact them and ask.

2 – Visit the websites of reputable affiliate marketing networks such as ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, ShareaSale and Max Bounty to name a few. Companies that choose not to manage their own affiliate marketing programs will list their goods or services on these networks so that they can handle certain aspects such as commission payments and affiliate support. If you are new to the world of internet marketing, you may want to start with network sites like ClickBank instead of trying your luck directly with providers of goods and services.  This will usually give you a wide range of products to promote.

Can I Make a Lot of Money With Affiliate Marketing?

In a word, YES!  You can make considerable income with affiliate marketing program. As with everything else in business, the amount of effort you put into it will dictate how much you will make.

As you are reading this, there are affiliates making six and seven figures per year just from their Affiliate Marketing business.  It is also a great way to make a nice passive income since many of these programs have recurring payments from membership sales.   Now don't get me wrong, this does not mean that you can simply sign up for program and start getting a boat load of money right away. Affiliates who are making the big bucks had to work hard to get there.  The best way to look at it is as a business.  If you treat it like a business and work at it consistently you can be greatly rewarded.

In the end, affiliate marketing could be your ticket to earning a nice income from the internet. The key is to play your cards right by choosing products that you will truly enjoy promoting and that you will feel good about.  If you truly believe in a product you will find success in promoting it.  When I first started in Affiliate Marketing it did not take very long before I started seeing 4 figure commissions.  The best advise I can give if you want to build a successful business online with affiliate marketing is educate yourself.

Please check back soon, I will be posting 5 Affiliate Marketing Tips for Success Online.  You don't want to miss it.

Please comment below and let me know what you think.