What is Affiliate Marketing?

Selling Other People’s Products Online to Earn a Commission

Affiliate marketing basically means selling other people’s products online to earn a commission.  Affiliate marketing is similar to offline sales where sales people earn a commission for selling a product; the difference is that all selling is conducted online.

Commissions Can Vary from Seven to Fifty-percent

As an affiliate marketer you will research and find products to promote on your website. You will be given links encoded with your own unique affiliate ID number for each product you plan to promote. The links need to be added to your website in strategic locations. Each time you make a sale through your affiliate link you earn a percentage of that sale.  The commissions can vary from as low as 7% to a generous 50%. 

The sales are tracked through your unique affiliate ID number which is assigned to you at the time you sign up for a specific affiliate program.  Your unique affiliate ID number is tracked and each time a sale is made through your link it is recorded.   A good affiliate program will give you plenty of tools for promoting the products as well as a comprehensive “member’s only” area where you can track your affiliate sales and commissions.

Simply Refer the Sale and Get Paid

Affiliate marketing is a good way to get started selling online.  You can be set up and ready to go within a few days and there is no need to spend any time creating your own products or purchasing inventory.  You are simply promoting other people’s products, which means they is responsible for order fulfillment, customer service and anything else related to the sale – you simply refer the sale to them and get paid for doing so.

For example if you have a love of cooking, you can create a website about cooking related topics and include tips, recipes, and reviews of all your favorite cooking gadgets.  You can then find affiliate programs online and promote some of those products on your website.  You can find programs by doing a search under your chosen topic such as “cooking” and adding the words “affiliate program” to that term.
You can also find affiliate programs at websites like Commission Junction.

Affiliate Marketing Takes Time and Effort

Although affiliate marketing is an easy way to get started online, there is a little more to it than just publishing a few links and waiting for the check to arrive. A good affiliate marketer knows it takes time and effort to make sales.

One way to do this is provide quality information on your website and only linking to related affiliate products.  Another good tip is to write a review about the products you promote accurately describing all the features - good and bad.  Your customers will appreciate honest feedback and will be more likely to buy from you.