What is affiliate marketing and how do people
make money with it?

Q: What are affiliate programs?

A: Affiliate marketing is a simple concept. A business recruits individuals or companies to promote their products and services. In return, these "affiliates" receive commissions when they bring in sales or generate a customer.  The commission is usually a percentage of the sale price.

Amazon.com was one of the first to use this and became quite successful.  A good Affiliate program can work well for both the business and the Affiliates or marketers.  It is kind of like being a commissioned sales rep or independent contractor. Businesses make more sales.  The Affiliates make money either for sending them customers or actually selling the product.

Q: What kind of online businesses have affiliate programs?

A: There are programs in just about anything you might be interested in promoting. There are programs related to everything from automobiles, computers, ebooks, flowers, health, sports, travel, and web marketing, just to name a few.  You can earn money promoting just about anything you can think of!

Q: How can I get started?

A: A good place to start is browsing through some of the affiliate directories such as AffliateMatch.com.  Look for products or services you want to promote.  Once you find a few, check out the affiliate programs they offer. Make sure they offer a commission you would be happy with.  It is also a good idea to choose programs that are going to give you commissions for return customers for a long time.  Some will only give you a onetime commission for a first visit.  At the other extreme are companies like Sitesell that make the customer yours for life.  If you are going to take the time to promote their program you want the customer to remain yours for a long time.

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Q: Should I join just a handful of affiliate programs, or
dozens of them?

A: That's all up to you. Just keep in mind that it takes time to promote and focus your efforts on each one. I think the main things is to only promote good products and services.  If you would not buy it yourself don't promote it.

Q: Do I need to buy the products or services myself?

Most companies will not insist that you personally own the product.  However if you own a product it makes it easier to promote because you can learn first hand what the benefits of the product or service are.  For instance my favorite affiliate program is Sitesell.  They have awesome info products and because I personally own most of them it makes it easy for me to recommend them to others.

Q: Do I need a website.

A: Many marketers just advertise in ezines or publish their own newsletter.

Q: How do I get traffic to my affiliate links so I can make sales?

A: The best affiliate programs will have extensive help areas.  These will include tips and training on where and how to advertise.  Many will provide you with actual  advertising copy you can put on a website or in an ezine.  Some will give you a personal web site.  Strategies I've used successfully include email newsletter advertising, creating ebooks with your links in them, and getting your site listed in search engines. You can also write articles for ezines.  Many good programs such as Sitesell will actually have ebooks you can give away with your links in them.

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