What is Affiliate Marketing?
An affiliate marketer is one promotes products or services for another company via internet marketing of some sort, such as product recommendation, reviews or promotional advertising. From there, affiliate marketing can pretty much run the gamut. It includes all types of marketers (organic SEO, pay-per-click advertisers, article marketing) and all types of sales (pay-per-lead, commissioned sales, flat fee).
Basically, an affiliate marketer (sometimes referred to as a 'publisher', or more simply known as an 'affiliate') creates a web site that somehow promotes affiliate merchants (sometimes referred to as an 'advertiser', or simply more known as a 'merchant').
An example might be a website about the useful effects of taking vitamins. A page on that site might contain helpful advice on using Vitamin D to help with depression. On the Vitamin D page, you might see links or ads suggesting the best online stores where you can buy Vitamin D. These links are affiliate links.
If a customer clicks this link and makes a purchase from the merchant's online store, the affiliate gets a commission for referring the sale. Commissions vary by merchant and could be anything from 1% of the purchase, or it could be as much as $100 or more per sale in some cases. Obviously, the higher the commission, the more competition you will have as an affiliate.
If you are interested in running a website and making money online, affiliate marketing is, by far, the easiest and most inexpensive way to get started. You can easily get into affiliate marketing and make money online, for less than $100. And really, if you really need to start bootstrapping and you have some time to let your website get established, you can start for about $25.
Where and how else can you start a legitimate, profitable business for $25?
How do I get started in Affiliate Marketing?
While there are dozens of different types of affiliate publishers, there are just as many ways to get started in affiliate marketing. The very best thing you can do is give yourself some time to start out learning. If you need to make a ton of cash right away, say within a month, affiliate marketing is probably NOT the right plan for you.
However, if you can be patient for a few months and if you would eventually like to earn $10 a day, $100 a day, or even $1000 a day, affiliate marketing is ideal. I remember when I first started I was thrilled just to have daily sales! That was more than 5 years ago and today my company is in the top 5% of all affiliate marketers.
Far too many people spend years and thousands of dollars learning how to make money in affiliate marketing, and they never put anything into action. DO NOT be one of these people. If you have enough time and money to waste like that, just start doing it. Go ahead and get your mistakes out of the way. Make some mistakes, lose a little money (not too much) - but just get on with doing it. This is the number 1 reason why people don't make money, they don't try - even when they know exactly all they need to know. This happens a lot!
The very best thing you can do is come up with a plan and stick to it. My advice to start would be to spend as much time as it takes to learn all about affiliate marketing. You can do this by searching the internet (I've included some excellent resources to start with below) and visiting industry forums such a s Abestweb.com and 5 Star affiliate Program Forums.
A couple of guys I have learned from are James Martell and Dr. Andy Williams. These guys are legitimate, I have followed them both for over 3 years. They both offer paid products, but much of what you will learn from them is free.
Andy has a couple of priceless tools that I use to manage my work for my websites, but he also has a free weekly newsletter that includes practical advice that you can implement on your website immediately. One of the things I like about Andy is that he tests a lot of different scenarios and gives you the results. He also knows keywords inside and out. He has a product called Keyword Results Analyzer. I use the Pro version, and I can't work without it.
You can work along with Andy in his newsletters and actually create your own websites or blogs at the same time. He gives easy steps that you can complete in a week, just in time for the next newsletter. Before you know it, you have an affiliate site!
James Martell has an ebook called "Affiliate Marketers Handbook" that he has been selling for many years that shows you exactly how to start in affiliate marketing. He does a great job of keeping the book up to date with marketing techniques and he also has weekly chats on his forum. He has a passion for helping others get started in the field of affiliate marketing. I bought his book in 2003 and it was worth every penny then as it is now.
Resources (Here's where I learned everything I know)
James Martell - Affiliate Marketers Handbook Affiliate Marketers Handbook is designed for you if you are brand new to building websites, running an online business, and internet marketing. James has a way of explaining how to market a website from the ground up. From choosing a niche website concept to article marketing, the ebook and James' member website shows you everything you need to know. More than just a membership site or how-to ebook, Martell offers weekly mentoring and ongoing guidance.
You'll get step by step instructions and answers to your questions - a bargain at any price. The cost is $167, which you could easily make in a day with a seasoned web site. At the very least, sign up for the email newsletter and follow some of the free tips for increasing traffic and conversions. James has been an affiliate marketer for 10 years, and has a passion for teaching others what he knows, how to make a good living on the internet.
Dr Andy Williams - EZSeoNews.com Andy's newsletter is full of practical advice every single week, and it's free. Just subscribe via email or RSS and start reading his stuff. Every single issue is useful and contains tips that are easy to implement. Andy is dedicated to helping other learn SEO.