Affiliate Marketing - Make Money Online

So what is affiliate marketing? 

I'll try to explain in its most simple form. Have you ever bought anything from the Avon Lady knocking at you door? Yes?. Then you have probably bought from an affiliate marketer. The Avon lady selling the hand cream and shampoo do not normally work for Avon but are selling Avon products for them and will receive a commission for doing so. That is it in a nutshell - Affiliate Marketing is not a new trend and has been going on for years in one form of another.

Why do companies need affiliate marketing? 

Companies or merchants as they are known in the affiliate world need additional sales, by using affiliates as an additional sales channel will enable them to achieve their goals (sales targets). In the web world there are so many opportunities to get a customer into your website, but the site can not always get everyone it can not be all things to all men and affiliates who get a lot of web traffic can send this traffic towards a retailer by advertising the products on their own site for the merchant. 

For example : I own a mobile phone forum and people on my forum are all taking about the latest Mobile Phone ? i know of a site that sells the latest Motorola Mobile Phones and can simply allow my customers to click through to buy them. Another alternative could be, Your visitors are talking about Vodafone and you can provide them with access to all the options that are available through Vodafone.

3 Golden rules. 

Satisfy the customer - You will get greater success by giving the customers products which match the theme of your website. Also make sure that you pick merchants with a good customer service, a customer is less likely to visit you again if the customer has received a bad experience. 

Satisfy the merchant, Essentially merchants want quality, this may be in the form of  Web Hits, % of Web hits that buy a product, % of leads that become a sale and % of products which are despatched and not returned? Some of this may be out of your control, but if the merchant is good at affiliate marketing they will understand your stats and be able to work with you improve your performance. 

Satisfy your self  If you get the 2 points above correct i believe that affiliate marketing can be easy and you will earn big money. Customers do not want to click on products that do not meet their needs and merchants do not want lots of web hits only for them not to buy. Your relationships with the Merchant and Customers is key.

All merchants should be available to speak to either by email, forums or by the telephone to help you with your programmes and you should try and make yourself available to them. 

Who can do it? 

Anyone could do it really. Many news stories tell you that Affiliate Marketing is now the easiest way for anyone to make a profit online ? this can be true, but you must ensure that you are willing to put in some hard work and make sure you pick the right companies to work with and work with them on matters that achieve the 3 golden rules above. 

Do i need to have a website? 

Being an Avon lady or Ann Summers rep shows that you do not need a website to be able to be an affiliate ? in the web world this can also be the case. There are merchants who offer a white label website so if you are able to find a white label affiliate programme then this could satisfy your needs. You will need alternative ways to drive traffic to the website, such as PPC marketing, Cold calling or even by telling your mates in the pub.

You could make a fortune!

Affiliate marketing programmes are normally Free to join, so affiliates do not have to worry about start up costs. There are thousands of products and services that you can choose to be affiliated with. Remember the Golden Rules, work hard and pick the right merchants to work with.

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