Affiliate Marketing - The Basics
Imagine that you could earn
commissions on a popular brand-name product just by placing a link on your
website or in your email. That, my friends, is "Affiliate Marketing"!
OK... So it's not quite that
simple, but it doesn't have to be much more complicated either.
Let's start with a few definitions.
An advertiser, or merchant, is the company who is selling a product. An
affiliate, sometimes referred to as a publisher or partner, is another
person or company who assists in the promotion of the product and earns
a commission for doing so. (That could be you!) In between is the account
management service that partners the advertisers with the affiliates and
keeps track of the sales and commissions.
If you want to become an affiliate,
you first need to choose either a product you want to sell, or an account
management service. You will end up with both, but the choice of one will
determine the choice for the other. If you choose the product first, the
advertiser will direct you to the account management service that they
already work with. If you choose the account management service first,
they will provide you with a list of merchants that they do business with.
.
.
To see if your favorite product
or company offers an affiliate program, go to their website and check the
menu bar or the bottom of the screen. Look around for the word "affiliate".
Click on that link, read about their program and requirements, and fill
out their application. Some companies require specific types of websites
to place their links on. They will email you all you need to know to get
started.
If you don't know what specific
product you would like to promote, or if you want to promote several, I
recommend browsing the participating merchants on the account management
service's website.
Try to stick to products or
ideas that you are familiar with and passionate about. It will be much
easier to market to your visitors if you can add value to the link you
want them to click on. Personal recommendations or stories will get way
better results than just a banner or solo text link. Give them a reason
to "click here".
Welcome to the world of Affiliate
Marketing! Good luck with your new venture!
Author-Bio: K.C. Gagne is a
work at home mom providing website consulting and design services to other
small business owners. Her Website Solutions information can be found at
http://websitesolutions.connectingrainbows.com.
Affiliate Marketing Resources:
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