 |
Affiliate marketing could ultimately set you freeIn Internet marketing, an affiliate is a person or company which sends visitors to a website in exchange for commissions. Affiliates can earn commissions in three ways: per click, per sale and per lead. Pay-per-click programs have declined dramatically in numbers because of click fraud. Pay-per-sale and pay-per-lead programs are still very common. These days, affiliate merchants or vendors the whole process easy for affiliates. You go to the vendor's site, type in your name and address, and wait for your website to be approved. In some cases, approval is automatic. Each affiliate is given a unique link to paste into his or her website, so the vendor can track which affiliate is responsible for generating a sale. Most affiliates own a website or several websites. However, some earn commissions by paying for advertising and sending the visitors directly from the ads to the merchant. This "affiliate arbitrage" is a tough field for a newcomer. It's easy to spend more than you earn. Instead, I strongly recommend you start by creating your own website. Here's a common misuse of the word "affiliate": WRONG: "I want to add some affiliates to my website." CORRECT: "I want to add some affiliate products to my website." CORRECT: "I want to add some affiliate links to my website." Being an affiliate is a bit like being a commissioned sales person - online. There are many advantages in having this sort of business. For example, you don't have to create a product, you don't have to carry any inventory, you don't have to worry about handling products, or postage, or refunds. You work from home, choosing your own hours. You are your own boss. Affiliate programs are usually free to join. Disadvantages? You have to have discipline and determination to succeed. For newcomers to Internet marketing, joining an affiliate program or two is an excellent opportunity - a good way to earn money without producing your own product. As more and more companies are establishing their businesses on the Internet, affiliate programs have risen in popularity as a strong internet marketing tool. Assigned affiliates get rewarded for directing traffic and potential customer to the company’s website. This is an excellent way to earn some extra cash on your website, as an affiliate How affiliate programs workBrief description: You send people to a web site. They buy something, or sign up for something, and you are paid a commission.Affiliate programs are revenue sharing arrangements set up by companies selling products and services. As a web site owner, you are rewarded for sending customers to the company.For example, by February 1998 Amazon.com, one of the affiliate marketing pioneers, had attracted more than 30,000 webmasters giving Amazon.com wonderful publicity in exchange for a small commission on sales. (By 2004, it was over the 900,000 affiliate mark.)These pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead programs are usually remarkably easy to join.After carefully reading the terms and conditions, which vary from program to program, you place a link from your site or newsletter to the vendor. When someone clicks on the link and buys a product or service from the business, you earn a commission. Harness your passionThere are dozens, hundreds - maybe even thousands - of different ways for imaginative people to launch an Internet business.One way which works well for many people is to concentrate on a small niche. Choose a topic in which you are passionately interested, and create a website around that theme. Then select affiliate programs which closely fit the theme of your site and blend them into the site, using text links.If possible, write about the products from first-hand knowledge, so that you become a respected, credible source of reliable information.The more targeted your traffic, the more likely it is that people will buy.The huge advantage of basing a business on a topic in which you are passionately interested is that you will enjoy running your business - it will be much more like a fascinating hobby than a job. Select your targetHere's what the professionals do. Before they do anything else, they decide WHO they are going to sell products to. (I know that's not strictly grammatical, but "to whom" sounds awfully stuffy.)DON'T select the product first. Select your target audience first.Be precise. Zero in on a group of people with a particular interest or problem. Now ask yourself: Where do they gather? What magazines or ezines do they read? What websites do they visit? What email discussion groups do they subscribe to? How can you approach them?Is it easy to get in front of their eyeballs? You're looking for an easily identifiable target. There's no sense in building a website and then trying to figure out how to attract your audience. Do it the other way round. Decide who your audience is and then build your site. Become interested in a hot topicHere's another choice. Instead of setting up a site based on your favorite hobby, delve deeply and become a specialist in a subject which is hot right now.You'll find that as you immerse yourself in the topic, delving deeper and deeper, you'll become intensely interested in it. The more you learn, the less your business will seem like work.Here are some hot topics you can choose from:• Ebook publishing• Pricing strategies• Search engines• Autoresponders• How to create your own products fast You can choose almost ANY topic to be the theme for your site. However, before you begin, look in the AssociatePrograms.com directory and make sure there are suitable affiliate programs which fit your theme.Aim to be the most knowledgeable person on the Net in your small niche. If you build a really useful site, people will recommend your site and link to it, giving you wonderful free publicity. Promote products which are in high demandIt sounds so simple, doesn't it? In fact, it's so simple it's very easy to overlook. Sell things that people want.Information products are good to sell because that's mainly what people use the Internet for - to seek information.Digital products have high profit margins and often have high commissions.Bargains are always in demand. Coupon sites which offer the latest bargains are labor-intensive but have proved profitable. This is a highly competitive field now.Jumping on new products and the latest fads can also reap rewards for the agile. An Ernst & Young study found that the most popular products bought online are: • Computer related products (40%) • Books (20%) • Travel (16%) • Clothing (10%) • Recorded Music and Subscriptions (6%) • Gifts (4%) • Investment (4%) Get paid - without sales In some cases, your visitors don't even have to buy anything. If they fill out a survey, ask for a free report, ask for a free sample or perhaps download software to try, you get paid. Some affiliate networks have dozens of such offers you can promote. You're sure to find some that suit your site's theme. These are pay-per-lead programs.
|