If you have looked for an Internet business at all, you sure have seen some of the hundreds of affiliate programs available. What are they? How do they work? Can affiliate programs make you money? These are three of the questions I am most asked about affiliate programs. Here are some simple answers to those three questions.
What are affiliate programs?
Affiliate programs are back scratching relationships. Someone who has a customer, but no product to sell them finds someone who has a product to sell, and is looking for a customer. Amazon is a classic example of this. Everyone knows who Amazon is, but as large as they are, they still need help finding customers. When you sign up as an affiliate with them, you then put your affiliate link on your own email, newsletter, web page, etc. When someone purchases something from Amazon through your link, you will get a piece of the action. You can find affiliate programs in nearly every niche or cranny. Affiliate marketing has even has made it to a second generation. If you prefer, you can now enroll as an affiliate of a program that promotes affiliate programs. The main advantage to you of affiliate programs is that you don't need anything of your own to sell. You don't even have to touch it or use it. You send someone to the affiliate site, and if they buy a product, the seller pays you a commission.
How do they work?
Affiliate programs can either be handled through a third party such as Clickbank, or through the company who has the product. When you enroll as an affiliate, you will get some kind of user name or ID. This is attached to a URL where the product is located. For instance, if you sign up as an affiliate with "John Doe's Best Hosting Company and Website Builder," and are given the user name of 343422, you might end up with a URL to promote that looks something like http://johndoesbestwebsitebuilderandhostingcompany.com/?username=343422. Not the easiest thing to promote, as you can't just rattle that off to someone and expect them to get there. When you finally do get someone to http://johndoesbestwebsitebuilderandhostingcompany.com/?username=343422 and they purchase the $99 product, you will probably have made about $50. (Note: if you are going to promote affiliate programs at all, you would do well to go to a place like ViralURL to get a link shortener. Your long URL might then look like www.viralurl.com/me/jd.
Is it possible to make money with affiliate programs?
Yes, if you work at it. There are no programs out there where you just sign up and start raking in the money. (Some sites will claim they can do that, but think about it for a second. ) A strategy that has worked well for me is to make a site that is a resource site for people building online businesses. Instead of trying to promote one product or service with each URL, I put them on one site and then link to the affiliate sites. Even for a very beginner, this can create several small streams of income, which in time will turn into significant streams.
Overall, affiliate programs are an easy way to turn on the money spout. However, there is one big word of caution. Do not let yourself get involved in too many too quickly. The result will be that you don't work any of them very well, and none of them produce for you very well.
What are affiliate programs?
Affiliate programs are back scratching relationships. Someone who has a customer, but no product to sell them finds someone who has a product to sell, and is looking for a customer. Amazon is a classic example of this. Everyone knows who Amazon is, but as large as they are, they still need help finding customers. When you sign up as an affiliate with them, you then put your affiliate link on your own email, newsletter, web page, etc. When someone purchases something from Amazon through your link, you will get a piece of the action. You can find affiliate programs in nearly every niche or cranny. Affiliate marketing has even has made it to a second generation. If you prefer, you can now enroll as an affiliate of a program that promotes affiliate programs. The main advantage to you of affiliate programs is that you don't need anything of your own to sell. You don't even have to touch it or use it. You send someone to the affiliate site, and if they buy a product, the seller pays you a commission.
How do they work?
Affiliate programs can either be handled through a third party such as Clickbank, or through the company who has the product. When you enroll as an affiliate, you will get some kind of user name or ID. This is attached to a URL where the product is located. For instance, if you sign up as an affiliate with "John Doe's Best Hosting Company and Website Builder," and are given the user name of 343422, you might end up with a URL to promote that looks something like http://johndoesbestwebsitebuilderandhostingcompany.com/?username=343422. Not the easiest thing to promote, as you can't just rattle that off to someone and expect them to get there. When you finally do get someone to http://johndoesbestwebsitebuilderandhostingcompany.com/?username=343422 and they purchase the $99 product, you will probably have made about $50. (Note: if you are going to promote affiliate programs at all, you would do well to go to a place like ViralURL to get a link shortener. Your long URL might then look like www.viralurl.com/me/jd.
Is it possible to make money with affiliate programs?
Yes, if you work at it. There are no programs out there where you just sign up and start raking in the money. (Some sites will claim they can do that, but think about it for a second. ) A strategy that has worked well for me is to make a site that is a resource site for people building online businesses. Instead of trying to promote one product or service with each URL, I put them on one site and then link to the affiliate sites. Even for a very beginner, this can create several small streams of income, which in time will turn into significant streams.
Overall, affiliate programs are an easy way to turn on the money spout. However, there is one big word of caution. Do not let yourself get involved in too many too quickly. The result will be that you don't work any of them very well, and none of them produce for you very well.
About the Author:
Jack Beddall is a long-time Internet Marketer specializing in programs, software, and tools for the online business person. You can visit two of his sites at Successville News and TheOnlineResourceSite.
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