By Ken Lee
As a business owner, Bill had a good thing happening. He was able to run
his store and run it well. He had customers that would even come from quite a
ways away because they liked the products and the services that he provided.
But, since he was only one person, he didn't want to really expand with other
stores. He liked being able to go home to his family and not worry about a lot
of other employees.
Yet, it would be nice to be able to get his product to others, wouldn't
it? Bill knew he would have more customers if he could get his business online
and then promote it. But, he knew nothing of how to do that. The last thing
that he wanted to do was spend money advertising his company only to not make
anything off of it.
Bill wanted to be able to retire one day and give his children the
ability to have a business that was already stable so he decided to try his
hand at developing a website. With a little help from his son, he learned that
there were people out there that would work for him to promote his website. All
he had to do was to hire them and only pay them when people came to the site to
buy a product.
These affiliate marketers did all of the work for him. They brought
people to his website where his products did all of the talking. And, he paid
them for bringing the customers. Soon, they came back on their own and his
business grew well beyond his hopes.
Fred was one of the affiliate marketers that worked with Bill. He
created a website that was geared at promoting Bill's and made a good amount of
income off of just this one site. He brought the customers and Bill paid him to
do so.
Affiliate marketing is one of the most sought after types of internet
marketing. For those that are looking to get in, the process is simple.
Advertise for a company and bring clients to them. If it is just that simple,
though, more people would be after this highly profitable game. In affiliate
marketing of any type, there is some work that needs to be done to make it
successful. For that reason, understanding just what affiliate marketing is and
how it works is how you'll know if this is the right place for you to be in.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
The job of an individual in this business is to promote web businesses
like Bill's. The affiliate marketer is then rewarded for every visitor that is
brought to the site because of what he did to promote it. You may be promoting
for subscribers for services. You may be promoting for customers who will make
purchases. Or, you may be compensated just for having the individuals make it
to the right web page. In any case, affiliate marketing is set up to be that of
a finder's fee situation because you are bringing new businesses to the client.
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| Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Affiliate: An affiliate is an individual that is affiliated with a
company to help promote the company.
Marketing: Is the act of promoting a website or product.
Affiliate marketing: Promoting of a website, product or service through
affiliates as opposed to paying for and placing the advertising yourself.
Affiliate marketer: An individual that does the marketing for the
company.
Compensation for affiliate marketing ranges in how it is provided. There
are three main types of payment structures available.
a. Pay Per Lead: In this scenario, the affiliate marketer is paid based
on the individuals that they get to register or subscribe to the site's product
or service.
b. Pay Per Click: In this method of compensation, the company will
determine a set rate to pay based on each time that a new client visits the
website.
c. Pay Per Sale: In this case, the affiliate marketer will be paid based
on the amount of sales made from the purchase of a client that is attracted to
the website. This is a commission based program.
The Benefits
From the aspect of being the affiliate marketer, you can make money
virtually anytime of the day and night when your sales medium works. Whatever
you do to make sure that the clients click through to the buyer's website,
you'll be able to be compensated for that. Another benefit is the fact that
there are many affiliate programs out there being run. Bill's small business is
nothing compared to the larger companies out there. One of the largest that
runs its own affiliate program is that of Amazon.com.
On the other hand, businesses like to use these set ups and are willing
to provide the opportunity because nothing is paid for until it is realized. They
pay only when you give them the results of clients to the site. Bill liked
this, of course, because he knew he wasn't wasting his advertising dollars.
The Cons Of Affiliate Marketing
Like any other money making opportunity, it is important for you to understand
that you may need to invest. Often, the affiliate marketer will need to invest
in a website to attract visitors to and in advertising and marketing. For some
individuals, the plan is to develop one website that is a launching pad for
several affiliate marketing campaigns.
For example, if the affiliate marketer wishes to tap into the world of
credit card affiliate programs, he or she will design a website that provides
key information about credit cards. They will be able to link the website to the
official websites of the credit card companies. By luring customers in with
quality information on credit cards, the potential customer will click on the
banner ads or links provided to take them to the official site to sign up.
But, affiliate marketing is not that simple. You will need to invest in
providing good quality information. You will need to furnish your content
yourself or hire a professional. Then, you'll need to get customers to your
site. To do this, some affiliate marketers use search engine optimization and
article directories while others pay to have their website listed as an
advertiser on search pages.
Is There Money Out There?
It may seem that you are putting quite a bit of money into this
business, but in fact, affiliate marketing can be a good way to make decent
money. The amount can range from just a few dollars to quite a bit. It all
comes from the knowledge that you have or obtain and the work and dedication
you put into the task. Affiliate marketing has the potential to make a decent
income. You help Bill and he pays you to do so. Both win in the game of
affiliate marketing.
Article Source: EzineArticles expert: Ken Lee
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