subject: A Primary Introduction to Affiliate Marketing [print this page] In your searches around the internet, you may have come across the phrase "affiliate marketing". This term applies to one of the most exciting and fast-growing sources of business potential today.
It is in its basic sense like having a hired team of salespeople, but who receive payment only as commission. This means that as a business-owner, you are provided the potential for extra sales with no overhead, or risk at all for that matter. Any purchases driven to your business through affiliate marketers can be considered "bonus" - thus the commission does not cut into any earnings you would have had previously.
However, affiliate marketing also provides opportunities for those who lack either the desire or infrastructure to run their own business. Potential affiliate marketers are typically supplied with the affiliate network which tracks clicks and purchases, so there is no need for advanced coding or negotiations. The marketer then need only generate traffic and purchases through whatever means desired, be that word-of-mouth (through forums, etc), pay-per-click advertising, or link exchanges.
Affiliate marketing today is a relatively under-the-radar form of marketing. Search engine ranking, RSS syndication, and e-mail marketing typically gain most of the attention nowadays, and so affiliate methods are well-underrated and under-utilized. Despite this, the estimated amount of sales generated in the United Kingdom alone amount to 2.16 billion.
There are many resources available for those looking to take advantage of affiliate marketing. A simple search can provide results of many networks linking marketers to advertisers. Good luck with increasing your revenue.
