subject: What Are the Benefits of Affiliate Marketing - What is Affiliate Marketing? [print this page] Affiliate marketing is a rather hot buzz word these days for people that are interested in making money online are that want to start an online business. In fact, Internet Marketing counts as one of its most important components the ability to make money as an affiliate marketer. In some ways, this form of ecommerce is similar to offline sales that most salespersons use as their primary means of generating income. What I mean is, affiliate marketing is the same as offline sales in the sense that when you make a sale of a product you earn a commission relative to the amount of the initial sale. The only difference in my example above is that the sale actually takes place in cyber space (on the Internet) instead of face-to-face in a traditional brick and mortar store.
So what are the benefits of affiliate marketing? For starters, it's much easier to research and find products that you might be interested in selling on your website for a commission. In fact, although all commission structures are different depending on the merchant you are working with, there are numerous opportunities to find products that have a commission as high as 50% or more. Of course, there are also just as many affiliate marketing programs that offer low commissions that can range anywhere from 2.5% to 7%.
Most Internet marketing sales are tracked using a unique affiliate ID which is normally provided to the online marketer once they have signed up for the affiliate program they have chosen to market on their website. This unique affiliate ID is extremely important because it is tracked and used to record every sale that is generated as a result of the link. Although this might sound complicated a reputable merchant will provide plenty of free tools to all of the affiliates promoting its products. Additionally there will usually be a rather extensive amount of tools in a private members area that is only reserved for affiliates.
If you are new to online marketing or simply want to experiment with trying to make money online then affiliate marketing is a good place to start. In fact, you can quickly and easily be set up and making money within a few days. One key benefit is the fact that you don't need to create your own product nor do you have to carry an inventory. You eliminate these barriers to entry because your main focus as an affiliate marketer is to promote other people's products, goods and services. You don't have to worry about order fulfillment, customer service or anything else that is typically incorporated with or associated with a traditional offline sale. You merely have to refer a buyer to your link and the merchant will take care of the rest.
Another benefit associated with affiliate marketing is that you can create a website around any niche topic you desire provided there is an affiliate program that supports it. It could be golfing supplies, cooking utensils, nursing school resources, yoga mats, recipes or even hammocks. The only obstacle is your imagination and whether or not a merchant exists that sells the product. You can find most affiliate programs by doing a simple search online for your selected niche topic. For example you could do a search for "fishing lure" along with the words "affiliate program' in order to find the merchants that offer a program for their fishing supplies and products.
Make no mistake about it, although affiliate marketing is an easy way to start an online business any successful marketer will tell you that it requires more work than simply posting a few banners and links to your website. Even with that said, it still offers one of the best opportunities to break through the Internet Marketing barrier to entry and can be an extremely profitable venture when conducted properly.
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