I’d be willing to bet that most of you haven’t ever heard of it, but have experienced it. If you’ve seen advertisements on websites, then you have experienced affiliate marketing.
There are tons of companies out there that want to make sure that their products sell, and know that the internet is the place to sell them. So these companies contract with specialists who know how to get people’s attention online and convince them to buy.
These companies then pay the specialists for their work, and you can reap the benefits and make money online!
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The scale for commissions ranges drastically from one company to the other. Some companies, like Amazon, have a small commission rate, while other companies you can connect to, will pay over a hundred dollars per sale you refer.
What gets sold?
If you can buy it in a store, chances are you can sell it online. Your chances of actually making a sale as an online affiliate are higher if you sell a healthy mix of physical products and electronic resources.
A lot of affiliates shortchange their future of recurring clients by only focusing on electronic resources or physical products that are usually only bought once. Another pitfall that online members run into is promoting things that are all in the same price range.
You’ll want to have a range of prices on items that you’re offering on your internet business.
So when you’re deciding what to sell, ask yourself these four simple questions:
- Can everyone use it?
- Is it consumed often?
- Is its marketplace expanding continually?
- Is it in constant demand?
How to connect with companies who want to sell?
There are lots of companies out there who want to sell their materials or information but need people to distribute for them. Many of these companies will join a network to find the best affiliates. Some of the best are Commission Junction, Amazon.com, and Offervault.com.
The format for connecting with different companies varies with these three, but they are all worthwhile.
Offervault.com
Offervault has three main areas: Joining a network, free webinars, and comparing offers. When you join a system, it will take you to that network’s page, and you can fill out their forms and get started.
Each network will have different criteria and terms and conditions, so be sure to evaluate the various systems that you join thoroughly. You can also research the available offers that are out there.
This is where you will do your research about what products to sell. Make sure you take advantage of all of the free webinars that they offer. They could be the difference between success and failure as an affiliate.
Amazon.com
Amazon has an affiliates program that enables you to sell their products and earn referral fees. Unlike Offervault and Commission Junction, you’ll be selling or promoting items sold on Amazon.com.
When you apply to become an Amazon.com associate, you will have to tell them about how you plan to advertise their products and through what format. There will be several different ways that you can choose to promote Amazon products.
You can share their deals in links on twitter, you can use advertising boxes, or create your store to stand alone or be part of a page on your website. You can choose what products go there, or you can have Amazon do that for you.
They don’t just sell books, and they sell everything from mp3 downloads to HD TV. Most books won’t get you a large chunk of change since the referral rate is low (4% to start), so you’ll want to make sure that you have a lot of items that have different prices.
Commission Junction
Commission Junction charges nothing to join and is probably one of the biggest non-digital affiliate networks out there. Realize that Commission Junction is different than other sites like Clickbank.
It will show you a series of different companies who want to sell their products. Commission Junction allows you to apply to that company, but the company is the one that will approve or reject you.
Some companies will automatically approve you, others will automatically reject your application, and the rest will review your request and make a decision manually.
Once you have been accepted, you can post their ads on your site or twitter feed or wherever else you are advertising. Commission Junction will keep track of how many people view the ad, how many clicks you get, and how much you are owed.
Most of the companies whose materials you advertise will pay out in 30 or 60-day increments. Most of the companies to whom you apply will require that you manually agree to their terms and conditions, and Commission Junction won’t let you use until you’ve manually agreed to the terms and conditions.
Get connected to these different websites and start making money online as an affiliate!
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