Affiliate Internet Marketing - Gold Bars by the Ounce

How is affiliate internet marketing like the 1849 gold rush in the United States? The Gold Rush started at Sutter's Mill, near Coloma, California. On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for John Sutter, a Sacramento pioneer, found pieces of shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter. The property was next to the American River. Marshall quietly brought what he found to Sutter, and their tests revealed the metal to be gold. Sutter was dismayed by this; he was afraid that his business plans for an agricultural empire would be disrupted if there were a mass search for gold.

How does this relate to affiliate internet marketing? The myth of "do-it-yourself" entrepreneurs on the Internet is dying. Oh yes, you do have to work to succeed in an online business. However, it takes a community of customers, sellers, marketers, manufacturers and distributors to create that success.

An online affiliate business relies on merchants who willing share commissions for those who direct buyers to their web sites or portals. The profits that affiliates earn depend upon the amount of sales made through their affiliate links from those vendors.

Find and refining gold through affiliate Internet marketing is much easier in modern times. Now a multi-billion dollar industry, e-commerce is growing dramatically. Many people are too busy to visit stores; they can search online to find products that serve every imaginable need and desire. However, since you don't meet the seller face-to-face on the Internet , people need to build trust in the online marketing community. In 2003, Professor Robert Putnam Ph.D of Harvard University published a popular book about the decline of community and trust in America.

In "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community," Professor Putnam illustrated how families spend less time eating dinner and going on fewer picnics together, and don't share time or activities that build social contacts like being on a bowling team or attending church. This lower level of trust has isolated people from each other. In his lectures and his book, Professor Putnam calls people to form community by bonding and bridging in social networking.

Affiliate products come in many sizes, shapes and from many sources. For example, affiliate networks like Share-A-Sale or Link Share, which has many different physical products you can sell through your website portal. Another source is a network of affiliate merchants like Double Click Performics, which offers physical products from clothing to gift cards to sporting goods or even percentages of online merchant sales like Walmart or Home Depot.

Both niche retailers and mega-retailers have online affiliate programs where you can earn a commission on sales. Depending on the merchant, you can earn from 2 to 20 percent of the sales. Mega-retailers like Best Buy or Sears offer smaller percentages, while niche sites can offer up to 20% of a sale.

The goal of the merchant is to increase sales, which other people can promote and make money. All you need to do is to complete an online form at the affiliate networks of your choice and you can get links and creatives to start selling their products.

When affiliate internet marketing is done well, you can develop a business that serves your income needs. At the same time, you can build a network of social contacts with new links of service and community. That is what the Internet fosters, working together in cooperation and service.