Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing -- What You Need To Know

| Posted: 02-02-2007 | Comments: 0 | Views: 138 | Rating: (50)

(?)

Ask 10 Internet users what they know about affiliate marketing, and you'll likely get 10 wildly different answers. Getting a handle on the nuts and bolts of affiliate marketing can be a challenge, to say the least. This article will help you understand the basics of affiliate marketing, and point you in the right direction. Before long you'll be on your way to building a successful revenue stream as an affiliate marketer.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?
So what does it mean to be an affiliate marketer? At its core, an affiliate helps to promote a business, product or service online. The affiliate makes referrals to the business, and receives payment for any sales resulting from those referrals. Sales are driven from the affiliate's site to the business through the use of "creatives" (banners, copy and/or product feeds provided by the company).

This type of revenue sharing has become extremely popular with online vendors; so much so that it's spawned an entirely new industry. One of the reasons for this huge popularity is the low risk to the affiliate; typically it doesn't cost anything to become an affiliate, and the partnering company will supply the materials and support to get you going. All you need is a website.

What Makes A Good Program?
With the huge number of programs out there, many new affiliate marketers are overwhelmed trying to sort out the good programs from the less-than-stellar. Make sure that any program you're considering offers the following:

1. Look for a program that offers a strong product and decent commissions. If nobody wants the product, you'll be spinning your wheels. And even the best product won't net you much revenue if the commissions are tiny.

2. Be sure that the program you're considering has all the tools you need to effectively promote their product/service. Is there a dedicated program manager that will work with you? Do they offer banner ads, copy blocks, and other promotional tools to help you create a winning campaign?

3. You also want to be sure that the affiliate program gives its partners updated information on the latest promotions and takes the time to educate people on the program itself and the industry it's in. You have to know what you're selling, so look for a program with a strong training and support component.

4. You also want to take a look at the affiliate management team with any program you use to make sure that they are easy to reach and able to offer you creative tips and suggestions on increasing sales, SEO, PPC, website design and overall strategy. A good affiliate manager is part of your team and will be happy to build a good working partnership with you.

How To Find Affiliate Programs

There are many places to look for good affiliate programs. You can always check the networks such as CJ, Shareasale, and Linkshare to find strong programs. They can give you metrics and specific information that will help you make a more informed decision as to what programs to choose.

Another great source for good affiliate programs are the affiliate forums. Sites like ABestWeb, Affiliates4u.co.uk and the AffiliateManager forums are great places to look. You'll be able to look at many programs and read affiliates' thoughts on them based on their experiences selling their products and services. Make sure you look for programs that will complement your existing website if you already have one.

Once you've found a potential program, do a little research on it. Don't be afraid to ask the program's affiliate management questions. Find out how often they pay commissions. Make sure any program you are considering has a strong tracking and reporting system. Check in at the affiliate forums to get a feel for what other affiliate marketers think of specific programs. As with anything, though, don't take one person's experience as the gospel truth. Try to get an overall feel for the program and how successful affiliates have been with it.

Finally, make sure the company fits in with your own goals and interests. Try to market something that doesn't fit in with your world view just won't work. Good affiliate marketing results come from consistent efforts, and it's important that you enjoy working with the company, and appreciate their products and services.

So do a little research, and get started on your new affiliate marketing career today!

Rate this Article:

Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Tags: Article Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Program, Affiliate Revenue, Affiliate Income

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/getting-started-in-affiliate-marketing-what-you-need-to-know-100108.html

Print article

Send to friend

Publish this Article

Author feedback

About the Author:

Bruce Sturgell is the Affiliate Program Manager at Article Marketer, a wildly popular article distribution service. Earn 50% commissions as an Article Marketer affiliate. Sign up here to be an Article Marketer affiliate!

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Add new Comment

Launching Yourself in the Affiliate Marketing Game
By: Roger Haumann | 02/02/2007 | Affiliate Programs
Small business owners are discovering just how easy it is to start a revenue stream from affiliate marketing. One recent convert shares his experience.

Google Adwords Can Drive More Targeted Traffic To Your Web Site
By: Pino Tedesco | 23/02/2007 | Online Promotion
The biggest well known secret in generating wealth in the internet based business or e-commerce is Traffic. This article shows you how to grab heaps of it!

Create Wealth Instantly with the Help of Affiliates
By: Tom Taito | 27/03/2007 | Affiliate Programs
Wealth Creation through Affiliate Marketing is by far the most common, and the most popular Internet Business today. We discuss why here...

7 Best Ways To Increase Your Online Traffic
By: Pino Tedesco | 24/02/2007 | Online Promotion
Internet. Business. Profit. To fully integrate all of these words into a successful merging you will need another word. Traffic. This article shows you the top 7 ways to get traffic

Make Money Selling Other People's Products
By: Jane Foster | 03/07/2006 | Internet
Exactly as the title says: how to make money online selling other people's stuff!

The Free and Effective Way to Make Explosive Affiliate Income
By: jomark3@verizon.net | 03/04/2008 | Affiliate Programs
Discover a free and effective way to make explosive affiliate income.

Viral Marketing 101 - How to Skyrocket Your Business
By: Pino Tedesco | 26/02/2007 | Viral Marketing
With so many competition and rivalry going on, every method of marketing must be employed and utilized. This article whos you how.

Top 7 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes
By: Oluwafisayo Akinlolu | 20/06/2008 | Marketing
Affiliate marketing can be really profitable when done right. However, almost everyone EXCEPT the few super affiliates who understand what it takes and make herds of cash in commissions make these mistakes and that is why I have come to regard them as the top 7 mistakes that affiliate marketers...

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Frequently Asked Questions

Does anyone need help and advice to starting an online marketing/business?
By: Femi Tunde | 15-06-2008
In these times of high fuel prices, longer working hours and less quality time to spend with our family and friends, it?s become increasingly important to look at other streams of income to enable a better lifestyle.

Forced Money is scam
By: egomoo | 07-06-2008
that lot of people say "Website that will Forced Money into Your Pocket" just like :http://www.squidoo.com/forced-money-review-Does It really work??

How do i get involved in affiliated marketing with ...
By: jwtyanks | 07-05-2008
How do i get involved in affiliated marketing with out getting ripped-off by all those con men out there

Can a breast support garment help in the ...
By: mckinnis | 22-04-2008
can a breast support garment help in the prevention of cysts, tumors or breast cancer?

Affiliate Marketing Network
By: lewisjake | 17-04-2008
How can an Affiliate Marketing Network help to promote your business?

What is the best affiliate program
By: vedee2006 | 21-03-2008
What is the best affiliate program

Q&A Powered by:

Latest Affiliate Programs Articles

Why Generator Site Maps Are A Necessary Tool For Any Home Based Business
By: Terry Leslie | 19/07/2008
Your home based business venture is just a pretty website if you can't get the flow of traffic that you need to start growing and earning. Generator site maps can play an intricate part of this growing battle between websites for the necessary traffic for profit that websites need in order to remain competitive.

When You Think You’ve Found the Hot Button
By: upinder singh negi2 | 18/07/2008
Let me ask you this: What do you really, really, really want? If you say, “Money”, what does that translate into for you? Control? Power? Security? Dignity? Freedom? How much money?

Niche Affiliate Marketing: Is It For You?
By: Cynthia Minnaar | 18/07/2008
Niche affiliate marketing is not just about selling. It is more about introducing people to products and services that they would be interested in but may never have heard of or providing them with more information about something that they have been considering buying.

Google Adsense What it Can Do for Your Site
By: Vipann Kumarr | 18/07/2008
Google Adsense is a structured way to earn good money out of what Google makes from its advertisers on Adwords. The way it works is that advertisers pay top dollar to get their ads listed on Google. Google gets paid on every click that happens on the ad. By distributing the ads on your website and mine, they stand to gain more exposure, regain advertising funds quicker and also pay us good money!

4 Mistakes You Will be on Your Way to Mastering Adwords and Adsense
By: Suresh Kumar | 18/07/2008
These days, it comes as no surprise that nearly every online company has attempted to do keyword marketing or "pay-per-click" campaign on either Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing. The alarming statistic is how many small business owners have stopped their "pay-per-click" or cut way back because they are unable to make enough sales to cover the ever rising costs per keyword.

How To Earn Affiliate Income From Your Blog
By: Jonathan Hook | 18/07/2008
Affiliate marketing is not something that'll make you rich overnight. You will have to treat it like your company, the only difference being that you don't have to store anything or ship anything to make profits. So what is it that you have to do?

Step by Step Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Earn Money Online
By: M Wali | 18/07/2008
Find out your niche marketplace, carry out researches, create a content-rich website and start promoting affiliate program you have joined to earn money online.

Essential Tricks & Points to Remember in Affiliate Program Marketing
By: M Wali | 18/07/2008
When you have decided to make a full time affiliate marketing career, take extra care and glue these most essential facts and factors to generate income through affiliate program marketing to your 'to do' list.

Article Categories

Article Marketing

Article Notepad

Stop Duplicate Content

Term Papers

Need Help?

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below

Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.24, 18)

Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing -- What You Need To Know

Article Comments

Related Articles

Got a Question? Ask.

Latest Affiliate Programs Articles

Need Help?

Site Links

Webmasters

Business Info

Sign up for our email newsletter