If you have a website, or blog, or any other kind of web presence you have probably heard of affiliate marketing. This can be a great way to make a little extra money. Affiliate marketing definitely isn’t for everyone. If you have a website that relies on repeat visitors, or you want your visitors to remain on your site for a long time, it is not a good idea for you to participate in affiliate marketing. Here’s how it works. You sign up (almost always for free) with an affiliate program for another website or company. For instance, Amazon.com has an affiliate program called Amazon Associates that website owners can sign up for to display Amazon.com products on their sites. When a website visitor clicks on the Amazon product on their site, the affiliate (website owner) makes money on any sale that results. So you can see why affiliate marketing isn’t for you, if your site sells its own products, or you rely on repeat visitors.
Affiliate programs work best for people who set up websites for the sole purpose of getting affiliate sales. eBay Partner Network (eBay’s affiliate program), for instance has spawned many websites that are designed specifically for affiliate sales only! (See my Build A Niche Store post) If you are interested in participating in affiliate marketing I STRONGLY recommend setting up a website for the purpose of placing your affiliate links and nothing else. There are literally thousands of affiliate programs on the web today! Some companies operate their own affiliate programs and some outsource their affiliate programs to companies like Commission Junction, or Linkshare, who operate the program for them. CJ, or Linkshare are great ones to join because you can join several affiliate programs and they will track your payments and give you ONE payment for several programs every month!
As always, make sure you research any programs extensively, so that you can be sure that they are reputable and that you will get paid. My advice is to stick with the big companies. Their affiliate programs are always going to be more profitable anyway! Good Luck!
