Every day, more people buy products and services over the Internet, and affiliate marketing provides an easy way to start an online business that gives you access to these online sales transactions.
To understand affiliate marketing in simple terms, you need to start with the ABCs of affiliate marketing.
A is for Affiliate
Many companies offer affiliate programs for their products and services. You sign up to become an affiliate for a product or service. You are called an affiliate because you are selling your products, but you are not part of the business. As an affiliate, you can sell physical products that need to be shipped or digital products that can be downloaded immediately after purchase. Then, you promote that product and, when making a sale, you receive a commission.
Take your time choosing products to sell as an affiliate. Remember that you only get paid when you make a sale. If you try to sell any old junk, you will not make any sales and it will be a waste of time.
B is for companies
There are many affiliate networks and companies to work with as affiliates. Amazon has become the most successful online retailer in the world using the affiliate marketing model. You can sign up to become an Amazon affiliate and sell anything on the Amazon website.
ClickBank is one of the most popular digital retailers that sells virtual information products. These are items that a customer can download immediately after purchase. There are many affiliates who earn very well by promoting ClickBank products only.
C is for Commissions
Amazon starts with a 4% commission rate, which gets higher when you sell more products. At ClickBank you can earn commissions of 25%, 50% and up to 75%. There are other affiliate marketing programs that offer a wide variety of commissions, products and services, so you need to review more than one to see which is the perfect fit for you.
When you start affiliate marketing, don’t be too obsessed with earning commissions from day one. It takes time to build a base of potential customers and customers who want to buy from you.
It is not a long sales pitch. Think of it as “saying” instead of “selling”. Your job is to help people find the products or information they are looking for. The key to making reliable and consistent money as an affiliate is to find a product that is in high demand, pay a good commission for you and be supported by a company that takes care of its customers.