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Are you a college or high school student who only has time for a
part-time job but can't find one that pays enough? Hate your
boss and/or can't stand your co-workers? Have you been searching
long and hard for a route to financial freedom that doesn't
involve any bosses except for yourself? Do you have a web site?
If you have a web site with some traffic (or even if you don't,
on my blog you can learn how to make an online living without
one), you can make money by having links to online merchant
shops appear on your web site. When a visitor to your site
clicks on the link pointing to the web site of the merchant you
are affiliated with, and then proceeds to buy something, you get
a commission of that sale. Depending on the merchant, this can
range anywhere from 5% - 75% of the sale. There are also some
merchants who will pay for each click or each lead generated
from your site. A lead is a new visitor to the site or shop that
inquires about information, prices, or prize/coupon offers.
By having these links on your web site, you are called an
affiliate, and the links are called affiliate links. An
affiliate program isn't literally a program it's a business
arrangement or agreement. Affiliate programs are also commonly
known as associate programs, associates programs, partner
programs, referral programs and sometimes bounty programs.
For anyone new to Internet marketing and work at home businesses
they provide an excellent, high value opportunity in that it's a
way to earn money without producing your own product!
To register into an affiliate program is almost always free, and
through the affiliate program merchants control panel all you
need to start making an income is the linking code, a way to
monitor the traffic through your links, and to see what
commission you have earned. Visitors who click your link to the
merchants' site are called "click-throughs" and the percent of
click-through visitors that purchase something on the affiliate
merchants' site are called your CR, your Conversion Rate.
Likewise, your CTR, or Click-Through Rate, is the percent of
visitors to your site that end-up clicking on an affiliate link.
An affiliate program is not a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing)
program, since the affiliates only earn from sales, leads or
clicks. Some affiliate programs offer what is called a
"Two-Tier" program and this is in most cases not considered a
MLM program. MLM programs are sometimes called a "Matrix" or
"Downline" program and often have an unlimited number of
sub-affiliates you can sign up under you. Your downline is
everyone who has signed up under you and likewise your "upline"
is everyone who signed up above you.
There is also networks operated by third-party companies and
individuals where multiple merchants and affiliates use a common
software and administrative infrastructure (usually just a
simple admin section of a web site) to recruit affiliates and
monitor the traffic from their sites. These types of networks
are often called affiliate networks. Both the merchants and the
potential affiliates need to register with the network. Usually
most affiliate networks are free to join because they get a part
of the commission but some do charge a fee. Affiliates can find
links to the online shops of hundreds of merchants to use on
their affiliate driven web sites. Examples of affiliate networks
are Commission Junction and ClickBank. You can find links to
affiliate networks on my blog (link at end of article).
I am of the opinion that the best affiliate web sites are the
ones made from a high demand, low supply niche dedicated to one
of your hobbies or interests and something you know a lot about
and can provide good value to your visitors. However, if you are
not great at writing articles you can find article directories
and content sites. Visit my blog to find links to article
directories and content.
What will work best for you wont necessarily be the same thing
that works for others, you have to experiment and diversify your
methods. The most important factor will however depend upon the
kind of traffic you have and can generate and the interests of
the individuals visiting your site.
About the author:
Visit his work
at home & Hosting
Hub blogs. Deckard is a work at home Internet marketer and
web designer focusing on affiliate/associate programs and
services. He is also a part-time college student and makes a
good living online through affiliates.
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