The ABC of Affiliate Marketing
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. It is called an affiliate because it sells your products, but it is not part of your business. As an affiliate, you can sell physical products that need to be shipped or digital products that can be downloaded instantly after purchase. Then you promote that product and when you make a sale, you get 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 won’t make any sales and it will be a waste of time.
B is for business
There are many affiliate networks and companies to work with as an affiliate. Amazon has become the most successful online retailer in the world by using the affiliate marketing model. You can sign up to become an Amazon affiliate and sell anything that is on the Amazon website.
ClickBank is one of the most popular digital retailers selling virtual information products. These are items that a customer can download immediately after purchase. There are many affiliates who make a living promoting only ClickBank products.
C is for Commissions
Amazon starts with a 4% commission rate, which increases when you sell more products. At ClickBank you can earn commissions of 25%, 50% and even 75%. There are other affiliate marketing programs that offer a wide variety of commissions, products, and services, so you should review more than one to see which one is right for you.
When you start affiliate marketing, don’t get too fixated on earning commissions from day one. It takes time to build a base of leads and customers who want to buy from you.
It’s not a long sales pitch. Think of it as ‘tell’ rather than ‘sell’. Your job is to help people find the products or information they are looking for. The key to making money reliably and consistently as an affiliate is to find a product that is in high demand, pays you a good commission, and is backed by a company that takes care of their customers.