Affiliate Programs: An Easy Start to Online Income


Affiliate programs may be the easiest online business to start running. Why?

With any online business you must have a product or service to sell. First you must create this product or service and then you must be able to fill orders.

Selling your own product or service also means creating a website, learning how to write ad copy, setting up a marketing plan, being able to accept payments online and obviously doing the work. If you're selling a physical product then you will need to make or buy the item, package it and pay for shipping costs. If you provide a service than you will likely have to start by doing free jobs to build your credibility and then when you are charging for your service you are still limited by how much work you can actually handle.

THE MAGIC OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Affiliate programs are a great way to get started in an online business. In fact there are even some 'Super Affiliates' who are making fabulous incomes from affiliate programs. So, what ARE affiliate programs?

Affiliate programs allow you to sell another company's service or product and make a commission on every sale or lead. You do not even need to build a website or handle the transaction. Your job is to drive traffic (customers) to your affiliate link.

An affiliate link is a special URL code that will identify customers coming to the company's site from your advertising. It will likely be the website address with a code attached to the end.

Some affiliate programs also have tiers. That means if someone who is interested in SELLING the product comes through your link and signs up you will also get a small percentage of THEIR earnings.

HOW DO I CHOOSE A PROGRAM?

You should research the popularity of some of your interests. Try to determine if people are buying that product or service online. There are many sources for finding that information including free ones such as the Overture keyword tool.

When you have found an area that is popular then type the subject along with 'affiliate program' into your search engine and see which programs have services or products for that area. You can also use an affiliate program directory.

When you have found a program that looks interesting you should read the terms of the program. Make sure that payouts are not based on a high commission earning or you may never see your money. Also try to choose programs with high commission rates. Often you will find ebooks and downloadable software has the highest rates as there is no physical product to make or ship. If you are satisfied with the terms then you need to sign up - usually a simple process.

START MARKETING

The reason affiliate programs are so great for beginners is that you only need to focus on marketing - not making - your product.

Many affiliate programs have information on how to market and give you tools such as banners, product feeds and more. You can also look for other information on marketing including writing articles, creating pay-per-click campaigns, commenting in online forums etc. As you gain experience marketing you will make adjustments to your selling and start creating a wonderful income!


More Resources

Why Arent You Making a Ton of Cash as an Affiliate?
5 keys to you becoming a successful affiliate:1) HAS THE OWNER OF THE PROGRAM DONE HIS OR HER RESEARCH?Before you become an affiliate for someone, you want to know one major thing. You want to be very sure they've taken the time to test their whole sales process!Have they invested some of their own time and money into fine-tuning and improving their sales letter until it really converts visitors into buyers? Is their ordering process simple for your prospects to navigate?The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of your time and money to generate traffic to a sales letter that can't sell its way out of a paper bag, right?One way to figure this out is to use a little common sense.
A Few Words on Affiliate Team Building
It might have been Vince Lombardi or some other famous coach who said, "There is no I in team." ( I was too lazy to look up the source of the quote;) I think that this is as true in business as it is in sports.
Economic Recession or Not, You Must be Creative to Survive
Are we Really in an Economic Recession?Some US statistics seem to indicate we are heading into one. If we are heading in that direction, what should we online marketers do about it?Should we panic and give up our web sites, or just accept that we will get less business, and let it go at that.
11 Awesome Ways To increase Your Affiliate Commissions!
Let me ask you a simple question. "Now that you have your own online business and you joined some affiliate programs, do you have any idea how to earn more commissions then ever?"Here are 11 Awesome Ways To increase Your Affiliate Commissions!1.
Affiliates Go To School!
It has been said that only 2% of affiliate marketers ever make any "real" money from their efforts. The rest struggle and flounder as they see most of their efforts fail.
How to Build a Huge Opt-In List as an Affiliate
One of the biggest mistakes I see affiliates making everyday is that their building a short-term business where they just make a small sale - one sale at a time. If they stop running ads today, their business would shut down! The strategy we're going to discuss now will allow any affiliate to build a long-term business.
Affiliate Marketing - A Quick Overview For Beginners
It's simply a kind of marketing in the internet where marketers sell products or services of certain merchants. Those Internet Marketers earn commissions on sales.
Setting Up Your Own Affiliate Program (part one)
Can you start your own affiliate program without hassle?This is one of a two part series on creating your own affiliate/revenue sharing program.Joining an affiliate program is a neat way to make money from your users.
Affiliate Programs - How to Pick the Solid Ones
This is very important, because your reputation is on stake here! Joining the wrong affiliate programs will only hurt your online business.First of all, it is almost impossible for you to collect adequate informations on those merchant companies.
Looking for Success as an Online Affiliate? Its All in the Numbers
If you have been a home based business entrepreneur for any length of time at all you know by now that there are certain immutable laws that govern success. You know the following:You have to learn the techniques of marketing your product or service.
Setting Up Your Own Affiliate Program (Part Two)
This article is the second of my two part series on settingup your own affiliate program. Once you are starting anaffiliate program, you must manage and keep track of it.
The Easiest Way For Beginners To Make Money Online
There are obviously many ways to make money online, some simple, some quite complicated..
Free and Effective Affiliate Marketing Using Articles and Traffic Exchange Sites
Affiliate marketing is an extremely tricky subject and so is website advertising.The reason is simple.
Affiliate Programs
Basic IdeaAffiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which revenue sharing between online merchants and online salespeople (affiliates), whereby compensation is based on performance measures, typically in the form of sales (Pay Per Sale), clicks (Pay Per Click) and impressions (Pay Per Impressions).Merchants run affiliate programs to generate leads and sales from other Web sites.
Looking For An Affiliate Internet Marketing Tip?
Here's a few affiliate Internet marketing tips that can help you earn extra money for little effort on your part. Do you currently have a web site that sells products? If you do, developing an affiliate program may be the opportunity you are looking for.
Affiliate Programs - Are They A Business For You?
Many people look at affiliate programs as one of the easiest and best ways to start a profitable online business. The reasons for this are you don't have to worry about having your own product, collecting the money, shipping, or customer service.
Commission Junction: the Perfect Affiliate Resource for Niche Markets
There are many affiliate programs you can go to to find real solid product to market online. Most marketers who produce their own product provide these programs that are easily accessible, and can be worked simply by signing up to them.
Affiliate Programs: An Easy Start to Online Income
Affiliate programs may be the easiest online business tostart running. Why?With any online business you must have a product or serviceto sell.
Pros and Cons of Third Party Online Affiliate Networks
Online affiliate marketing has taken the internet by storm and has proven to be a highly effective way of maximizing website revenue. Why limit yourself to selling your own products when you can profit by selling somebody else's too?There are thousands of individual affiliate programs offered on the internet, many being through third party affiliate program networks such as OffersQuest, Commission Junction and Linkshare.
Understanding The Three Basic Types of Affiliate Programs
With all the companies on the internet that offer affiliate programs, you want to be able to differentiate between the types of programs that are being offered.The three main affiliate programs you can choose from are, pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead and pay-per-click.
12 Tips On Selecting An Affiliate Program
People sign up with affiliate programs everyday, looking to expand their income and make a good living for their efforts. The unfortunate part of all this is that most people will sign up with a company without really knowing what the company is all about.
12 Ways To Promote Your Affiliate Program
Hundreds of people sign up for affiliate programs everyday because they look at this partnership as an easy way of having their own business. Although you don't have to worry about the many factors that come from owning other types of businesses, one factor that is important with an affiliate business is marketing and promotion.

More Affiliate Revenue Information:

Related Articles

Attracting Good Affiliates
Good affiliates can be hard to get. There could be any number of reasons for this, but I am going to focus on what I believe is the one major problem that prevents someone from attracting good affiliates.
5 Ways to Promote Affiliate Programs
After having chosen several programs to join, you probably realize that customers won't knock on your door - you have to come to them. By promoting your affiliate programs successfully, you build your own success!So what should you do to promote your affiliate programs? Here are five methods which have succeeded for millions and can succeed for you, if you choose to follow the same steps as those millions before you!#1 Create your own marketing affiliate program materials.
How To Become A Data-Feed Super Affiliate
I am not going to describe what a product feed (or a data-feed) is. There is a lot of information out there about how to use one to build sites.
Affiliate Marketing - Ten Excellent Reasons Why You Should Do It
There are many opportunities to make money working on the Internet. Becoming an affiliate marketer is a great way of having your own online business.
Tracking Phone Sales Is Important To Your Affiliates
Today the majority of affiliates are looking for compensation when your customers call in their orders by phone. One of the first things they will look for when thinking about joining your affiliate program is to see if you have an order phone number on your site.
10 Sizzling Tips For Affiliates
1. Create an infopacked mini site.
Affiliate Marketing - A Quick Overview For Beginners
It's simply a kind of marketing in the internet where marketers sell products or services of certain merchants. Those Internet Marketers earn commissions on sales.
Promoting My Affiliate Programs--How?
Getting your website up, is really just the first phase of your journey to a career on the Internet. You must promote your website, your product or your service to the world.
Affiliate Program As It Should Be
Every off- or online business has a target of growing its market share. Under all other equal conditions the percent of the market, occupied by a company, means certain level of recognition, brand, exposure and, therefore, sales and income.
Basics of Affiliate Marketing
Whether you realize it or not, if you've been on the Internet today, you have encountered affiliate marketing. If you have ever "clicked thru" one site to order something from another, the first site probably received a portion of the sale.
Three Critical Affiliate Marketing Tips For Higher Commissions!
Affiliate marketing is quickly becoming a very specialized form of online business. It seems that people all over the Internet are clamoring for more affiliate tips.
Set Up Winning Web Page To Be Powerful Selling Tool - 5 Ways to Help Affiliate Problems
The Internet is powerful selling tool. Never before has been easier to start a business, be able to reach out to literally millions of potential customers and make your business succeed.
Do You Make These Mistakes With Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is a very lucrative business online, especially where it concerns Affiliate Internet Marketing.Today I bring you some rare and everyday mistakes that are keeping you from making a killing with affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing - The Comparison Model
The value of an affiliate is nil in a customer's mind - ok, so you've shown them where they can get a few products related to that niche, but there needs to be some sense in their mind that you have offered a genuine reason for choosing those particular affiliate partners. Are the chosen partners simply making you the most handsome commission? How do you turn a lifeless "I make money off you" affiliate link into an appreciated "These are the only products you want" recommendation?Some marketers scatter freebies around their newsletters, such as valuable advice, hoping to build positive relationships with potential paying customers, then spring the partner links on them.
Affiliate Marketing: Starting Out On The Internet
So you want to start your own business, and you want to start it without mortgaging your house and maxing out your credit cards. You've done the market research and you've concluded that by far the largest market place in the world is right there in front of you within the cyber world of the internet.
Internet Affiliate Business: 5 Ways to Grow It Organically
Growing your internet home business organically means there are similarities to organic farming. An organic farmer knows that if he develops healthy soil, he will have healthy plants.
Popup Killers - Not just killing that Popup but also your Revenue!
With the increased use of popups on sites - when you enter, when you leave, while you are there - Popup killers (orstoppers) are all the rage. Companies use Popup killers as a marketing tool forfrustrated webusers - they kill the Popup, the webuser usestheir service be it as an ISP or Toolbar.
Affiliate Programs - How to Pick the Solid Ones
This is very important, because your reputation is on stake here! Joining the wrong affiliate programs will only hurt your online business.First of all, it is almost impossible for you to collect adequate informations on those merchant companies.
The Google Adsense-Adwords Automatic Money Machine
Have you ever tried to make money through affiliate programs using Google Adwords? Then you know it's not easy. Some say that only 2-3 out of 10 affiliate Adwords campaigns will actually make a profit.
In Mourning for the Google Cash System
Do you remember when you could pick an affiliate program, hustle up a few hundred keywords toss it all into your Adwords account & wait for the commissions. No me neither! I was busy doing something else during those glory days.