Want an online business with a win-win opportunity for both the merchant and the publisher? Try investing your money, time and effort in affiliate marketing business and be overwhelmed by the profit you'll get out of it. It has been written in almost all articles about affiliate marketing that it is among the greatest ways to earn money online.

For those who didn't know what it is, affiliate marketing is a cooperative effort between the merchants and online publishers or affiliates, whereby an affiliate is rewarded for every visitor or customer provided through his effort. The moment a customer is gained, a part of the profit from that customer will go to the affiliate as a commission. This compensation, otherwise known as affiliate commission may be based on a fixed value for each visit (pay-per-click), registration (pay-per-lead), or a commission for every purchaser (pay-per-sale).

This business has proven to be very beneficial. Among the advantages that you'll enjoy from affiliate marketing business are you become your own boss, which means no one will dictate you when and what to do; it gives you income 24/7 regardless of your location and what you're doing; you have the freedom to enjoy your life and flexibility of working for yourself; it can supplement your retirement; you can start even if all you have is a shoe string budget; you can live where you want and stay engage in this business; you can get as much or as little as you want; you can work for a very minimal time; you can work at home; you take a break or a vacation the moment you want it while continuously earning money; and a lot more pros.

However, let me just remind you that it also has its downside. The old adage that says nothing in this world is perfect is also true in online marketing business. And that's the reason why this page is created - to give you the affiliate marketing pros and cons.

Let's start with the pros.

To the Merchant. Affiliate marketing offers the merchant a wider place to sell their product and services. More websites will naturally provide you more customers and will create more sales. This is particularly true if the sites that you have chosen are in their niche marketing.

The only thing that's left for the merchant to do is to look for affiliate sites where your merchandise is a good fit and where your target customers usually visit. Another advantage that a merchant can get from affiliate marketing is that they can gain more and more customers without spending valuable time in searching out for them. The banner ads on your affiliate website might draw interest and drive the visitor to click on your website. Also, different consumers coming from various websites can provide the merchant a good idea regarding consumer trends and demands.

To the Affiliate Marketer. This kind of business has proved to be an easy way to create additional income for their website. The marketing banners that they stuffed under content help in making their site look good. And these banners may create instant sales wherein, they can get a commission.

Above all, the affiliate can have extra income from his or her website without investing something in making his own product and without worrying about customer support, book keeping, and ecommerce. Here in affiliate marketing, the merchant handles it all. The affiliate just needs to promote and resell the product.

To the Customers. The benefit that a customer could get out of affiliate marketing is obvious - they get an answer to their problem that they may not have found without the help of the affiliate's website. That's if, and only if the merchandise or service gives what it says it will.

That's how advantageous affiliate marketing is. But lets be aware that this online business also have some disadvantages. Just like any other businesses, this one also involves shady and even illegal practices. And we feel the need to share it with you.

To the Advertisers/Merchants. The merchant may suffer from high commission costs as well as costly set up and maintenance fees that are usually caused by lots of affiliate facilitators. And sometimes the affiliates engage in false advertising and misleading the customer in order to get commission. This means that some affiliates sometimes make claims and promises regarding the product and services which are completely wrong or they extremely exaggerate it. When this happen, the merchant usually suffers complaints and they definitely lose potential consumer.

To the Publisher/Affiliates. Sometimes unscrupulous and dishonest merchants just close down programs without informing the affiliates. And worse, they leave without paying commissions. There are also some merchants who attract new affiliates by promising high commissions then after a week or two, they dramatically drop those commission rates. Aside from that, when hijackers interfere, affiliates typically don't get just commission, it goes to the hijacker instead.

Moreover, the shady and illegal practices involved in this kind of business include false advertising, unlawful use of trade names, logos, or other branding, spamming and hijacking.

In spite of those disadvantages, affiliate marketing is still considered as one of the best ways to make money online. We just have to understand that in any thing that human do, especially if money is involved, there will always be cheaters and people who will be engaged in illegal means. And you shouldn't be one of them. Keep in mind that it is always right and advisable to act ethically and legally; work hard to make your customers and business partners trust you and always see to it that you go beyond your customer's expectations.