How Can Affiliate Marketing Generate Income?

Are you looking to make extra income online? You can accomplish this through affiliate marketing programs. What is affiliate marketing? It is a system set that rewards the affiliate base on the performance the customer performs. There are four key component of an affiliate network:

1. The retailer (i.e. Netflix, eLance, Get Response)
2. The network (i.e. ClickBank, Commission Junction, Shareasale) that contains many offers for the affiliate to choose from
3. The affiliate/publisher that will promote the product
4. The customer

When you sign up through a network, a unique affiliate id will be assigned to you. You can use this link to promote the product of your merchant. When a customer finds interest in the product and clicks on your link, a commission will be earned.

How to find a great affiliate product:

Researching the product is necessary because there are some that are not credible and considered junk. Before you promote, I would suggest buying the product /service first to test its’ credibility. If it is worth the investment then it would become easy to market. You would then have genuine knowledge and probably won’t sound “spammy” or “hypy” as you promote online. Most online customers are wise and can spot an online “spammer” on any level. Although very tempting, you don’t want to come off as “pitchy” but an actual representative of the product.

On another note, check out the merchants popularity and its conversion rate. Visit the seller’s website to see if their product sells for itself. If so, then it is less work for you. If the conversion rate is 5% or more that means for every 100 persons visiting your merchants’ website, 5 or more will actually place an order.

Join the affiliate program and follow their instructions. To maximize your profit, indulge in a program that offers recurring commission that compound each month. As you refer more potential customers you can maximize your income over time.

You can create a squeeze page that gives a brief introduction to the product your promoting. Within that squeeze page, you have an option of using an opt-in mailing list where leads will leave their contact details such as their name and email address. Once you get potential leads you may promote the product via email.

You can also promote your affiliate links through a blog or website. The key is to make your content relevant to the product you are selling. You should refrain from promoting an affiliate link that sells an eBook on starting a day care business when the main theme of your website is something like tips on “How to Buy a New Car”. That will confuse the potential lead and would probably cost you the sale.

If you have cash flow, an easy way to market your affiliate link is PPC or Pay per Click Advertising. The two most popular advertising networks are Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing. These networks allow you to bid for top rankings in their search engines using top keywords. Here is how it works. When someone does a search on Google or Yahoo, your contextual ad will appear on the top or sidebar of the search result page. If visitor clicks on your ad, you will charge based on bid amount. PPC is an easy way to advertise your ad on other content related sites relevant to your keywords.

PPC ads can get targeted leads to your site which may generate passive income in the long run. Affiliate marketing is a reputable way to make income online if you do it right.

Source by Michelle Phang