What is Affiliate Marketing | affiliatecentral.org

Written by Tee on September 18th, 2008

What is Affiliate Marketing?

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Affiliate marketing basically means selling other people’s products for a commission online. Affiliate marketing is similar to offline sales where sales people earn a commission for selling a product; the difference is that all selling is conducted online.

Affiliate Marketers receive commissions for every customer they refer to a merchant who makes a purchase or clicks on a link\banner. Usually affiliate marketing is conducted via a venue such as a niche website, where you focus your attention to a certain part of the population, a niche, this could be anything from golf to acne medicine to weight loss.

As an Affiliate Marketer, there is no need to purchase inventory. The vendor is actually responsible for order fulfillment, customer service and anything else related to the sale. You simply refer the sale to them and get paid for doing so.

Your affiliate sales are tracked through your unique affiliate ID which is assigned to you at the time you sign up for a specific affiliate program. Your unique affiliate ID is tracked and each time a sale is made through your link it is recorded. A good affiliate program will give you plenty of tools for promoting their products as well as a comprehensive member’s area where you can track your affiliate sales and commissions.

If you have not noticed, I am an affiliate marketer. On my site, I have several banners and text links of the affiliate programs that I suppport. When someone clicks on these banners, links or makes a purchase, I get paid a percentage of the sale. The percentage you receive can vary and is set by the vendor. You ask how I’m doing as an affiliate? I’ll just say, a good affiliate knows it takes time and effort to make sales.

If you have been thinking about getting started with affiliate marketing, I would suggest that you research the various companies. Do they have the appropriate tools for you to promote their products and services? Can you track your affiliate sales? Do they have a pay schedule? Being an affiliate marketer is a GREAT way to make extra income. So, why not get started today.

Check out a couple of the affiliates I support below. When I pick the affiliates that I want to support, I research their products, services and reputation. I’m supporting the Neosoul Essential products and the Disability Digest. I have used the Neosoul Essential products first hand. The products are all natural and smell fantastic. The megamix whip that I ordered is even helping my niece with her eczema. For those who do not know, I have Lupus so I wanted to support an organization that helps assist people that are disabled. I researched the Disability Digest and found it to be a great organization based on how they are helping the disabled. The point I’m trying to make is that you must do your research when selecting the affiliates to support.