How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

But you don't have to have your own product. There is a way to market other people's products, and earn a portion of the sales for yourself. This method is called affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketers are in some ways like product "reps" in the offline world. The main difference is that reps - representatives - are usually employed by the company whose products they sell, while online affiliates, also called associates, are usually self-employed. And affiliates don't usually make anything until someone buys the product they're promoting.

How does affiliate marketing work?
The process is actually very simple. The would-be affiliate decides which product or products they'd like to promote, then signs on as an affiliate. After they're accepted (which in many cases is instantaneous), they receive a special affiliate ID and a link to the product in question. They then advertise this link, and when it's clicked, and a purchase is made, the affiliate is paid a portion of the sale price. This is called a commission.

The link is all-important. In order for the affiliate to make a commission, the link must include the affiliate's ID. If it doesn't, the merchant's system will not know that the affiliate was involved in the sale, and won't be able to pay them their commission.

Most programs pay their affiliates on a regular basis. But they commonly require a minimum amount in the affiliate's account (for example, $50) before they'll pay. If that amount has not been reached, the balance rolls over into the next pay period.

Some programs pay with checks; others can pay the affiliate's PayPal account. And some will do wire transfers (for a fee, usually) if the payment is really large.

Choosing products to sell
The best products for you to market, especially when you're just starting out, are those you've used yourself; it's very hard for anyone to sell something they don't know much about. Also, you should have some knowledge of the company, and like the way they do business.

Don't try to sell something you don't like, or a great product from a company you hate, just because the commission is really large. It won't be worth the effort. You won't get many sales, and the people who do buy will never go back.

If you've bought a lot of products online, you may have trouble narrowing the field. In that case, it might be a good idea to list your options. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Promote all the products offered by a particular merchant. This works best for merchants with a small selection of products.
- Promote a group of products from one merchant - for example, groceries from Amazon.
- Register with an affiliate service and promote one or several of their products.
- Promote an individual's only product - for example, an ebook.

How to market your product
This is a subject of much discussion on the affiliate forums. Here are just a few suggestions:
- If you have a website or blog, place an affiliate link there (and provide information about the product as well).
- If you don't have a website, set up an ad campaign with a search engine like Google, Yahoo!, or MSN.
- If you have an opt-in mailing list or send out a regular newsletter, promote the product to your subscribers (assuming it fits with their interests).
- Write an article about the product, include your affiliate link in the article, and submit it to a free article directory.

If you'd like more ideas, check out Allan Gardyne's free ebook, 77 Ways to Get Traffic. Allan's site, AssociatePrograms, is also full of information, including a section listing affiliate programs you can join, and a very active forum covering all aspects of affiliate marketing.

How NOT to market your product
Spam! This includes:
- sending unsolicited emails to people you don't know (or people you do know, who were your friends before they got your email)
- posting comments in blogs, when the comments are nothing more than an ad and your affiliate link
- posting a forum message that is nothing more than an ad and your affiliate link (most forum moderators will edit or delete your link, and you may end up banned from the forum)

How much money will it cost?
Most affiliate programs are free to join. You could, however, spend quite a bit on promoting the product. For example, if you set up an AdWords campaign you'll pay every time someone clicks on your ad, even if you don't make a sale. And some affiliates set up entire websites for the products they're promoting; in this case, they'd have to cover the costs of domain registration and hosting.

It is possible to promote your products without spending anything except time (by writing free articles, etc.). So if you have a lot of time but not much money, you may still be able to make money from affiliate marketing.

How much money can you make?
As with just about any form of self-employment, your income from affiliate marketing will depend on how much time, effort, and (possibly) money you invest. There are people making six- and probably seven-figure incomes from affiliate marketing. Allan Gardyne's website says he's been making a living with this since 1998 - which means that it's possible to not only do quite well financially but also stay in this field for a very long time (by internet standards, anyway).

Affiliate marketing offers just about unlimited opportunities for people interested in selling other people's products. Check it out, and maybe try promoting just one product. If you don't like it, or if it doesn't work, you can always stop. But if it does work - well, you may find yourself with a way to quit your day job.