The Basics of Affiliate Marketing

All of us love the idea of making a little more money. With nearly 30% of household income in Australia being used on the mortgage, even the smallest supplement to our income can be a huge help. Today it is easier than ever to get a little extra moolah in the bank.

Most of us today have our own personal websites. Many companies actually allow you to make them for free of charge and with the tech-heads have made such huge inroads into the way these sites are built means that we don't need to hire a costly webmaster to construct them for us anymore. Often they are used as a method to keep others informed of what we are doing - a countdown to weddings or the birth of a child, perhaps they are dedicated to our favoutire music or interests.

Some people like to turn their sites into eCommerce stores and advertise differents products and by placing some adverts into your site, you have the oppurtunity to turn make some extra for you.

When people go onto your site, if they see an ad that is interesting and click it on you receive what is known as a referral payment. The more clicks the better. Gradually your earnings will increase as your website gets viewed.

You’re not likely going to get rich with just your own personal webs

While it is a great way to get started there may come a time when you want to create another site and you start turning this into a monetizing this one too. But if you're ready to start reeling in even more money, then you are ready to start affiliate marketing. When you sign up for an affiliate program you make money through their ads.

I like to explain it as online Avon - you choose a product to advertise and you reap a commission each time you make a sale. Commission can be as high as 75%.

Becoming an affiliate marketer is easier said than done. There are some methods that work better than others but like any other skill, it is a skill that can be learned in time. Choosing an appropriate affiliate program that will add to the exxperience of your website for your readers is a vital key to affiliate marketing

For example, if you site is about sports, you may want to look for affiliates that work closely with the theme and not something completely off topic (like ballet). In other words you want to have affiliates that will complement and enhance your site. Anything else will not attract attention and will not convert into sales.

If you have a site up and running, you need to get a list of affiliate companies - choose them wisely. Many affiliate companies provide you with extra details about themselves, support and banners that you can use to advertise on your site.

There are loads of companies on the net that will help you and it can be a little overwhelming knowing which one is right for you.. They are all very similar so choose one that gives you great support - one that helps you when you need it, that has a clear dashboard to keep track of your sales and your products and of course allows you to compare different products against each other based on other marketers success.

Two companies that are incredibly popular are commission junction and link share. These will both help you find affiliates for your website. They have loads of good, accurate information available on what companies would be best and how well they perform.

More popular for beginners who don't have their own website is ClickBank. They are most well known for electronic goods like eBooks.

Signing up for one of these affiliate programs is relatively easy. You will need to confirm your email adress as well as provide the details of your website if you own one. Of course they will also want to know your PayPal or account details so they can pay you when you make your first (and hopefully not the last) sale.

In some cases, they will also want your social security number.

So your next query will be about how to chose a product or program to market. Many people have their own opinion about this - they tell you to choose the one that pays the most or the one with the highest gravity (which means lots of people have bought it recently) but I have a different theory.

I believe that it isn't what you sell. I believe that the secret is who you sell it to.

Let's just go back and recap that. If you have your own website, you can start by using programs like Google's AdSense to advertise. You can also move onto advertising affiliate products on your website, When you become more accomplished at this, you can then go on to build more websites with more adverts and before you know if you will have your own affiliate empire. Many people get to throw in their days jobs once they have established a steady source of income this way.