What is affiliate marketing? Simply put, the Affiliate Marketing Definition is simply referral marketing. That's it. One Marketer Joel Comm referred to it as SOPS - Selling Other Peoples Stuff. And quite frankly that's all it is. A very simple yet *Powerful* concept!

Now when we refer to the word "Selling", it doesn't necessarily mean that you yourself are making the 'Actual Sale' -- but in many cases it can also be interpreted as 'Motivating’ your visitor to perform a desired action i.e., make a purchase, fill out a form, or click a link.

With that said, there are 3 Major Types of Affiliate Programs which are: Pay-Per-Sale, Pay-Per-Lead and Pay-Per-Click. Below will answer the question "How does affiliate marketing work?"...

Pay-Per-Sale (PPS)

With a Pay Per Sale affiliate program you get paid an agreed upon percentage or preset amount when someone buys a product/service through your affiliate coded link. This is an Affiliate Marketing Definition of an 'Actual Sale' i.e., a sale has to be made before you get paid anything.

This is the most common type of all affiliate programs. Usually pays as low as 5% up to 50% or more. Generally this pays higher than the other types of affiliate programs.

Pay-Per-Lead (PPL)

With Pay-Per-Lead, in this Affiliate Marketing Definition you get paid when someone fills out a form or lead capture page of some type. Once this action is complete you have done your affiliate job and You Get Paid!

No actual "sale" was made but you did sell/motivate your visitor into an open mood to fill out a form or request some information of some sort. Job well done chaCHING! (On average with Pay-Per–Lead you get paid anywhere from $1 to a whopping $60 per lead!

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

With the Pay-Per-Click, you get paid when someone simply CLICKS on your affiliated coded ads surrounding your webpage of blog content. One of the most popular programs of this kind is Google Adsense. It's because of your Targeted traffic and content that merchants have an opportunity to expose their products & services to interested people.

Again in this instance no actual "Sale" was made on your part -- BUT you sold your visitor by engaging them with targeted content that motivated them to CLICK on ads related to your topic. Pay-Per-Click usually pays the least of all affiliate programs and understandably so.

But don't underestimate it. Many savvy webmasters have earned Thousands even Millions in Pay-Per-Click. It's all about driving Mega-Tons of 'Targeted' Traffic to your site. On average expect to get paid anywhere from .01 cent to .50 cent a click. And sometimes DOLLARS per Click depending on the merchants and your market.

Now here's the thing...

In all 3 instances you're not actually selling anything - Not even with Pay-Per-Sale. BUT what you should actually be doing is Mastering the art of PREselling your visitors. All you're doing is warming your visitors up and getting them in the mood to take Action.

You're getting them in the mood to click your affiliate link with an open to Buy attitude -OR- You're getting them in the mood to click your affiliate link to fill out a form of some sort -OR- You’re getting them in the mood with your great content, that they’ll be naturally drawn to CLICK! the related ads surrounding it.

Affiliate marketing is a beautiful thing. It is no doubt The simplest way for anyone to make free money online. And even build full-fledged Affiliate Internet Businesses.  Yes you can join affiliate programs absolutely FREE! It is possible to Make Money with No Money At All despite what you've been told. However, if you want to earn more faster, the best affiliates understand the importance of investing in tools & resources that will enable them to do so.

Affiliate Marketing is not hard. It’s not necessarily easy starting out either, but it’s definitely not hard once you get the hang of it. Your whole focus should be on developing your Marketing and PREselling skills.

The sharper those 2 skills are -- The more money you stand to make as an Affiliate Marketer. Your Marketing skills will give you the ability to attract tons of traffic to your site . And your PREselling skills is what will get your visitors to take Action once they’re there.

So to summarize the Affiliate Marketing Definition… Just think of Affiliate Marketing as “Online Foreplay”. YOU Are Creating The Mood for ACTION! $-)

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