Affiliate Programs: An Easy Start to Online Income

Affiliate programs may be the easiest online business to start running. Why?

With any online business you must have a product or service to sell. First you must create this product or service and then you must be able to fill orders.

Selling your own product or service also means creating a website, learning how to write ad copy, setting up a marketing plan, being able to accept payments online and obviously doing the work. If you're selling a physical product then you will need to make or buy the item, package it and pay for shipping costs. If you provide a service than you will likely have to start by doing free jobs to build your credibility and then when you are charging for your service you are still limited by how much work you can actually handle.

THE MAGIC OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Affiliate programs are a great way to get started in an online business. In fact there are even some 'Super Affiliates' who are making fabulous incomes from affiliate programs. So, what ARE affiliate programs?

Affiliate programs allow you to sell another company's service or product and make a commission on every sale or lead. You do not even need to build a website or handle the transaction. Your job is to drive traffic (customers) to your affiliate link.

An affiliate link is a special URL code that will identify customers coming to the company's site from your advertising. It will likely be the website address with a code attached to the end.

Some affiliate programs also have tiers. That means if someone who is interested in SELLING the product comes through your link and signs up you will also get a small percentage of THEIR earnings.

HOW DO I CHOOSE A PROGRAM?

You should research the popularity of some of your interests. Try to determine if people are buying that product or service online. There are many sources for finding that information including free ones such as the Overture keyword tool.

When you have found an area that is popular then type the subject along with 'affiliate program' into your search engine and see which programs have services or products for that area. You can also use an affiliate program directory.

When you have found a program that looks interesting you should read the terms of the program. Make sure that payouts are not based on a high commission earning or you may never see your money. Also try to choose programs with high commission rates. Often you will find ebooks and downloadable software has the highest rates as there is no physical product to make or ship. If you are satisfied with the terms then you need to sign up - usually a simple process.

START MARKETING

The reason affiliate programs are so great for beginners is that you only need to focus on marketing - not making - your product.

Many affiliate programs have information on how to market and give you tools such as banners, product feeds and more. You can also look for other information on marketing including writing articles, creating pay-per-click campaigns, commenting in online forums etc. As you gain experience marketing you will make adjustments to your selling and start creating a wonderful income!

Brennan Howe is the owner of http://www.opportunity4all.net - Intenet Opportunities for the Average Person. Sign up to receive a 10 part internet marketing course and free downloads.

---

The 5 Sure-Fire Ways of Building Massive Traffic and Making Thousands in Affiliate Sales

Why are those top affiliates able to easily make so... Read More

A Beginners Guide to Affiliate Marketing

The dawning of the cyberspace era is at hand. The... Read More

Common Decency......Lets Keep it Alive!

I recently had an experience with one of the affiliate... Read More

How To Profit From 2 Tier Affiliate Programs And Build A Sub-Affiliate Army In The Next 24 Hours

Before I get into depth with this article I first... Read More

How To Boost Your Affiliate Sales With Free Articles

Free Articles continue to be one of the most effectiveways... Read More

Economic Recession or Not, You Must be Creative to Survive

Are we Really in an Economic Recession?Some US statistics seem... Read More

Webmaster Affiliate Programs - How to Separate the Good from the Bad

More and more people are turning to the Internet and... Read More

How To Build Website - Seven Steps For Building Optimized Websites For Affiliate Programs

The web has developed in such a mass marketing arena,... Read More

Why is Affiliate Marketing Popular with Home Based Business Entrepreneurs?

The great strides made in the development of the Internet... Read More

Three Critical Affiliate Marketing Tips For Higher Commissions!

Affiliate marketing is quickly becoming a very specialized form of... Read More

Affiliate Programs and Picking the Best One!

Okay, so you have been looking at affiliate programs for... Read More

Affiliate Products: Keeping Up With The Product Cycle

You may not realize it, but this time of year... Read More

Who Says Affiliates Cant Use Joint Ventures To Make Money?

This is a technique I teach almost every day. Yet... Read More

Keeping Your Sub-Affiliates From Quitting

One of the biggest if not the leading problem for... Read More

Why Start An Affiliate Program?

As any business owner knows advertising can be a very... Read More

Super Affiliate Strategies To Boost Your Click Through Rates

If you are an affiliate I don't need to tell... Read More

What are the Benefits of Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a cooperative effort between merchant and an... Read More

Top Five Ways to Earn Extra Money Online at Home for Free

Here's a fact: everybody wants to earn extra money. We... Read More

Why Join 2 Tier Affiliate Programs?

Like the more common single tier affiliate programs, 2 tier... Read More

8 Ways To Increase Your Affiliate Commission

Here are 8 easy ways to boost your affiliate income:1)... Read More

Affiliate Marketing--Huh?

In my search for a presence on the internet, I... Read More

High Earning Affiliate Is It Possible?

Affiliate Program have exploded on the internet. Thousand of people... Read More

Affiliate Marketing - A Quick Overview For Beginners

It's simply a kind of marketing in the internet where... Read More

Promoting My Affiliate Programs--How?

Getting your website up, is really just the first phase... Read More

Five Things to Look For to Join Any Affiliate Program!

Here's a really simple way... to find out which affiliate... Read More

Five Ways To Maximize Affiliate Profits from Articles

What does it take to become a "BIG EARNER" with... Read More

6 BIG Benefits To Selling Big Ticket Items As An Affiliate

Today, we'll cover another set of benefits to selling Big... Read More

Why Many Affiliates Fail

The title is ugly, but the statistics don't lie. Only... Read More

How To Make Money On A Music Website Through Affiliate Programs?

Do you find yourself looking for a way to make... Read More

Internet Affiliate Marketing 101 - Its All About Relationships

So you've found the perfect affiliate program, you've signed up... Read More

Five Common Mistakes Affiliate Marketers Make

Affiliate Marketing is one of the most effective and powerful... Read More

Will the Online Quiz Make the Old Fashioned Printed Quiz Obsolete?

Q. Can you tell me the benefits of publishing an... Read More

WEBMASTERS - Earn Money With Affiliate Links

If you have a website with some traffic, you can... Read More