What is Affiliate Marketing?

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My offline friends are absolutely amazed and dumbfounded at what I do for a living. Some totally get it and others kind of get this blank stare into their eyes. I used to simply tell them that I build websites but the reality is that I do this more out of necessity than for a “job”. These days, to keep it simple, I just tell them I am an internet marketer. Occasionally, I will help them get started with affiliate marketing because frankly, it is the easiest way to start.

So what is affiliate marketing?

Whenever someone asks me this question, the way I usually explain it to them is by telling them this….

Suppose you are searching for the latest cameras and you wind up on a review site for cameras. And suppose that you click on a link that takes you to Best Buy’s product page. And suppose that you purchase that camera on Best Buy’s website.

Well, I make a commission for driving traffic to that site.

You see, years ago, when the tech craze was happening, there was no such thing as affiliate marketing, at least online. Then, the craze was selling advertising space. Here is what would happen.

  1. You would build a website, get it ranked or build traffic to it.
  2. You would then sell advertising space to large and small companies..kind of like a billboard
  3. This worked out very well for websites but not well for the companies. You see, popular websites would simply inundate their pages with ad space and sell more ads to companies. More ads would mean less clicks. Less clicks would make the ad not as important.

Companies got wise and figured out that simply “advertising” online via most websites was simply not good business. They pulled the plug. The gravy train ended for the average webmaster…

Then about a decade ago, they figured out another way to generate traffic. What if, instead of paying the webmaster at a CPM (cost per thousand), they instead paid them for actual sales. Enter affiliate marketing online……

Think of it like your site is a sales person and each sale you make, you get a small cut…

There really is nothing earth shattering about that. In the offline world, it works the same. Give a lead to a lawyer and he may pay you for it (provided you have arranged the deal). Directv has an offer where if a friend subscribes to their service you and your friend make $100. You are in essence, affiliating with Directv.

These days, almost every ad you see online either has an affiliate attached to the link. And affiliate products range from digital (like clickbank) to physical (like Best Buy, Sears, Wal-mart, Amazon and eBay). You can “affiliate” with literally thousands of different companies that cover millions of products in virtually any niche you can think of (I once saw an affiliate program tied to an escort service).

You drive the traffic to their site via your affiliate link, and if the person buys, you get a cut.

And THAT is affiliate marketing….

There are some things to consider when you are thinking of affiliating with products and companies. Knowing this will help you understand the what’s and why’s.

  • Always be aware of pay schedules- Some affiliate companies will pay weekly. A few will pay instantaneous. Some will pay monthly.
  • Be aware that some have payment caps- Some affiliate companies won’t pay you until you make a certain amount of sales or reach a certain dollar amount. If you are new to clickbank, you won’t get a check until you get at least 5 sales and they come from 3 different credit cards (american express, visa and mastercard).
  • Know the Terms of Service- This is especially true if you are going to use pay-per-click. Some companies will have rules as to what you can and can’t do. For instance, some companies won’t let you bid on their branded name or the name of the product. Some won’t let you run email campaigns if you are a list marketer. Know the rules before you make the commitment.
  • Make sure that their ad copy converts (if they are using ad copy)- While companies like eBay and Amazon are branded and trusted, you should pay special attention to affiliate products that aren’t well known and see what lengths they go to in order to be seen as credible. Sites like Clickbank have a range of products to choose from. Some of the ad copy converts very well because they are using good marketing strategies. Others you wouldn’t be able to sell to your mother.

Some very basic things that you need to know in order to be a good affiliate marketer…

  1. Keyword Research Skills- This will help you siphon off the “buying” keywords and save you time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if you are going to use PPC or get organic results, the type of “lead” you get matters.
  2. Some SEO skills- The very basic will be enough to drive traffic to your site, provided that you know the right keywords that will drive the customers actually interested in buying. SEO is really easy-peasy too and while many will tell you different, I can teach you in 10 minutes what you need to do.
  3. Basic Marketing Strategies- Most are very basic and you probably already know. If you don’t know them, I am sure that they will make perfect sense once you read them.
  4. Niche Marketing Know How- You will need to know how to build the perfect page for your offer. Most affiliate marketers use a niche marketing strategy.
  5. List Marketing Strategies (optional)- List Marketing or email marketing will go a long way because if you are good at it, you can continuously drive hungry buyers to your offers without depending on Google.