Affiliate Marketing.What Is It?

Eugenijus Sakalauskas

Are you looking for some inside information on affiliate ?  Here's an up-to-date report from affiliate experts who  should know.

Affiliate marketing has many descriptions, yet all have the  same meaning. Affiliate marketing is a huge business piece on  the Internet. It is a cooperative effort between merchants  and an affiliate's website. For many years now, affiliate  marketing has proved to be a cost-efficient, measurable method  of delivering long-tern results. It has become famous for  Internet sites who are trying to make some extra or additional  income for their site. Every day, people get interested to  affiliate marketing and want to make money out of it. But  in many cases, these new affiliates do not fully understand  the affiliate world and make costly mistakes. In other words,  affiliate marketing has often been misunderstood.    One of the common misconceptions that are being associated  about affiliate marketing is "selling", though selling is an  important activity of affiliate marketing and the central  function of a business operation. Another is that affiliate  marketing is commonly linked with "advertising". While the  importance of advertising in marketing a certain product is  not to be underestimated, the fact of the matter is,  advertising like selling, is merely a part of the many  functions of marketing.

In affiliate marketing, an affiliate is compensated for  every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through  his efforts. The said compensation may be made based on a  certain value for each visit. The most attractive aspect of  affiliate marketing from the merchant's viewpoint is that  no payment is due to an affiliate until results are  appreciated.

Affiliate marketing is typically being run by affiliate  networks and this affiliate networks are composed of two  functional bodies, the group affiliates and the group  merchants. Each has their special function and role when it  comes to affiliate marketing. The affiliate network acts as  a third party between the merchant and the associated affiliates.  The network provides the technology to deliver the merchant's  campaigns and offers. The affiliate network also collects  commission fees from the merchant and then pays the affiliates  which are part of the program.

The merchant is any web site owner that wants or desires  to take advantage of performance based marketing. The benefits  to the merchant are many. First, the merchant maintains and  operates the affiliate program. If it would be extracted,  the merchant needs to do their part by researching interested  affiliate websites to ensure that they are a good fit for  that particular website. Finding a fit for their merchandise  would be the key to more generated income. The merchant has  access to markets and customers without him spending valuable  time searching out. Banner ads on affiliate sites are not  distracting to the site user. It might produce interest for  that product and drive the consumer to the merchants' website.  It is also the merchant who decides how much he is willing to  pay for each sale that results from a visitor sent from an  affiliate.

The affiliate or the affiliate marketer also sees a lot of  benefits. The affiliate is a web site owner that promotes  one or more merchants and their affiliate programs. Affiliate  marketing can generate a full-time income for the affiliate.  But this is not an easy task to accomplish. The affiliate needs  to have a better understanding with the merchant what the  commission will be, expected payment method and time involved  in the contract. The affiliate has also the responsibility  to stand for the merchandise their user based would be most  interested in. For example, if the site has a user base of  mainly stay-at-home mothers, then on-line job openings such  as surveys would be a good match for them. This group would  also appreciate direct links to children's products and  informational sites. Merchandisers often provide targeted,  best-seller items and personal support to their affiliate.  They often offer sales promotions that will benefit the  merchandiser as well as the affiliate.

Affiliate marketing is a great situation for both the marketer  and the affiliate. If they would work together, they can  be an advantage to both. Plus the fact that it seems to make  sense, it is easy and inexpensive way to start, and you can  be up and running within a few days. But there is one thing  to consider, it is how to get traffic and make your offer  different than all others.

Now that wasn't hard at all, was it? And you've earned a  wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study  an expert's word on affiliate .

 

Eugenijus Sakalauskas Owner PNP.com Subscribe to my FREE e-course "Affiliate Marketing for everyone" Send blank: mailto:pnpaffiliate@getresponse.com or visit http://www.pluginnetproefit.com and get 18+ free bonuses

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