Fox Diamond Center – 01.13.10 FDC.wmv

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a business deal whereby you hook up your online site to other companies and businesses.  You allow these companies and businesses to place advertisements on your website, then, when people click on one of the ads placed and/or buy something after clicking on the ad placed, you receive a commission.  The exact amount depends on whether you use a pay per lead, pay per click or pay per sale affiliate program and the affiliate program or programs you choose to set up on the site.

Affiliate marketing can be quite profitable.  You do not have to have a lot of money to start out with and you can potentially make a lot of money by advertising other business and companies on your website or blog.  It should be noted, however, that while affiliate marketing has the potential to be profitable, it is not a guaranteed moneymaker and it is not easy money.  You will need to put in time and work to set up your website and maintain and update it on a regular basis or you will not get many people visiting it.

The first step, before you actually set up the site, is to choose what you want the site to specialize in.  It can be anything from Pandora charms to dog kennels.  The important thing is that you choose something that you are knowledgeable about and that the subject is not too broad.  For instance, instead of choosing ‘clothes’, choose a particular niche such as ‘women’s clothes’ or ‘lingerie’. The more specific you get, the easier your site will be to rank and find.

Once you have chosen what the site will be about, and then work with a website builder to set up the site.  While it is possible to create a site on your own, it is quite hard to do unless you have experience in this field.  A website builder can create the site in such a way that it attracts customers, which is of paramount importance if you want the site to turn a profit. 

When you choose a website name, choose something that people will search for.  If the site is about women’s shoes, for instance, choose a name that is as closely related to that as possible, such as ‘goodwomensshoes.com’, ’shoes4ladies.com’, or ‘bestwomensdressshoes.com.  Due to the fact that there are millions of sites, you may find that the name you want for your website is already taken, so be prepared with a list of suitable names that you can choose from.

After the site is set up, then choose one or more affiliate programs to work with.  A few good options are Share a Sale, Clickbank, Commission Junction, and MaxBounty.  While there are others, it is important to make sure that the affiliate programs you work with are legitimate and pay on time.

In addition, setting up AdSense on your website is a good idea.  Google’s AdSense program can be set up on any site free of charge; once set up, ads appear on your web page and you are paid on a pay per click basis – when people visit your site and click on an add, you receive a small commission.  The more people click on the ads, the more money you make however, and you should never click on your website’s ads yourself.  The AdSense programs will recognize that the clicks are coming from you and AdSense will be removed.  Clicking on your own webpage’s ads, it should be noted, is taboo no matter what affiliate program you use and what the payment method is.

As was mentioned above, there are three ways in which you can be paid for setting up an affiliate site and placing ads on it.  You can choose between pay per click, pay per lead and pay per sale advertising programs.

Pay per click is pretty straightforward. When a visitor to your site clicks on an ad listed there, you receive a small commission.  Pay per sale payment means that you receive a commission from each sale that the clicked on advertisement leads to.  If someone clicks on the ad but does not purchase anything from the company who placed the advertisement, you do not receive anything.  However, the commission you get from the sale is substantially larger than the payment you would receive for a clicked-on advertisement. 

Pay per lead can be one of a number of different arrangements.  You receive a commission for each particular action that is taken as a result of the advertisement on your site being clicked on.  You get a commission each time a potential customer clicks on the advertisement on your site and then completes a survey, enters his or her name in a sweepstakes contest, signs up for a free trial of the product advertised or downloads a software demo.  The exact arrangement varies from company to company and usually does not include all the above mentioned options. 

It is best to choose a combination of all three of the above mentioned payment methods.  For instance, you could have Google AdSense on your site, which is a pay per click advertising program, and then have other advertisements on the site that are either pay per sale or pay per lead. 

Setting up a website or blog and giving it a catchy name, choosing an affiliate marketing program and setting up AdSense are all good first steps.  However, as was touched on above, these are by no means the only things you need to do if you want your affiliate marketing site to be successful.  You will need to keep your blog or website current.  This involves writing articles (or paying an online content service to have the articles written for you), putting up pictures and graphics, and making sure the site stays abreast of current trends and is interesting and informative.

For instance, if your site is on clothing, shoes, purses or women’s accessories, you will find that trends and fashions change quite quickly.  You will need to stay abreast of the subject and keep your site current.  People will search for what is currently in fashion, not yesterday’s styles and fashions.  Keeping the site current involves first of all reading up on the subject discussed in your blog or website and then putting up interesting articles that will catch people’s attention.  The articles should be informative and useful; this way, people will refer others to your site as being a useful source of information.

You may also want to hire a company that does search engine optimization.  Search engine optimization means having your website being one of the first ones listed when someone does a search on a topic related to your website.  If your site is on the subject of Pandora charms and someone does an internet search for this keyword, you would want your site to be one of the top ones listed.  This ensures that you will get more visitors to your site.  The more visitors you get, the more ads on the site are likely to be clicked on, the more business the affiliated marketers will receive and the more money you will make.

Affiliate marketing is a big subject.  If you are serious about starting up an affiliate marketing blog or website, then take the time to study up on the subject.  You can find helpful videos and webinars on YouTube or other sites that discuss different ideas and ways to make your site successful. 

You will note that while many sites make a big commotion about how much money can be made with affiliate marketing, it is important to keep in mind that you are not going to make large amounts of money right off the bat.  Even if your website is well set up, your articles professional, interesting and appealing, and the site is near the top of the list when keywords related to what you are selling are typed into an internet search engine, it takes time to get many visitors to your site.  All new internet sites set up for the purpose of affiliate marketing go through this phase, so do not feel bad or like you did something wrong.

Sadly, many affiliate marketing sites do not make it; in fact, not many do in fact turn affiliate marketing into a profitable venture.  One main reason is that many people give up on their site too soon when the site does not make the expected or hoped for income within a short period of time.  If you are serious about success, you will need to be willing to be patient and tenacious and keep working on your site.  Keep updating it, maintaining it and improving it and know that as time goes on, slowly but surely, your site will get more visitors and become prosperous if you are doing it right. The key is do not give up.

About the Author

Joe has a degree in Business Management/Marketing. He owned a restaurant. Worked as a small business employment specialist with the South Dakota Department of Labor. Has 20 years of Federal service with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Raised 2 Eagle Scouts.