2. Are you a college or high school student who only has time
for a part-time job but can't find one that pays enough?
Hate your boss and/or can't stand your co-workers? Have
you been searching long and hard for a route to financial
freedom that doesn't involve any bosses except for
yourself? Do you have a web site? If you have a web site
with some traffic (or even if you don't, on my blog you can
learn how to make an online living without one), you can
make money by having links to online merchant shops
appear on your web site. When a visitor to your site clicks
on the link pointing to the web site of the merchant you
are affiliated with, and then proceeds to buy something,
you get a commission of that sale. Depending on the
merchant, this can range anywhere from 5% - 75% of the
sale. There are also some merchants who will pay for each
3. By having these links on your web site, you are called an
affiliate, and the links are called affiliate links. An affiliate
program isn't literally a program it's a business
arrangement or agreement. Affiliate programs are also
commonly known as associate programs, associates
programs, partner programs, referral programs and
sometimes bounty programs.
4. For anyone new to Internet marketing and work at home
businesses they provide an excellent, high value
opportunity in that it's a way to earn money without
producing your own product!
5. To register into an affiliate program is almost always free,
and through the affiliate program merchants control panel
all you need to start making an income is the linking code,
a way to monitor the traffic through your links, and to see
what commission you have earned. Visitors who click your
link to the merchants' site are called "click-throughs" and
the percent of click-through visitors that purchase
something on the affiliate merchants' site are called your
CR, your Conversion Rate. Likewise, your CTR, or Click-
Through Rate, is the percent of visitors to your site that
end-up clicking on an affiliate link.
6. An affiliate program is not a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing)
program, since the affiliates only earn from sales, leads or
clicks. Some affiliate programs offer what is called a "Two-
Tier" program and this is in most cases not considered a
MLM program. MLM programs are sometimes called a
"Matrix" or "Downline" program and often have an
unlimited number of sub-affiliates you can sign up under
you. Your downline is everyone who has signed up under
you and likewise your "upline" is everyone who signed up
above you.
7. There is also networks operated by third-party companies
and individuals where multiple merchants and affiliates
use a common software and administrative infrastructure
(usually just a simple admin section of a web site) to
recruit affiliates and monitor the traffic from their sites.
These types of networks are often called affiliate
networks. Both the merchants and the potential affiliates
need to register with the network. Usually most affiliate
networks are free to join because they get a part of the
commission but some do charge a fee. Affiliates can find
links to the online shops of hundreds of merchants to use
on their affiliate driven web sites. Examples of affiliate
networks are Commission Junction and ClickBank. You can
find links to affiliate networks on my blog (link at end of
article).
8. I am of the opinion that the best affiliate web sites are the
ones made from a high demand, low supply niche
dedicated to one of your hobbies or interests and
something you know a lot about and can provide good
value to your visitors. However, if you are not great at
writing articles you can find article directories and content
sites. Visit my blog to find links to article directories and
content.
9. What will work best for you wont necessarily be the same
thing that works for others, you have to experiment and
diversify your methods. The most important factor will
however depend upon the kind of traffic you have and can
generate and the interests of the individuals visiting your
site.