Affiliate Marketing on the Internet

Affiliate Marketing on the Internet is basically a practice in which a business rewards an affiliate for each customer brought about by the marketing efforts of that affiliate. When you sell other people's products and you are getting paid for it you are doing affiliate marketing. This is a great low cost way to make some money and create multiple income streams.

The concept of revenue sharing - paying commissions for referred business - has been around for ages and even before the Internet. It is a simple relationship that in most cases is a win-win scenario. I personally would always like to be rewarded for referring people to any product/service. The process of recommendation goes on everyday, without us noticing. For example, when you see a good film in the cinema and thereafter recommend it to your friends, are you rewarded for it? Well, technically it would be possible for you to approach the cinema and explain that you enjoyed the film and wanted to recommend it to others and that you wanted some commission for everyone (following your recommendation) that comes to watch the film. If people grasped this concept then they would be better off, in more ways than one!

Affiliate marketing on the Internet is huge. The truth is an entire industry has grown around online affiliate marketing since the mid-1990s and it is getting bigger all the time; there are entire affiliate networks, such as commission junction and clickbank that have the role of bringing merchants and affiliates together. But now we know the possibilities, how can one benefit from Affiliate Marketing? The following is my Top 3 tips:

1. If you are totally new to Affiliate Marketing then LEARN from those that have succeeded. The best guide is 'Super Affiliate Handbook'.
2. List your hobbies/interests or any area you specialise in and find out whether there are any affiliate products for your 'niche'. Your chances of success will increase by selling a product you have some knowledge about.
3. Sustain a CONSISTENT level of marketing for your affiliate products and you will no doubt gain a consistent income.

Affiliate marketing overlaps with other Internet marketing methods because affiliates often use online advertising methods, mainly because of their effectiveness; the two are therefore linked, to some degree.

Affiliate marketing on the Internet is therefore an effective way to start a proven online business. If you can master this skill, then your income potential is literally limitless!

-Abdi Mohammed