What is Affiliate Marketing and How Do I Get Started?

Definition of affiliate marketing:
Affiliate marketing is taking someone else’s product or service and advertising it using your own affiliate website or link in order to make money. The owner of the website/product/service will pay you a percentage of each sale generated through your unique affiliate link or website. Sounds a bit confusing, but in reality is a very simple process with a win/win situation for all parties involved and a fun way to make money online…

How to get started:
You have two options to consider when doing affiliate marketing, whether to have a website or to simply advertise using your unique affiliate link. Many affiliates will create an informational website to be used as a basis for related affiliate links. This can be a great option, due to the fact that you would only need to advertise one website in order to make money.

To go this route, think of something that you are passionate about or something that is a hot topic right now. Once you have determined your theme you need to decide on a website name. To find ideas and keywords to be used as a URL, or domain name, I would recommend using http://wordtracker.com to find appropriate popular keywords related to your theme. It is good to use a popular keyword as your website and domain name so that you will rank higher in search engines.

Once you have your theme and have chosen a name, you need to register your domain name and obtain website hosting. I recommend using Yahoo for your website hosting needs. They offer a free domain name and website builder that does not require knowledge of html when you purchase website hosting. They also allow you to pay monthly rather than having to pay a year in advance which helps you save with upfront costs.

Your next step would be to build your website and fill it to the brim with great information related to your theme. A great and easy way to do this is to get articles from free article websites like the ones listed below:

http://www.1st-in-articles.com/

http://www.advertisingknowhow.com

http://www.amazines.com

http://www.articlecity.com

http://www.ArticleHub.com

http://www.marketing-seek.com

http://www.parentclicks.com

http://www.zongoo.com

Then, once you have a great website full of information about your theme, your next step is to work on search engine optimization. Do a search on Google for SEO and you will find lots of free information on how to do this. You also need to offer a free newsletter so that you can establish repeat visitors.

When your informational website is complete and fully optimized, submit it to all of the major search engines. Google’s “submit a URL” can be found under “About” Google. This is the main one and the best place to start. Yahoo charges a fee to submit your website to them so this would be something you could do later.

Now you are ready to start adding affiliate links to your website so you can earn money! Sign up at these free websites and find appropriate websites to affiliate with:

http://www.LinkShare.com

http://www.CJ.com

http://www.ShareASale.com

http://www.Clickbank.com

Also, add Google Adsense to your website for added revenue. Advertise using Pay Per Click such as Google.com/Adwords and Overture.com. Continue to add a page of information to your website daily. The more information you have, the higher your chances of ranking with more keywords on the major search engines. Have fun maintaining your website and watching your traffic…and your revenue grow! Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money and your earning potential is almost endless. Affiliate marketing is something you can get started doing today to earn money online.

9 Ways to Make Money Online

Are you making money hand over fist with your website? If you are then you don’t need to bother reading this article because it is not for you. If you are like most of us your website sales are slow and unpredictable and you need to think of new ways to make money online without taking more time and effort. All of your time should be dedicated to producing your product, right? Well, here are just a few ways to make a little bit or a lot of money online without any effort.

1. Affiliates
Sign up to become an affiliate for other businesses that are on the net. I only sign up with the companies that I honestly would recommend to anyone. All that you have to do is refer your customers to these sites. Once one of my referrals makes a purchase, I receive a small payment. With some of the affiliate programs the fee is quite large.

2. Google Ads
I was not too sure about this one but I signed up and I am now convinced. The first week that I had Google ads on my website I made $.18 and the next week I made $6.45! Wow! Big boost. If I keep this up, I just may be able to pay for my web host by the end of the month!

3. Google Search
Works close to the same way as the ads. People use your search tool, make a purchase and then you are compensated.

4. Amazon
Another great tool that will trickle in a few dollars here and there, all for 10 minutes of your time putting a little code into your website and Amazon does the rest.

5. Selling Ad Space
You could sell ad space if you have a site that has high traffic.

6. Selling Subscriptions to Your Newsletter
If you have a newsletter that has high demand information, you could charge for your newsletter.

7. Selling Ad Space in Your Newsletter
Sell ad space in in your newsletter. Same drill as with ad space on your website. Just put a box on your newsletter with a note inside it that says “Your Banner Could Go Here” Then have a page that tells how many subscriber that you have, how often your newsletter goes out and what type of content it usually contains plus the price per ad.

8. Selling E-Books
Do you know something about your craft or hobby that you know people would pay to learn as well? Then sell it in an e-book. What a great way to make a little extra money. You take the time to write a good quality e-book then just fill the orders. You could even set it up so that once the e-book order has been processed and paid for, it goes out automatically using an auto responder without you even having to lift a finger, except to go to the bank to collect your money.

9. Consulting – Offer your services
Do you sell wedding supplies and know all of the best suppliers around? Do a little research and offer your services as a wedding coordinator. Offer your assistance to the people that want to plan their own wedding, but need a little bit of help.

Remember, you wont get rich with just one of these programs, but you just may make a tidy little sum every month with a combination of all of them.