Affiliate Marketing 101 – What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Maybe it’s the first time you’ve heard of affiliate marketing and you’re curious. If you want to know what affiliate marketing is then look no further – here’s a brief explanation that will help you understand exactly what affiliate marketing, or internet marketing as it’s sometimes called, is.

Affiliate marketing is something you come across on the internet all the time, without even realizing it. It is basically an arrangement where someone gets paid a commission for referring customers to a merchant, through their online promotions. In some ways, an affiliate is like a salesperson who only gets paid when customers they refer make a purchase.

What is an affiliate?

When you hear the word ‘affiliate’ you might think of Amazon.com, since they were one of the first online businesses to offer an affiliate program. The way it worked (and still does) was that Amazon would provide you with a special code that you would use on any links that you put on your website that linked to books, DVDs or any other product on the Amazon website. If someone clicked on that link and subsequently bought that product from Amazon, their purchase would be recorded against your Amazon account and you would earn a commission.

Affiliate Marketing is how affiliates advertise

Affiliate Marketing takes this process to the next level and involves strategies that promote your affiliate links to the wider internet community. This means that instead of waiting in the hope a random visitor to your site will click on your link and buy the product, you actively seek out customers and promote your affiliate links.

Affiliate Marketing encompasses many different methods of website promotion. These techniques are used by any website that wishes to get more traffic (visits). Techniques include SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click advertising) and Email Marketing.

Can anyone do Affiliate Marketing?

Yes. The internet has made it possible for anyone with a computer and an internet connection to become an affiliate. Of course, most affiliates are not very successful because they have not had any training on the best way to approach affiliate marketing. Just like any other way of earning an income, training is essential to help you maximize your earning potential.

Affiliate Marketing training sites like Affilorama offer free lessons and helpful tips for anyone starting out in affiliate marketing. The information is based on the experience of others who have been successful in affiliate marketing and can help you avoid the pitfalls of inexperience.

A lot of people do affiliate marketing as a hobby to supplement their day job, but there are those who have seen the potential of this global business and are making a fulltime income from it.

If you want to find out more about how to start a business online with affiliate marketing, check out the rest of the Affilorama Affiliate Marketing Training Portal. At Affilorama we offer tons of free lessons on how to set up an affiliate marketing business from scratch. All you have to do to get access to all this material is sign up with your name and email address. To find out more about what Affilorama has to offer, click Join Now below and start learning how you can set up your own business online using affiliate marketing!