How Exactly Does Affiliate Marketing Work?

The Internet has definitely changed the way we do business both personally and as a culture. Thousands of people are looking for opportunities on a daily basis, both as a way to save money and also to make money. While there is a large variety of ways to make money on the Internet, one of the most popular and easiest ways to start is with affiliate marketing. This article is not meant to be a comprehensive writing on affiliate marketing but more of an overview.
Basically, affiliate marketing is where one person places an advertisement or link for a company, and then they are paid a commission for every sale that is generated from their efforts. This is a strong and sustaining relationship, where the affiliate provides potential customers to the seller and the seller in turn pays a commission for a sale.
While the term affiliate marketing may be new, the actual business model has been around for a very long time. Amazon.com began its own affiliate program in the middle of the 1990s, granting a visitor, who clicks a special link on the website and purchases a book or other products, and giving the affiliate a commission. Amazon was definitely not the first to have this idea, but they were one of the best to implement it. They provide affiliate tools and easy implementation of their products, receiving a patent for their methods in 2000.
With social media and the beginning of nearly instant communication, blogging, commenting and ratings, affiliate marketing has grown into a huge industry, with top affiliates earning hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Even though the rates may vary, most affiliates are compensated around 25 to 70 percent for each sale they make based on a customer following a link they have placed somewhere on the Internet.
The commission made is based on either the number of clicks, leads, or in most cases the actual sale of the product or service made between the company and the customer. When you look at these percentages, you will realize right away that affiliate marketing has the opportunity to be a very lucrative business, especially if done right.
When an affiliate marketer is able to drive a serious amount of traffic to the vendor's website, they in turn, can potentially make a six-figure income each and every month. For this reason alone, tons of people turn to the Internet on a daily basis, hoping they can strike gold by becoming an affiliate marketer.
Here are a few of the many advantages of becoming an affiliate marketer: There are no actual product development costs, rather the vendor will either develop the product or provide the service. There are no shipping costs for the affiliate to worry about; again this is solely the vendor's responsibility if they are dealing with a tangible product. Customer support is provided by the vendor.
There is no limit to the amount of products you can market, nor any long-term contracts to deal with. Depending on what your interests are or the focus of your website or niche, there are thousands of products to choose from. Set up costs are low, typically only needing to set up your website. There are no geographical limitations, allowing an affiliate to market from anywhere they have an Internet connection.
Affiliate commissions, particularly with digital products, can generally be as high as 70 percent. Money can be made 24/7/365 as long as your marketing is in place and your website is running. The capacity for you to make money happens on a continual basis.

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