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Learn More About Affiliate Marketing

What Exactly is this "Affiliate Marketing" Thing?

You've heard about it. You may even know somebody who actually DOES the affiliate marketing thing. There's no doubt that you understand that the main objective of affiliate marketing is to make an income. But what exactly IS it?

Basically affiliate marketing is the online version of "commission sales." Affiliate marketers don't actually OWN the products that they advertise and sell. A merchant -- a retailer or other product developer -- owns and makes the product.\

An affiliate advertises and sells the product online for the merchant. In return, the merchant pays a percentage of the sale price to the affiliate marketer. If the product sells for $100 dollars and the agreed upon commission is 8%, when an affiliate sells the product the merchant gets $92.00 and the affiliate marketer gets $8.00.

Affiliate marketers don't just go out and advertise and sell all kinds of products to all kinds of people for all sorts of purposes. Affiliate marketing is divided into "niches." There's a primary market -- let's say "dogs" -- and under that there are hundreds of smaller niches such as "dog food," "dog training," all the specific breeds of dogs, etc.

• The affiliate marketer usually chooses a relatively narrow niche market in which he/she is interested.

• Then he/she signs up as an affiliate marketer with merchants that make products or offer services of interest to consumers in that specific market.

• Finally, the affiliate advertises the product or service online, and when he/she makes sales, the merchant sends them a commission check.

The first choice that a new affiliate marketer must make is choosing a niche to work in. The three most important factors in choosing a niche are:

It helps to have some interest or experience with the niche. You'll spend time promoting to that market, so it helps if you understand how consumers in that niche think.
The search volume for information about the niche needs to be moderate to high. (Check with Google's free keyword search tool to help you determine search volume.)
There must be a large pool of consumers who are affluent enough to purchase goods and services. (Visit related websites, blogs and forums to get an idea of the size and affluence of the consumer pool.)

The second choice that a new affiliate marketer must make is choosing the merchants and the products that he will represent.

The merchant must be reputable. (Check with the BBB.)
The product must be of high quality. (Buy the product yourself if possible. If that isn't possible visit related blogs and forums and see what others are saying about the product.)
The commission offered must be comparable to commissions offered by other merchants promoting similar products. (You can get this information by joining affiliate networks and comparing merchants.)

There is, of course, a great deal more to affiliate marketing than just the points listed here, but we hope this explains the basic principles of how an affiliate marketing business works.

How Do I Make Money from Affiliate Marketing?

The main objective of affiliate marketing is for you to make money, of course! There are many people who make a full-time living from their affiliate marketing efforts. Some of them make more than a million dollars a year… and there are a few who make even more than that.

There are also a great many would-be affiliate marketers who fall flat on their collective faces.

Making money from affiliate marketing isn't brain surgery -- it's a skill you can learn just like any other. But there is knowledge that is essential for an affiliate marketer to have in order for him to become successful. Nobody just decides to go into affiliate marketing and immediately begins making money hand over fist. That isn't the way affiliate marketing works.

To become a successful affiliate marketer and to make money from affiliate marketing requires dedication and commitment. It also requires an investment of time as well as a bit of money to get started.

What does it take to be successful in affiliate marketing -- successful enough to you're your job and make a good living?

You must be willing to invest in yourself. You do not know enough about affiliate marketing to make money from it… yet… but you CAN learn how.
The time and money that you spend learning how to do affiliate marketing effectively and profitably will be the best investment that you ever make.
You need to have your own website(s). Perhaps you've heard that you don't need a website to be an affiliate marketer -- and technically yes, that's true. But if you really want to be successful, you'll need to learn about how to make effective websites that SELL.You can get your feet wet with website building by trying a free website builder. See our Resources Page for some free site builders.
Choose the best affiliate programs in your niche. You are going to spend some money promoting these products, so you want to make sure that those products are of the highest quality and are provided by merchants who have good reputations. You don't want to promote JUNK, and you definitely don't want to promote products or services for merchants who may not pay you promptly or fairly.
Spend time building and cultivating business relationships with other affiliate marketers… even those that are your competitors. Networking works! Take your time to attended affiliate marketing events, and attend webinars on the Internet as well.
Don't be a quitter! Turning a profit takes time. Just because you don't succeed the first time doesn't mean that you will never succeed. Persistence is an asset that lives in every profitable affiliate marketing business.

Affiliate marketing is one of the very few recession proof businesses. Bad national or international economies actually BENEFIT affiliate marketers. Yes… you most certainly CAN make money from affiliate marketing. All you need are knowledge, skills, and persistence.

What Kind of Money Can I Realistically Make as an Affiliate?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how much money you can realistically make as an affiliate marketer. The answer depends upon several variables, but each person's own level of commitment is the biggest determining factor in the level of income that he can realistically achieve.

I'm not going to lie to you. Not many newbie affiliate marketers go on to become successful affiliate marketers and even fewer become super affiliates.

The failure rate is not because affiliate marketing doesn't work. Affiliate marketing DOES WORK. But the majority of newbie affiliate marketers DON'T WORK hard enough or long enough to become successful affiliates!

The Time Commitment

If you are one of those new affiliate marketers who is absolutely determined to make a living (a GOOD living) from affiliate marketing, then you must be willing to commit to your own success. You must be willing to devote the time required to find success.

You've likely seen those glitzy advertisements telling you that you can make millions as an affiliate marketer in your spare time. These ads tell you that in only an hour or so a day, you can find treasures untold while barely lifting a finger or devoting any time at all. Hogwash!

Affiliate marketing is a business and building a business -- ANY business -- takes a commitment of time.

The Money Commitment

And, yes, you are going to have to invest some money. Nothing is free. The cost of starting an affiliate marketing business is far cheaper than starting any other kind of business… but it isn't free.

You are not going to start an affiliate marketing business on Monday and get your first substantial paycheck on Friday. Building an ongoing income from affiliate marketing is going to take more time than that.

You have to expect that your brand new affiliate marketing business is going to cost money before it actually earns money for you.

Investment in Yourself

And finally, the level of income that you can expect to earn as an affiliate marketer does depend a great deal on how much you are willing to invest in learning how to become a successful affiliate marketer.

Affiliate marketing can be a very financially rewarding business. The level of income that you can realistically expect to get out of it depends upon how much time, effort and money you are willing to put into it.

How Do I Find Products to Sell as an Affiliate?

The world is FULL of products and services. Look around where you are sitting right now. You see a desk, a chair, a computer, a printer, a telephone, and dozens of other products. Now look on your computer. You see each of those programs that are there? Each of them is a product or a service that somebody somewhere sold… maybe an affiliate marketer.

The first step in determining what products and services to sell is to determine the niche that you will be working in. For new affiliate marketers it's best to choose a niche in which you have a great deal of personal interest and one about which you already have a great deal of information.

For example:

• If you have a big German Shepard Dog that is your best friend in the whole world, choose German Shepard Dogs as a niche.

• If you are "into" scuba diving, Scuba Diving would be a good choice. If you've just started looking for a toupee to buy and haven't had much luck, toupees (or hair growth/replacement) might also be a great niche to choose.

• If you are fighting acne, Acne would be a good niche choice.

You see the point, don't you? Choose a niche that YOU are interested in. The niche comes first. The products and/or services that you will advertise and sell come next.

There are two basic ways to search for products and services that you want to promote as an affiliate marketer:

1. You can look on the affiliate networks.

2. Use a search engine.

Both methods can be equally effective.

Searching for a product/service to sell using the affiliate networks:

First of all there are dozens of affiliate networks out there. Most of them are good, but a few of them do have problems. It's best that you stick to one (or all) of the big four to start with. The big four are:

Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com

LinkShare: http://www.linkshare.com

ClickBank: http://www.clickbank.com

Google Affiliate Network: http://www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork/

No affiliate network charges affiliate marketers to join. Affiliate networks make their money from advertisers (merchants). So it is free for you to join as many networks as you wish.

Affiliate networks divide merchants and their products into general categories. It is easy to search for products and services on all of the affiliate networks. The networks make it easy to compare merchants, as well. When you find a merchant and product that you like, sign up for the affiliate program.

Searching for products/services to sell using a search engine:

Many merchants run in-house affiliate programs. To find these merchants;

Type your main keyword into the search box followed by the plus sign (+) and the words "affiliate program". Your search will look like this: German Shepard + affiliate program. You'll get thousands of hits. Just visit the first few sites listed and choose a merchant and product or service that suits you, sign up for the program and voila…you're in business!

What is an Affiliate Link and How Does It Help Me Make Money?

An affiliate link is a link that contains a unique identifier for a particular affiliate marketer. Affiliate links tell the merchant which affiliate is responsible for sending a visitor to the merchant's website or for a sale. The affiliate link tells the merchant which one of hundreds of affiliates actually earned the commission.

An affiliate link might be as simple as the merchant's website address followed by a slash (/) and a number. Sometimes words or letters are used as identifiers in affiliate links.

But whether it's words, letters, numbers or a combination, the purpose of the affiliate link is the same. It identifies the affiliate marketer to the merchant.

Merchants issue affiliate links. When you apply to a merchant's affiliate program, he (or the affiliate network he is listed with) will check your website and then the merchant issues your unique identification link called an "affiliate link."

Here is how you make money using an affiliate link:

When a visitor to your website clicks on your affiliate link, she is taken to the merchant's website. If she makes a purchase, your unique identifier in the link is recorded in the merchant's software -- and you earn a commission.

How and where you use your affiliate links on your website to get the most benefit out of them is a bit more complicated. Volumes have been written on the topic!

There are several affiliate marketing business models, but they basically break down into two separate categories: sales sites and content sites.

Sales sites do, of course, have content – every word or piece of text on a web page is content. the product description is content, the page title is content and even the alt tags on the pictures are also content. But the FOCUS of the site is on making a sale.

Content sites on the other hand are loaded with content. There are articles, news releases, reviews, etc. At a minimum they contain 15 to 20 pages of content, and often have hundreds of pages. Content sites are also trying to make sales, of course, but the FOCUS is on content rather than on sales.

Which general type of affiliate site you should choose is a matter of personal choice. Nearly all types of products lend themselves well to either type affiliate site.

Sales sites require less time from you but they don't usually do well in natural search listings. Search engine spiders LOVE content, and when there isn't a lot of content your site, you may not show up in the natural search results.

Content sites require more time, but content sites generally do much better in natural search.

The type of affiliate site you choose depends upon your own level of interest and level of knowledge about the topic. But whether you build a sales site or a content site, the purpose of and the use of your affiliate links will determine your level of income.

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing as a Business?

In every facet of life you can find advantages and disadvantages. Affiliate marketing isn't an exception. Let's look at some of the advantages -- while most are rather obvious, they are worth mentioning!

Advantage #1: You get to work from home. If you choose, you can work in your pajamas… all day.

Earning a living from that comfy chair in front of your own computer is one of the best aspects of affiliate marketing. Life is just more pleasant at home than at an office or a factory!

Advantage #2: There's no commute. Affiliate marketers don't have to fight rush hour traffic in the morning or in the evening.

It doesn't matter what the price of gas happens to be, as an affiliate marketer your cost of getting to and from work remains a nice stable ZERO. You can get out of bed, pour yourself a cup of coffee and go to work.

Advantage #3: Affiliate marketers can set their own working hours. There's no big bad boss that demands that you show up at some ungodly hour on weekday mornings. If you want to go to work later… that's YOUR choice!

Some people are morning people. They like to get up and get on with it. Others, however, think that mornings are a curse and should be slept through as often as possible. When you are an affiliate marketer, it's YOUR choice!

Advantage #4: There are no office politics to deal with. You don't have to sit next to a guy or gal you can't stand for eight long hours, five days a week… and try to "get along" no matter how obnoxious they might be.

Advantage #5: Affiliate marketers are their own boss. They get to choose in which order tasks need to be completed. There's no one breathing down your neck and telling you that you need to do THIS before you do THAT.

Advantage #6: There are no office "flower funds" to donate to. How many babies, weddings, birthdays, and farewell parties happened last year? Did it feel like half occurred at YOUR job?

All of these are advantages enjoyed by affiliate marketers. But maybe the very best number one advantage is that an affiliate marketer is the master of his own financial destiny and his own business success.

There isn't a "pay scale" that must be adhered to. Affiliate marketers aren't limited to making "entry level" wages because they just started. There's no "rule" that says you have to have been an affiliate marketer for six months before you get a raise. There's no paragraph in the "employee's manual" that says you have to work for a year before you get a vacation.

Yes… being your own boss and being the master of your own destiny is the best advantage of all!

What are the Disadvantages of Affiliate Marketing as a Business?

You can't have a "left" without a "right" or an "up" without a "down." And you can't have an advantage without a disadvantage.

It's true that there are a lot of advantages offered by an affiliate marketing business. It's also true that there are some disadvantages -- in fact, some of the advantages and the disadvantages are actually the same thing! It just depends on how you look at it.

For example, most people think that working from home is a huge advantage offered by affiliate marketing… and it is, most of the time. It can also be a disadvantage.

When I first started my affiliate marketing business, my friends and family assumed that since I didn't leave home and go to a job each morning, that I was apparently "unemployed" and available to run errands or just have fun.

It took a while -- and caused a few hurt feelings -- before I convinced my family that I really wasn't free to take aunt Sally to the hairdresser… to convince my neighbor that I didn't have time to drink coffee and chat… and to convince my friends that I didn't have time to yak on the phone and exchange gossip.

You see what I mean? Situations can be both advantages AND disadvantages.

It's true that not having to deal with office politics and "flower fund" donations is an advantage. But it's also true that affiliate marketing can get lonely… really lonely. You might miss having a coworker to bounce ideas off of. You might even find yourself longing for office politics!

Setting your own working hours and work schedule is something that most people would agree is a huge advantage offered by affiliate marketing. The flip side of that advantage is that you have to be the toughest, meanest and most demanding boss (of yourself!) you've ever had if you plan to succeed at affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing success doesn't happen accidentally or on a part time basis. At your job you work a minimum of eight hours a day, five days a week… and at the beginning of your affiliate marketing business, you'll put in plenty of hours AFTER you get home from work -- at least you will if you want to succeed.

Being master of your own financial destiny and determining your own level of business success sure sounds like a big advantage, and it is…. most of the time.

But the underside of that advantage is, at the beginning, you'll find that paychecks aren't regular. There won't be a weekly paycheck unless YOU earn the money to put it there.

For most people, the advantages offered by affiliate marketing far outweigh the disadvantages -- but only YOU can make that decision for yourself!

PPC Affiliate Profits in Misspelled Words

Even though you should ALWAYS make sure that every word posted on your website is spelled correctly, there are exceptions….profitable exceptions

The misspelled words that you can take full advantage of and -- turn a very nice little profit by using -- are misspelled keywords. There's gold in that bad spelling! Why? Because the general public doesn't check for spelling errors when they are searching for information and spelling errors are very, very common.

What are misspelled keywords?

The search engines keep track of all sorts of things, and one of them is the frequency with which words are misspelled in queries. A common misspelling for example is "Intrenet" rather than "Internet". Another one is "affilaite" rather than "affiliate". You'll be absolutely amazed if you check with Google about the number of times a keyword that relates to your niche is misspelled.

What are the advantages of using misspelled keywords?

Misspelled keywords can be very profitable because there is very little (or no) competition for them and they still bring in excellent targeted traffic. Be sure to optimize for them because your competitors likely are not. And use pay per click with them because most of your competitors aren't doing that either.

How do I find misspelled keywords?

One of the best ways is to just sit down with your list of keywords and think of any or all possible misspellings.

Another way to search for common misspellings of words related to your website topic is to make use of any of the free keyword tools offered by the search engines. The free keyword tool offered by Google can be found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal .

How do I optimize for misspelled keywords?

Optimizing your web page for misspelled keywords is exactly like optimizing for keywords that are spelled correctly. Make sure that the keyword appears in its misspelled form throughout your content a few times, in your headlines and subheadlines, and in incoming links to your website as well. How do I use misspelled keywords in my PPC campaigns? PPC costs for misspelled keywords are frequently at bargain basement prices. A correctly spelled keyword might cost you several dollars per click, but the same word that is misspelled can be only a tiny fraction of the cost. It IS true that more and more affiliate marketers are catching on to the misspelled keyword strategy but there are still some real bargains out there. If you are making a living running AdWords campaigns, you can use misspelled keywords to double your income overnight.