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Tuesday, 02 Dec 2008
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Affiliate
Marketing
by
Bruce Whitehead
Summary:
Being an affiliate means that you (through a website or via e-mail)
represent another company, usually referred to as a merchant,
that is willing to pay you for the traffic you refer. Merchants
use affiliates to increase their exposure on the Internet, and
pay them in various ways.
One
of the first sites to offer an affiliate program was Amazon.com,
one of the Web's leading retailers. Amazon will pay you a percentage
of the amount of each sale made through a visitor that you refer.
These visitors are usually tracked by some information added to
the merchant's website address, or URL. This referring URL will
generally look something like this: http://www.Affiliate_Site.com/index.php?id=13443
The
information following the question mark would be a unique identifier
of the affiliate or referrer, and will either drop a cookie on
the user's browser to remember you, or it will be carried along
for the current browswer session to track any sales that occur
back to you, or a combination of methods can be employed. The
main thing to understand is that the URL identifies you and compensates
you when sales occur.
This
system of merchants and their affiliates has worked very well
on the Internet, where millions of websites are referring their
traffic to merchants of their choice to earn cash. Bravenet
has a top-rated webmaster affiliate program that pays you $1.00
for every new member you refer to us to use our free services.
This helps us create new members, and it helps you create cash
from your referrals—truly a win-win situation.
This
system has evolved over time, and now there are a growing number
of affiliate reporting sites that act as brokers to affiliate
programs offered by merchants across the Internet. These sites
give you instant access to thousands of programs you can join
for free, directly from just one site. Some of the larger affiliate
reporting sites include Commission
Junction, BeFree,
LinkShare
and QuinStreet.
These
sites provide everything you need to get started at affiliate
marketing. All the materials, incuding the banners or
ad copy you will display on your site or in your e-mail, are available
from these reporting sites.
You can also gain access to valuable statistical information such
as the number of impressions an ad has shown, the number of people
who have clicked on those ads, and the financial return your hard-earned
traffic is providing for you.
This
list will get you started, but there are some things you should
consider when joining and participating in affiliate programs.
First
off, think about who visits your site or receives your e-mails.
What are these people looking for? What products and services
are related to what they are looking for? This may sound quite
obvious, but it is still apparent there are a lot of websites
out there devoted to cars or cats—and they are trying to
sell long-distance services.
So,
stick to what your website or your newsletter is about. You may
wish to take your efforts a step further and create pages on your
own website that drive more interest than just running a banner
or text link. Remember, you are referring your own traffic to
other merchants in the hopes of making a sale. Why not spend a
little time to prepare your visitors before they get there.
Some marketers make a lot of money selling other people's goods
and services through affiliate programs and similar referral mechanisms.
You don't even really need a website to start with affiliate marketing.
You can buy traffic and send them right to your affiliate URL
from e-mail, click engines, or through other sponsorships.
Finally,
it is important to realize that merchants are relying
on you to make sales happen for them. This puts you in a position
to bargain. So use that advantage whenever you can to
request higher payouts then what is being offered. It never hurts
to ask, and you'll be surprised how many merchants will up the
ante for affiliates looking to get a better deal.
Check
out our Affiliate Program! Earn cash for referrals.
Extracted
from BraveNet.
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