HOW AFFILIATES WORK

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. The basic idea is that you will make money by driving traffic (visitors) to other online websites. You get paid when a customer takes action, after going to that other affiliate website. By taking action, I mean buying something; signing up for more information; clicking on an ad, etc. In essence, you are advertising for someone else, and making money in the process! An affiliate is someone who is trying to make money by promoting other peoples' products.

One very effective way of making money online is as an affiliate marketer. The basic fundamentals are:

1. select a theme/product in which you are interested .

2. build a website around that theme/product.

3. fill your website with specific word-content, relevant to your theme.

4. populate your site with links to relevant themes/products.

As you promote your affiliate site, for making money online, you will draw traffic (visitors). As the visitors see your affiliate site, and your content, many will click away to the other affiliate sites (that you are linked to and promoting). Then these visitors will make a purchase, and you -- the affiliate marketer -- will make commission money, from their purchase.

WHERE TO FIND PRODUCTS AND INFORMATION

First, you must decide which product you want to promote for your affiliate. This will require a lot of researching on the internet. I started my search on ClickBank.com, because it has tons of products to promote. Once you sign up with ClickBank.com, and select your product, the next step is to research your product on search engines like Google.com or Yahoo.com. A search engine will provide valuable information about the choice you made. These sites will show you how to measure your product's selling power, popularity, associated ideas, etc. This research will give you some idea of what your competitor is doing, and how. After you have selected your product, and completed your research, then you must decide on your niche topic (product theme). The next step is to build a website, reflecting your niche. (As I progress in my business-setup, I will share more tips.)

ADVANTAGES OF RUNNING A BUSINESS THIS WAY

• Since all of the customers make their purchases away from your affiliate site, then you don't have to establish any kind of card-processing system, in order to make money online. There is no merchant account; there is no money-changing.

• Since you are not personally taking the affiliate order, then you don't have to even set up a business to get started.

• Since the other affiliate website is handling the purchases, they also have to handle the order fulfillment. You don't have to process any orders; maintain any inventory; nor do any shipping. The other affiliate company will also handle all returns and complaints.

• Since you will have the opportunity to choose your own affiliate program, you can piggy-back on an established, proven affiliate business. You don't have to compete with the "big boys", because you are working with them! Finally, you can focus on driving traffic, instead of processing orders and dealing with customers.

Currently, there is a huge demand for affiliate marketers. Corporate America has discovered that by using affiliate marketers, as opposed to a group of employees, in a building of advertisers, that the costs are immensely reduced. And everybody wins.