Affiliate marketing is a great way for small business owners to generate extra revenue — and hey, who couldn’t use more of that? Of course, you never enter any business arrangement without first conducting the necessary due diligence. Vangie Beal over at Webopedia.com walks you through the basics of how affiliate marketing works and how to select the right program.
If you have a Web site or blog and are looking for a way to earn income from your online property, consider affiliate marketing programs.
Affiliate marketing is the term used to describe a revenue-sharing plan where an online automated marketing program lets Webmasters place an advertiser’s banner ads or buttons on their own Web site. Webmasters will receive a referral fee or commission from conversions when a customer has clicked the affiliate link and performs the desired action, such as make a purchase or opt-in for downloads or newsletters on the advertiser’s site. Advertisers invest in affiliate programs for lead generation, and, of course, sales.
Not all affiliate plans work in the same way or pay the same rates. Some enable you to place text or image hyperlinks to products or a Web site, others allow you to set up a shopping or store page that offers products related to the content of your Web site, and others require you to simply place general advertising banners or buttons.
The payouts for Webmasters also varies, but in the most common forms the affiliate is paid per click, each time a person clicks the ad (pay-per-click) or you may be paid a commission when a sale is made (pay-per-sale) or you might be paid by lead (pay-per-lead).
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