Slow News Day - So Let’s Make Some Money With Affiliate Marketing

I had a tough day at work today. I’m tired and nothing in the news reports really inspires me to actually think and write opinions. So, it seems like a perfect time to help you figure out yet another way to make money online.

So…today, I introduce you to the world of affiliate marketing. If you’re a veteran of affiliate marketing, I urge you to read on. You may have failed at this process, and I’ll explain why so many fail.

You’ve all probably noticed those banners on web pages and blogs. I used to think, wow…Walmart is paying this guy to place their banner on his site. This site must be pretty popular! Not necessarilly. That was the fact in the old days of the internet, but there is a new market that allows everyday sites like yours to place those ads, and make money from them!

Walmart, Sharper Image, and many other vendors have found that allowing websites to advertise their services results in increased sales. You can, for no cost, place their advertisements on your webpage, and make money from them. The bottom line is, these vendors/manufacturers are willing to give you a cut of any business you send their way.

The first thing you want to do is sign up with an affiliate network. Affiliate networks are companies that act as a clearing house for advertisers. These companies make a deal with retailers like Walmart to market their wares.

The affiliate network makes a deal with Walmart. The affiliate network agrees to offer links to Walmart to normal website owners. The website owner grabs a link(banner) from the affiliate network that promotes Walmart and has a code number embedded in that link. That code number lets the affiliate network know that a click on it was referred by your website. Any sale from that click into Walmart results in a commission for you on any sale made to the clicker by Walmart.

You might want to read that paragraph again a couple of times to really get it.

Most affiliate networks have affilate managers who will actually speak with you and help you market these products. They also offer lots of web based help. I’ll list my favorite affiliate network later, but first a word of advise.

Please don’t spend your time searching Google on ideas for marketing these affiliate links. Find affiliate offers that pertain to your web content. Find your own unique marketing strategies. Most marketing ideas you’ll find on your searches will be saturated, meaning there’s just not much room for you. Come up with your own ideas!

Start out with the pinnacle of affiliate networks! Copeac was one of my first experiences with affiliate marketing. Danielle is my account manager there and she is the best. She has provided me with inside information to get some of my campaigns rockin’. You can sign up for free here.

Get started promoting with these guys. Once you’re getting some numbers, start looking at the others. It’s important to remember….don’t advertise multiple networks! Start with one and make it make you money, then branch out. Most attempts at making money online fail because of a lack of focus. Force yourself to make your first attempt work before moving on to other projects.

That is the key to successful affiliate marketing. Follow it and you’ll make a good bit of money. I do!

If you liked this post, please buy me a beer. I need one!