Affiliates explained
The easiest way to understand the affiliate market is to think of it as a middle man simply sending business onwards to the master site. There are affiliate sites for almost evry product under the sun.
The basic principle is very simple. The affiliate (that's you) registers with the company they want to sell for, usually by visiting their website and finding the "affiliate" link (usually very small text and hidden at the bottom of the homepage). Registration is a quick form, the company will then send acceptance after a couple of days. You can be an affiliate for as many companies as you want, it's free to join and there's no restrictions. From contact lenses to e books there's companies selling through affiliates. For the host companies it's a win win situation, let someone else do the advertising and pay them a percentage for every sale.
After affiliate acceptance you will receive promotion banners or links with which to promote their site. Now it's up to you to decide how to promote. For every sale that comes from your directed traffic you will receive a commission (10% up to 60%). To promote you can use free ad sites, adwords (see the adwords page), your own website or printed press. You MUST however remember to balance the books, advertising costs must not be more than the money you make from affiliate sales- sounds like common sense but this is the #1 reason why most affiliates can't make it work!
Before chosing the product you are trying to sell you must do your homework- find out what is selling well. A little research on the internet will save you trying to sell something that noone wants- don't try and sell ice to the eskimos comes to mind!
Have you ever wondered how the compare sites make money? You know the ones i mean, compare insurance prices, car prices, elecrical goods- you can compare almost anything today. Well the guys that run the compare sites are affiliates for ALL the companies that they are comparing so they don't care which one you buy from as they get a percentage for every sale- clever eh. Most people using the compare sites would say that it's free, well the affiliates get paid which means the host companies has to recup that money from it's customers meaning that general price trends go up.
The beauty of affiliate selling is that you don't need any stock, don't need to make a drop dead good website or worry about correct pricing. You ONLY need to worry about sending traffic to the host website as cheaply and effectively as possible.
