If you're still unclear how you can make money using affiliate marketing here's a quick explanation.
When you (the affiliate) refer someone to a product (or service) and that person makes a purchase, you receive a commission on the sale.
But there are some things you need to before you start collecting commission checks.
Simply put, when you sign up to become an affiliate with a company or individual, you’ll receive a special link (your affiliate link) that is embedded with a tracking code to let the affiliate program owner identify you among other affiliates and their own marketing methods. You'll use your special affiliate link every time you talk about the product you're recommending.
When people click on that link due to your recommendation that person’s visit is tracked to you via that special code. There are various software programs that make this possible and the technology behind it doesn't matter at this point. Just remember that visitors to the website are tracked back to you from this special code within your affiliate link.
So, you recommend a product or service using your special affiliate link, your reader clicks on the link and makes a purchase. You are then credited for the sale and will receive some sort of payment.
Common types of affiliate payments:
- Sales Percentage – This method is the most common form of payment to affiliates. Example: For every sale you refer as an affiliate, you’ll earn 50% of the total sales price. You refer $50 worth of sales and you'll get paid $25. Percentages vary and are set by the company or individual who runs the affiliate program. They can vary from 5% all the way to 100%.
- Pre-set dollar amount – This type of commission is not extremely common, but it is out there, specific dollar amounts could include things such as: For every $5 worth of product sales you refer to us, we’ll pay you $1 or a flat $20/sale.
- Credits – Some sites pay their affiliates in credits that can be used for future purchases of their products. An example of this would be receiving 1 credit for every dollar’s worth of product sales you refer. This is not very common.
Tomorrow we'll talk about affiliate marketing as a legitimate way to make money online.
Click the link for all of the posts in this series about Affiliate Marketing