Since you started investigating the fascinating world of Internet Marketing, you’ve come up with questions, lots of questions.  Many of them have to do with what is called affiliate marketing.  Let’s take them one at a time and if you like the answers, jump into it with both feet and start earning some money online.

Q:  What exactly is affiliate marketing?

A:  It means you will market and sell someone else’s products, as an affiliate, and earn a percentage of each sale.  Typically commission is around 50 to 75% and product owners are happy to pay you this to sell their products.

Q:  What are the benefits of doing this?

A:  Many marketers got their start making income online with this method.  It’s fairly easy to get started, doesn’t cost a lot of money, and you don’t have to come up with your own product.  You can sell a product that converts (sells) well.

You don’t even need to have your own website to start, although you may be able to convert lookers to buyers more readily with your own site. 

Q:  How do I pick what product to sell?

A:  Start with ClickBank and do a search on a subject that you’re interested in. If you have knowledge in that area, all the better.  Pick a product based on favorable ClickBank stats, a great sales page, a good commission percentage, and available affiliate tools.  It goes without saying that it needs to be an excellent product.

Q:  How do I market other people’s products?

A:  There are many ways, but remember the bottom line is you need to drive traffic to the product offer whether it’s to your website or blog first, or as a redirect to the product creator’s sales page.  One free, but time-consuming method of getting traffic is with article marketing.  Another, more experience-necessary way is with Pay Per Click (PPC).  Other methods include sending promotional emails to your list, blogging about the product, or using web 2.0. 

Q:  How can I make money when a lot of other people are trying to sell the same products?

A:  You can’t worry so much about the other guy.  You need to follow sound, successful business practices that get you results.  But be unique - write better product reviews, offer bonuses if people buy from you, use compelling titles on your articles and blog posts, submit more articles to directories, use social bookmarking and social media, practice SEO and find great longtail keywords.

Q:  Why don’t product creators just sell their product themselves? Wouldn’t they make more money that way?

A:  Smart product owners know they can’t do it all themselves.  Sure, they will make less money per sale on their own, but the product will reach a much bigger audience and that will create many more sales than they could hope to create on their own.  So more sales mean more money overall for the product creator.

Q:  What’s the downside to affiliate marketing?

A:  You can’t set it up and leave it; you have to continue to work it.  Keep writing the articles and blog posts and doing the PPC or whatever traffic methods you use.

Another negative is the product is not yours and you have no control over it.  You don’t set the commission percentage, you don’t get to set the price or “fix” it to make it better, and your name is not on it.

Affiliate marketing is a good way to get started with Internet Marketing.  It allows you to practice and become successful at the marketing part of the equation.  If you chose to go on and become a product creator too, you’ll already know the ins and outs of how to market your product - with affiliates!

Related posts:

1. What’s Your Affiliate Marketing Plan of Attack?
2. The Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing
3. Affiliate Marketing Mistakes - Misconceptions & Pitfalls
4. Getting Started With Affiliate Marketing - Now Anyone Can Be an Online Marketer!
5. 5 Ways To Make Money From Affiliate Programs Without Your Own Website
6. What are Affiliate Programs and How You Can Make Money Using Them?
7. So You Want To Be A Top Affiliate On The Leaderboard?
8. What You Must Know and Do to Select a Top Paying Affiliate Program
9. Are Affiliate Programs Worth Promoting?
10. Mistakes New Affiliate Marketers Make

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