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Exactly What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is when you (a person with a website or social media account) advertise items from another person or company. When someone gets through your affiliate link, you get a commission.
As an affiliate, you’re a salesperson for the business. You help to make a sale, and quite rightly, the business compensates you.
The very best feature of affiliate marketing is that you can do it from a distance, and often the effort you put in today may still be making you money in months or years to come. A standard salesman only markets products from one or two companies. As an affiliate online marketer, you can advertise products from several businesses and gain commissions from all of them.
How does affiliate marketing work?
The vendor (the site actually selling products) creates an affiliate program and offers each associate (you) a unique link so they can track who was accountable for any sales.
What is affiliate marketing tracking?
When somebody clicks your web link, a tiny file, called a cookie, is saved on their device – be that a computer or mobile phone etc
It aids the vendor to associate the sale back to the affiliate referring the customer to them.
Typically each cookie (mentioned above) holds an expiry date or length of time, so you can earn money even if the customer delays completing an order from the vendor.
Here’s an instance of just how this works;
A visitor to your website sees your post regarding the very best golf clubs. They click on your affiliate web link, leading them to an item or range of items on Amazon.
But the they have to cook dinner, so they leave their computer, cook, have dinner, and then lastly return to Amazon where they locate the golf clubs again.
Because they’re already going shopping on Amazon, they decide to buy some other sporting items too.
This is the exciting part! Earlier, they clicked on your affiliate link and a cookie was dropped on their gadget. Because Amazon has a 24-hour cookie time limit, you the affiliate get compensated for both the smart jacket and sports items too – even though you didn’t advertise the last.
Examples of commission percentages from Amazon
Amazon have varying commissions based on what items are purchased when directly linked to.
| Amazon Product Group | Commission Percentage |
| Amazon Fashion | 10% |
| Home & Garden | 7% |
| Books, DVD’s etc | 6% |
| Sports & Fitness | 6% |
| Computers & Electronics | 3% |
See an Amazon affiliate link here
The above shows the Amazon affiliate commission percentages , and even these small amounts show good money can be made using the Amazon Affiliate Program known as Amazon Associates. When items are purchased when not linked to directly the percentages drop.
Note – Amazon is just one of the many thousands of successful affiliate programs today, in other programs affiliates can receive commissions up to sixty-five or even seventy percent of the sale!
How much money can I make as an affilliate marketing professional?
The easy answer is that there is no limit on what you might earn. It relies on your specific niche as well as the quality and quantity of work you put in.
Many of the most successful affiliate marketers make six or seven figures a month, EVERY month.
What is Affiliate Marketing’s impact for the Consumer?
Whether the customer knows it or not, they (as well as their purchases) are the drivers of affiliate marketing. Affiliates share these items with them on social media sites, blogs, and websites, often without the consumer being aware.
Sometimes the affiliate will be upfront with the customer by disclosing they are receiving compensation for any purchases they make. Other times the customer may be completely oblivious to the affiliate advertising infrastructure behind their purchase.
In any case, they (the consumer) will rarely pay more for the item purchased via affiliate marketing; the affiliate’s share of the earnings is included within the price. The customer will finish the purchase and receive the product as typical, unaware of the affiliate marketing system in which they have been a considerable part.
How can I start Affiliate Marketing?
One of the best courses to learn email marketing and affiliate marketing is here