What is Affiliate Marketing Online
Most people who are looking to make money at home online have heard of affiliate marketing but may not know what it is. To understand what is affiliate marketing online, I will explain the easy concept below.
Never get dressed for work again
How many jobs do you know of where you can work an entire day and never have to get dressed? Well those of us that do this kind of online job don’t have to get dressed if we don’t want to. We do not have to leave the house either.
No going out on those cold or rainy days, sitting in rush hour traffic, just to go to a job that will make someone else rich. This is one of the many beauties of owning your own online business in affiliate marketing. The other nice perk, other than the money you can make, is that you do not have to sell.
Unlike traditional forms of marketing, you do not have to directly connect to your customers. No cold calling, no door-to-door sales, no networking with other people, and no fear of rejection by potential customers. Everything about this kind of marketing happens online 24 hours per day.
Make your business about something you enjoy
All you really need to do is choose what you want your internet business to be about. The selection process of what that will be is not really hard. What you do is either search for a topic you are passionate about or one you are interested in researching.
I am passionate about natural health and wellness and a big opponent of pharmaceutical medicine. I not only believe, but have clinical proof that there are natural cures for cancer. I am currently creating a website to make these clinical findings public. This website will fall into the natural health category.
I also am a big fan of video games and I used to work in the video game design industry as a manager of quality assurance and a producer. Being that many people would like to know more about how video games are made, including testing, I created a website about being paid to play video games.
The procrastination of making money
So now that you have an idea of how to plan what your website business will be about, how will you go about actually making money with your website? Though this is the big question and the answer is quite easy, the money making part cannot happen until after a few things are set in place.
Just like you cannot build a tall building without first laying a solid foundation to build off of, the same is true for the start of your online marketing business. What you will need is a little bit of education in how to correctly get potential customers to find your website online.
Perhaps you are having a bit of procrastination in moving forward with an internet business of your own, because you realize that you need a website and you know nothing about programming one. That is only natural and how I felt when I first started. But I am here to tell you to fear not.
Get your own fully functional website in minutes
In this day and age you can build your very own website without having to program it and have the framework built, hosted and on the web within minutes. No, I am not smoking anything funny. Technology today has made this entirely possible. I even have a video on my Site Rubix post showing it.
When the technology is removed from the online business creating equation, it makes the rest of the building and growing aspects of your startup an easier process to handle. I know when I started realizing that I needed to have a website to make all of this work, it scared me a little bit and I procrastinated.
Now when I look back at that, I shake my head and think of the 7-10 days I wasted to get the courage to press on towards being a success. I could’ve quit and would be back to where most people are, perhaps someone like you, on the outside looking in for a way to make a full-time income from home in my PJs.
Successful affiliate marketers never quit
Do not let fear of the unknown, especially in this easy to start and operate business, keep you from moving forward. Everyone who is currently successful as an online marketer got to where they are from pressing forward and never quitting. I think the below image sums it up perfectly.
Too often people want making money online to be easy but seem to forget the fact that earning income from home is still work, regardless where you are doing it from. If becoming wealthy in an online business were as quick and easy as many seem to think, the world would be full of many millionaires.
Every single successful online entrepreneur ran into roadblocks and setbacks but did they quit? Of course they didn’t because they are winners and action takers. Those who take the easy way and quit are losers. I know that sounds harsh but it is the truth for anything worthwhile in life.
The benefits of online affiliate marketing
At the beginning of this post I listed a few perks of being this kind of marketer on the internet. I will mention them again and give you some more benefits below. It is because of these gems that most people once they start, they go on to create more than one source of income.
- No need to get dressed to start work
- Can work from anywhere there is internet access
- No direct dealing with your customers
- Work when and where you want
- No cold (or warm) calling of potential customers
- Can have multiple sources of income
- No selling of any specific product
- Get paid a monthly commission from various online retailers
- Not having to experience rejection by a customer
- Being your own boss
- Access to over 3 Billion potential online customers
- Make as much money as you want
The possibilities are endless in this kind of internet business. There are literally tens of thousands of business models available to you, all very profitable in their own category. But if you are still a little bit unsure of what is affiliate marketing online, let me explain what is described in the below image.
Companies will pay you to send them customers
Have you ever tried a product or experienced something that if you had the chance you would tell anyone about? Well in this form of online marketing you affiliate with companies that supply and sell that product or experience. Everyone who purchase from these companies will earn you a commission.
For example, let us say you know of a fantastic diet regimen. Using the example in the above image, people who are looking to shed pounds start searching on Google and the other search engines for an effective way to lose weight. They find your blog and it seems like it would have an answer for them.
They click the link to your blog and read what you have to say. These website visitors believe in what you are promoting because you are a real person and not someone who works for the manufacturer. At the end of your blog you have an ad for that product where they can purchase it and when they do you get paid a commission.
Making money on autopilot
One of my most favorite things about earning money with affiliate marketing is the fact that once your website is set up and filled with the content, there is very little you need to do to make money. Other than the occasional comment you will need to answer, your website will do all the promoting for you.
All you have to do is sit back and collect the monthly commission checks. However I would suggest that you do not do that but rather create another website focusing on another area of interest. The majority of online marketers have more than one website making them monthly income.
Amazon has one of the largest affiliate programs in the world
There are literally thousands of affiliate programs available online for you to join up with and make some serious money. The largest online retail program you can affiliate with is Amazon online. The nice thing about their program is that you will be paid a commission on the entire order and not just on the product you are promoting.
Seeing how it is extremely easy to build a fully functional money ready website within a few minutes, why not start a new source of income and have Amazon help make you more cash? Smart marketers know to not depend solely on one website and having two or more that will earn you revenue while you travel and sleep is a good thing, right?
Where you can get started for FREE!
Online affiliate marketing is a projected to be a 6.8 Billion Dollar per year industry in 2020 performed mainly by stay at home individuals. But in order for you to get a piece of that big money pie, you need to know how to effectively participate in the industry. There is one online training program that will guide you step by step.
When starting out I did some research into online training programs that would give me absolutely everything I needed to succeed. There were a couple that offered a lot but didn’t offer everything and that is when I found Wealthy Affiliate. Not only do they offer everything but they let you start for free!
And not just a little free, you get to take 10 full lessons + 10 affiliate boot camp lessons + build a WordPress website. As soon as I read that I immediately joined. It was totally free! What did I have to lose? That was back in August 2013 and within 18 months I was earning full-time money from home. Love it!
So now it is your turn to get a piece of that big affiliate money pie and become a free member of Wealthy Affiliate. I am an active member and I will be more than happy to guide and coach you through the process. Just click the banner ad above right or the image below and I will see you on the other side.
Haha! I love the “being broke is HARD…” graphic. So true. But one thing to note that affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes work. And you mention that. Still, as far as work is concerned, this is a good niche to be into, as you can work literally anywhere out of your laptop. Also, unlike those get-rich-quick schemes, affiliate marketing actually pays. The profits are as your diagram shows, lower and first but rising as you keep working on it. And the startup costs are low. Well said.
Thank you Gregory for your comment. In this day and age with many people looking to the internet for quick fixes to their problems, they seem to think that being able to make money online is quick and easy too. Technically it is if making 10 cents for 2 minutes of work is your idea of making good money.
Starting a operating an internet business is not that different than starting a brick and mortar business. They both require an investment of time, money and dedication to start making money. Affiliate marketing is the same way except that you do not need to spend a lot of money to get started and run your business.
When people begin to realize that the get-rich-quick way of thinking will only benefit the person or company claiming that you can achieve that, only then will they see that the old long work hard way is still the correct way of achieving wealth. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick business but it does work for those who put in the time.
These days, if one has access to a computer, they’re crazy not to pursue affiliate marketing online. It’s something that is going to someday give them the tools to start their own business and center it around something they’re passionate about. I get that it takes work; I’m not going to sugarcoat it, but still, wouldn’t we rather work for ourselves than someone else breathing down our necks? Affiliate marketing, when given time, is the way out.
I agree Todd. When I see people on social media recommending this and that or talking about something they enjoy doing, I often wonder why don’t they blog about these things and then monetize their blogs with relevant products? It is such a great way to make a little side money, which can turn into something bigger.
With more and more people buying products on the internet, affiliate marketing is steadily going to continue to grow. Brand companies that have affiliate programs realize the power of partnering with ordinary people with an online presence, to drive future sales back to them, and compensate the affiliate with a commission. It’s a win-win.
Thank you, Robert, for posting this. I have searched endlessly (without going to the actual website) to find out exactly HOW you earn money with Wealthy Affiliate. Your site was the first that was not generic and actually answered the questions I had!
I am happy I was able to help you out Amanda. Affiliate marketing online is not really a hard concept to grasp and how Wealthy Affiliate helps people is by teaching them how to correctly engage in it. There are so many scams online that claim to be about affiliate marketing when in reality they are out to scam your money from you. Wealthy ffiliate on the other hand will teach you everything you need to know about ALL kinds of marketing on the internet and do so for UNDER $50 per month all-inclusive. But I am happy that the knowledge I gained at Wealthy Affiliate was able to help you out here.
After searching and searching for months on end, looking for a way to earn money from home, I came across Wealthy Affiliate and still procrastinated for another 2 months. Now I am all the way in and am looking forward to doing a lot more with it. I’m excited to be with Wealthy Affiliate.
Gail, I think many people procrastinate in joining Wealthy Affiliate because they have been scammed by some kind of online work from home program and they are rightly afraid of being buned again. But what I tell people all the time is that Wealthy Affiliate will give you full access for 7 days, 2 programmed websites, 10 training lessons, 10 affiliate marketing lessons, and give it to every new member for FREE.
No other work at home program would even dare to offer so much for free because the scams are looking to make money off of you where as Wealthy Affiliate is looking to GIVE you a chance to start an online business and succeed. Now you, like me, and tens of thousands of other members are seeing what a true gem WA is and will give every member the ability to make lots of money online from home in real affiliate marketing with real companies we have all heard of.
Hi Robert,
Great post!
I can see myself working in my spare time at ease from my home.
You make it very easy for people like me to give it a try, I certainly will.
Thank you for writing this article.
Best regards,
Kit
It was my pleasure writing this article Kit. Too many people do not know the true meaning of what is affiliate marketing online and many actually think it is a scam. Though many scams do claim to be affiliate marketing, they really are not and because of this they have given legitimate affiliate maketing programs a bad name. One thing to remember is real affiliate marketing is ALWAYS FREE to do and you promote real products sold online. There are no such things as upsells or costs for engaging in affiliate marketing.