Affiliate Marketing Basics

By: Anne P. Jackson

People new to affiliate marketing have a lot to learn before they become successful. Much of it is through trial and error, and much can be learned at various forums and communities on the internet.
Here are just a few of the basic selling methods:

Article Marketing: Simply put, article marketing is selling your product through the writing of articles. You MUST provide valid information in your article - don't sell your product, but provide useful and meaningful information to your readers. Give them what they are looking for,which is information, ideas and resources. If you do this, chances are very good that they will click on your links and possibly even buy the product you are selling.

PPC: PPC or Pay Per Click is paid advertising with the major search engines. You pay a set price every time someone clicks on your ad. Imagine that you are trying to sell a particular camera. You set up an account with Google or Yahoo (or both), write your ad, and decide on how much you want to pay for each click. This amount will depend on others selling the same product and/or using the same keywords. But that's basically it. Set up your ad and hopefully you get enough buyers to pay for all your clicks!

Review Pages: Quite a few internet marketers set up what are called Review Pages. These are usually one page "landing" sites. Two or three similar products are reviewed for the reader and a link is given for each product so that the reader can choose the one they are most interested in and go to that particular sales page. Interestingly, the smart internet marketer will have affiliate links built in for all three products. If the reader is truly in the market for a camera, it's a win-win situation for both the reader and the marketer.

Opt-Ins: An Opt-In is set up to gather email address for further marketing. It's well known that it sometimes as many as 7-12 "visits" before a buyer finally decides to buy. But how can you guarantee that a one time visitor to your landing page will come back? By email! A small form on your landing page asks the visitor if they would like to receive more information form you. When they sign up for your list you have the best way to contact them. Be sure to follow-up with pertinent emails; not to often (you DO NOT want to get labeled a spammer), but often enough that they remember you and your product.Be sure to include new and relevant information in your emails or after a while they will never even be opened!

Stores: You can set up a store of your own to sell your products too. In fact Amazon.com has a great program for their affiliates whereby they can literally have the entire Amazon inventory to sell. It's quite easy to set up and a great way to start. You earn, on average about a 4% commission with Amazon. Another possibility is to set up a store on your own domain and make arrangements with a drop shipper. You do not need to own any inventory with a drop shipper. You just choose the products that you want to sell, set up your web site, pricing and e-commerce store and when you get a sale forward that on to your drop shipper and pay them the agreed upon price. You get paid whatever price you have listed for your customer.eBay and Cafe Press are other popular online store options.

Niche Article Directory: http://www.thatsmyniche.com

The huge scope of educational sources and the need to be fully informed about the affiliate marketing field simply can't be entertained in one article. For those wishing to learn more, I suggest visiting NicheQ or the Wealthy Affiliate Site where you can learn even more to make an informed decision. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

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