1. What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is selling product for commission. You are not responsible for creating the product. You are not responsible for fulfillment. You are only responsible for connecting people to the product. Affiliate marketing is one way you can make money on-line.
2. What is my role as an affiliate marketer?
Your role as an affiliate marketer is to find an audience or market, find a product in which the audience is interested, and bring the two together. As part of the connection, you need to encourage the audience to take action. Action may consist of buying the product, clicking through to a sales page, or having them sign up for something.
3. What is a market?
An market is a group of people who have a common interest. It may be something like pets, fishing or sports. A hungry market is group of people who have a similar problem to solve. An example of this would be a group of people who want to know how to stop their dog from barking.
4. What is a niche market?
The last example identifies a small group of people with a specific need. This group consists of a sliver of all dog owners, and a smaller sliver of all pet owners. Identifying a market segment this small is known as identifying a niche. A niche market is a specific group of people with a specific need.
5. How do I choose a market?
There are two ways to choose a market. You can find an area where you have interest. Or, you can find and follow trends and market to the people who are creating the trend.
6. How do I find a product?
Once you have identified a market of interest, you can narrow your search for products to sell. Many companies have joined into groups know as affiliate networks. The affiliate networks allow you to search through the product offerings of the member companies. When you find something you would like to promote, you have to join the network. The network is responsible for collecting the commission from the orders which you have generated, and pay you.
Some companies do not belong to an affiliate network, but they still have affiliate programs. These are known as independent affiliate companies. To locate these companies, you can use an Internet search engine. Use the product name or market as your search term and add the phrase “affiliate” or “affiliate program”. When you sell a product for an independent affiliate, you will be paid directly by the company.
7. How do I promote my product?
The next step is promoting your product. But that is a lengthy discussion for another article.
