Home Business Idea: Affiliate Marketing

If you have been looking for way to develop your own internet based business, you may want to look into affiliate marketing as one source of income.

Companies and individuals who are selling products online set up affiliate programs as part of their marketing plan. They recruit affiliates and offer them a commission for bring them paying customers or they offer a payment for a specific action like subscribing to a newsletter or providing other contact info.

Anyone with an online presence can dip their hands into the affiliate marketing pot. There are affiliate programs for every market for all kinds of products and services.

Start with a Website

Create a website and fill it with content that interests your target market. You can incorporate contextual advertising that pays you an amount for every click or make product recommendations that result in a commission for you when your reader acts on your advice.

Blogging for Dollars.

If webmastering is too much to consider you can get started with a simple blog. You won’t have to know HTML and can still build up content and attract your desired readers and make profitable recommendations. There are even affiliate programs designed especially for blogs.

Mailing List

When you want to get serious about developing your affiliate income you will need a mailing list. You work hard to bring visitors into your website or blog; keep and grow that contact by inviting them to subscribe to your email newsletter or tips list. You’ll be able to make timely offers to your list and see an increase in your overall affiliate income.

When looking for affiliate programs to promote try searching for phrases that include your target market. For example ‘parenting affiliate program’ or ‘teachers affiliate program’. This should bring you some results to get started with. Then you can take a look at some of the big affiliate networks like Commission Junction, ShareaSale, ClickBank and LinkShare.

I personally prefer promoting virtual products. They tend to provide higher commission rates and higher overall payouts. Tangible products like books, toys and computers usually offer a relatively low commission rate since overhead costs are higher for the seller. You can make a good income on both kinds of products if you can generate enough sales.