Understanding How To Make Money Through Affiliate Marketing
Behind every successful man is a woman. Behind every successful woman is herself, her hard work and her determination.
The 21st century is an era where people are getting paid to watch TV. Making money from the comfort of your couch has never been easier. Freelancing, blogging, tutoring, data entry, vlogs, to highlight a few.
Affiliate marketing is a sitting resource waiting to be tapped. According to Business Insider, affiliate marketing accounts for 16% of orders made in the US through e-commerce. Rakuten Affiliate Network conducted a survey that estimated the affiliate marketing industry is trending to generate $6.8 billion by the year 2020.
A money-making venture often starts with an idea. Then comes validation and a full proof business plan. The next step is looking for capital. This can come from savings, loved ones or a peer-to-peer marketplace for individual loans.
The great thing about affiliate marketing, however, is that most platforms are free and do not require money to get started. You do not need a product or stock or delivery options.
Simply have a website and a trustworthy affiliate marketing platform, and you can start earning money effortlessly while you sleep.
Understanding Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the process of earning by promoting certain services or products. It often involves 4 parties; the merchant, the consumer, the network and the affiliate.
The merchant is the product or service provider. It could be a brand, a company, a retailer or an individual vendor.
The consumer is the customer who pays for the services or products provided by the merchant. In between is the network and affiliate marketer.
The network or the product seller, is a platform with a database of products and services for affiliate marketers to choose from. Networks are also in charge of payment details. They track earnings through affiliate marketing software programs and individual affiliate IDs.
The affiliate marketer, or the publisher, actively drives sales through their website, email list, contact list, or blog.
There is a certain hierarchy when it comes to affiliate marketers. Bottom of the chain are affiliate apprentices. Above them are low-level affiliates who earn between $0-$300 daily. This group of marketers rely on profits from all over the web. They focus on low margin campaigns like Facebook Ads.
Next come the intermediate affiliates who earn $300-$3000 daily. These affiliates mostly deal with dating sites. They use pop traffic and mobile marketing and focus on high volume traffic sources. High-level affiliates earn more than $3000 daily and employ huge traffic sources.
They deal with large margin campaigns and mass market media jobs. On top of the chain are the elite affiliates who make $10000 or more daily. These work for major sites like Fox News.
Make Money Affiliate Marketing With Payment Options
Payments are commission based and are either made through Paypal or direct bank transfer. Most platforms pay monthly or biweekly. Some platforms have a withdrawal limit of $25-$100 while others don’t.
Here is how commissions are generated.
Pay per sale (PPS) means an affiliate gets paid a certain percent only if the consumer buys the product or service advertised. It is the most popular option for networks.
Cost per action (CPA) or per lead means an affiliate gets a commission if the customer loads the site and takes a further step, for example signing up for an ebook or cooking class. Accounts for 19% of affiliate commissions.
Cost per click (CPC) or per impression means marketers get paid when a customer simply clicks on and loads the advert page.
Cost per mile (CPM) means marketers get paid for every 1000 clicks generated from their efforts. Affiliate marketers can also be paid for bringing on board other affiliate marketers.
This happens in a two-tier program. Whenever the new marketer makes money, a certain fee is allocated to the initial affiliate on top of his earnings.
Recommended Reading: Affiliate Marketing 101: A Breakdown For Beginners
Making It In Affiliate Marketing
While it might seem like an easy way of making cash, it does require consistency and certain skills. Taking time to learn the tricks of the trade is key. You should also research on payment options, and schedule how much work you need to do to get your desired profit.
Blogging and writing reviews of products is very instrumental and should be part of your money-making plans.
Know your target audience and sell the idea, not the product. The job is to market a product. Instead of telling people to buy a Vitamix ascent series blender, tell them why they should buy it.
Only market quality products if you want to build a good reputation and build a rapport with customers. More importantly, create an email marketing list and use social media and SEO tools for extra support.
Warren Buffett once said, “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” Affiliate marketing enables you to make money while you sleep, literally. It is perfect for moms as it is flexible and takes up very little time, allowing them to go about their day to day businesses while still cashing in.
Over To You
I hope this post cleared up any questions you might have had about making money through affiliate marketing.
If you have any questions, ask away in the comments below and I’ll be glad to answer them for you.
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