Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways of earning money online, as you only need a website, a blog, or even a social media profile to do it. Affiliate marketing was first introduced to the internet as early as the 90s, although the concept of receiving commission for advertising other businesses existed and was used long before. Still, it was never as successful as when the first affiliate programs were launched online by PC Flowers & Gifts and Amazon and the first networks opened circa 1998.
Ever since, everyone who attracted a substantial amount of traffic online wanted to get in on the action that allowed many businesses and individuals to earn anything from a few dollars a week to thousands on a monthly basis. The financial prospects of affiliate marketing is what made the entire concept incredibly popular, often even more so that the best Australian real money roulette apps (find them here) that so many people have made a living off. But what exactly does it bring to the table? Well, let’s see.
Affiliate Marketing Explained
As its name suggests, affiliate marketing is a term for advertising through a network of affiliates. The affiliates involved are normally people or businesses who have a website or social media page that attracts visitors by the content posted on that domain.
If you attract enough visitors, you can join an affiliate network and choose which programs you want to advertise in your content. The advertising vessel can be either a link embedded in a sentence of your choice or an ad placed on your website, and when a visitor clicks on the said link or add, s/he is actually clicking on a code you received through your network that leads them to a service or product. If the visitor chooses to buy a product or subscribe to the service advertised, you will get a commission – simple as that.
Affiliate Profiles are Easy to understand and Set Up
One of the reasons why affiliate programs are so successful and their users can retire early is that they are fairly easy to set up and understand. In today’s world, where starting a website is easy and all it takes is registering a domain name, buying a pre-installed hosting plan and tweaking the theme for a couple of hours, you can lay all the foundations of your affiliate business within a day. The only things remaining will be to join a program, get your codes, and start getting your content out there. In fact, the hardest part will be the second, but if you are already a successful publisher you’ll be up and running in no time.
Affiliates Can Earn in Multiple Ways
Another reason why affiliates can become easily successful is that affiliate programs offer a number of earning channels that can make your affiliate job that much easier. First of all, you can earn by cost-per-sale, which is when you receive a percentage or fixed commission on any sale made to your visitor. Secondly, you can also earn by cost-per-lead, which is when you earn a commission for any re-directed visitor who fills out specific information and becomes a lead that can be resold or used. And finally, you can earn on a per-click basis, which is when the program gives you a commission for any visitors you re-direct to the target site.
Online Affiliates can turn their Passion into Profit
One of the best things about being an affiliate is that you don’t always have to dedicate plenty of precious time into learning the ropes of a niche you haven’t got a clue about. Online affiliate networks incorporate plenty of niches into their programs, which means that if you are already publishing content about something you are passionate about, you can turn the traffic you attract with your expertise or opinions into something more profitable than shares and likes.
It’s a Lucrative World
Being an online affiliate can be very rewarding in the long run, as long as you put the time and effort into getting your business off the ground. Not only can you find affiliate programs that let you sign up for free, but you can also earn anywhere up to 20-30% per sale without spending a dime (on your program). Depending on the number of domains you have and their success, you can have an affluent lifestyle by using your affiliate profile the smart way. Of course, each success story is different, but you can’t help but feel left out of a good deal when you hear that some affiliates even earn up to £3 million a year.
The Bottom Line
When you combine the money-earning opportunities, ease of setup, earning channels, and the niche-targeting programs with the openness of the market, the opportunity for a passive earning (once you get your program off the ground) and the luxury of earning plenty from the comfort of your home, you get a fairly clear picture as why successful affiliate marketers can boast that they are heading for an early retirement.