Home-Based Business

Opportunity: Online Affiliate

Programs
By AllBusiness Editors | In: SOHO & Home Businesses

If you are looking for a business

opportunity that does not require
an initial investment and does not
require you to stock any
merchandise, online affiliate
programs can be a great venture.
As an affiliate, you essentially
become part of the company’s
sale force, but you work on
commission.

Affiliate programs are generally run by e-commerce sites looking for

ways to increase their sales. Affiliates place button or banner ads on
their sites, or text ads in email messages, that promote the e-
commerce site’s products. Affiliates are paid a percentage of each
sale they generate.

How does it work?

You have probably seen affiliate programs in action, even if you did
not realize it. Many Web sites have links to Amazon.com to purchase
books or CDs related to the content published on the site; if you click
on and purchase an item through one of these links, the Web site
owner earns a small percentage of the sale.

While many webmasters are content to make just a few dollars a

month as a “casual” affiliate, there is a lot more money to be made. If
you are willing to put in the work, participating in affiliate programs
can be a viable business.

Do you have what it takes?

As an affiliate, the first thing you will need is a Web site where you
can display the promotional information for the company you work
for. You may be able to generate leads for your sponsor company
using just email newsletters, but a Web site is essential if you hope to
make serious income.

If you don’t have a business Web site yet, get started by reading
Building a Web Site for Your Home-Based Business, then read the
AllBusiness.com guide to Business Web Site Hosting Services to
learn about easy-to-use site-building services offered by the likes of
Yahoo and Microsoft.

Second, you will need to find a way to drive traffic to your site, to
build a large subscriber list for your email newsletter, or both. This
will probably entail purchasing email lists of interested subscribers or
purchasing advertising to increase your site traffic. Again, a
combination of both email newsletters and Web site traffic is best.
However, before you begin marketing any affiliate products by email,
you will need to make sure that you are adhering to the company’s
rules on email marketing.

Ready to get started?

If you’re ready to get started as an affiliate, there are literally

thousands of companies that offer affiliate programs. But just
haphazardly signing up for affiliate programs isn’t enough; you will
need to target your efforts. For example, if you run an extreme-
sports Web site or e-newsletter, it wouldn’t make much sense to
participate in an antiques affiliate program. Your goal should be to
deliver targeted leads in order to get the best return on your efforts.

After you register as an affiliate, you will receive promotional

materials from the sponsor company. This may be in the form of plain
text ads that can be inserted on your Web site or used in email
marketing campaigns, or in the form of graphical ads displayed on
your site. You then use these materials to advertise the sponsor
company’s offerings.

Most companies pay their affiliates monthly, either through an

affiliate management program or directly by the company. This
income may be in the form of a PayPal payment or as a regular check
mailed to you each month. Some affiliate programs are now offering
direct-deposit options, which means you can get your money even
quicker.

There are also many affiliate management programs, such as

ClickBank and Commission Junction that will allow you to sign up
and get access to thousands of companies that offer affiliate
programs.

Many first-time affiliates prefer to work through an affiliate

management program like the two mentioned above. They offer the
benefits of regular payments and access to many different types of
products in one location. For more, read Which Companies Provide
Affiliate Program Management Services?