Expanding Your Business With Affiliate Programs

Many people think that they can only get involved in e-commerce if they have a product or service of their own to sell -- or a lot of products and services to sell. But this simply isn't true. You can jump on the band wagons for many large companies who already have an amazing array of products available to the general public -- but are looking for ways to increase their exposure. And one of the easiest ways for them to do this is by offering an AFFILIATE program.

HOW AFFILIATE PROGRAMS WORK

Affiliate programs provide you with a text or graphic LINK that you place on your website, leading back to the original company's site. You are given a unique URL -- one that has some code in it identifying the link as belonging to your website. When a customer clicks through that link and is taken to the other company's website, their system keeps track of where that customer came from. And if that person buys something from the other website, it rewards you with a COMMISSION -- either a flat fee or a percentage of the sale.

WHY SEND TRAFFIC TO ANOTHER SITE

It might seem at first that affiliate links are antithetical to running a website -- that you are sending your traffic somewhere else. But what you are really doing is providing an additional RESOURCE for your clients -- a reason for them to come back again and again. The goal behind a website ? even one that is designed to promote your company -- is to give your visitors VALUE. So by directing them toward the products or services they might need -- that you don't provide yourself ? you are building credibility and customer loyalty. And, you are making a bit of profit along the way.

E-COMMERCE ON THE CHEAP

Setting up an e-commerce website can be very EXPENSIVE -- between the shopping cart program, the secure certificate for accepting credit cards, the merchant account fees, and site maintenance, you can go broke in a hurry if your site doesn't grow quickly. However, affiliate programs make e-commerce easy and affordable. You can offer your customers the opportunity to purchase the products that they need on the internet, without having to set the system up yourself. They get the ease of shopping online with a credit card -- and the VALUE of not having to search on the web for the products they desire (because you've been kind enough to point them in the right direction!) -- and you get a satisfied customer base and a nice check from the businesses you support.

Best of all, the other company takes care of all of the sales-related RESPONSIBILITIES of running an e-commerce site -- processing orders, customer service, after sales support, etc. You don't have to stock inventory, deal with sales tax, handle complaints, or manage the bookkeeping. All you do is put up the link. It's as close to a WIN-WIN situation as you will find in business today.

OFFERING A QUALITY LINK

However, joining affiliate programs is just like being involved in any other marketing or business opportunities -- you need to be DISCRIMINATING. You don't want to link to a website that has questionable business practices, sells a shoddy product, or does not represent your company well. You put your REPUTATION on the line when you link to a site -- just as you would if you gave your customer a referral to another local business -- and you want to make sure that you are doing your customers a real service with every link you provide. Only link to those companies you believe in and would shop from yourself.

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD AFFILIATE PROGRAM

Start off by selecting an affiliate program that provides content that COMPLEMENTS your website. If you provide interior decorating services, appropriate web links might include home décor, professional organizing, Feng Shui, or even housecleaning. However, you probably wouldn't want to link to a pizza joint's website, as this really has nothing to do with your services.

Also look for a website that provides QUALITY services, products, and information. Your visitors will appreciate being sent to a site that provides both valuable content and useful products, rather than one that tries to hard-sell them from the very start. And the key to being a successful affiliate is VARIETY -- try to offer a lot of different options for visitors, either by linking to a comprehensive site that provides many different features, or by linking to several "niche" sites.

THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN AFFILIATE

Affiliate programs really are the AFFORDABLE way to build your business. When you think about it, launching a new line of products or services the traditional way requires a lot of time, energy, and money. But with an affiliate program, it simply involves cutting and pasting a link onto your site -- no capital outlay and no real RISK. If it doesn't end up generating the income you thought it would, you haven't lost anything.

Another nice aspect of being an affiliate is the time frame within which you can start earning commissions. With most business expansion efforts, there will often be a substantial "wait" period between launch and that first check. But with affiliate programs, you can begin earning money the very first day you put the link up.

HOW TO SUCCEED AT AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Most affiliate programs will provide you with graphics and text to include on your site -- but that is only the first step to really marketing your affiliate links. The first rule to remember is that the MORE links you have to a company, the more potential sales and affiliate commissions you will generate. And don't just put a link on some arbitrary page with no explanation of why it is there. Try to WEAVE it into a part of your site that makes some sense -- and describe to your visitor why the link is valuable to them.

For example, one affiliate of or website (www.onlineorganizing.com) includes little blurbs in her content and articles describing related companies and how they can be of benefit to her visitors. She has included our link in over 50 different places on her site -- always with a bit of text talking about a specific product or service we offer that is relevant to the topic at hand -- and she gets a tremendous number of sales as a result.

Also try to create PRODUCT-SPECIFIC or EVENT-RELATED links. At our site, we send out monthly notifications of sales, special events, organizing holidays, etc. And our most successful affiliates are the ones who include a new link each month describing the offers and activities going on at our site -- giving people a real reason to visit. We also have seen affiliates create entire product pages on their sites that essentially look like their own shopping carts. They include pictures and descriptions of products we offer, and set up the link to take the customer directly to the page on our site where they can buy the recommended item. With the right web design, this kind of link can really enhance your site -- making it appear as though your have a wide variety of products to offer yourself.

As you can see, joining affiliate programs can be a terrific way to create an entirely new income stream for your company ? with very little investment or effort on your part. If you are interested in joining the OnlineOrganzing.com affiliate program, please visit http://www.onlineorganizing.com/Affiliate_Program.htm -- and if you would like to set up a creative organizing product page on your site and need some help, please contact me directly at ramona@onlineorganizing.com. Good luck!

Ramona Creel is a Professional Organizer and the founder of OnlineOrganizing.com -- a web-based one-stop shop offering everything that you need to get organized at home or at work. At OnlineOrganizing.com, you may get a referral to an organizer near you, shop for the latest organizing products, get tons of free tips, and even learn how to become a professional organizer or build your existing organizing business. And if you would like to read more articles about organizing your life or building your business, get a free subscription to the "Get Organized" and "Organized For A Living" newsletters. Please visit http://www.OnlineOrganizing.com or contact Ramona directly at ramona@onlineorganizing.com for more information.

Affiliate Marketing--Huh?

In my search for a presence on the internet, I searched many avenues, but was finding more scams and dead ends than I would care to speak about.

It was one last scam and six months of my presence on the internet that I realized that the only way I could possibly make a living on the internet -- and gain any amount of satisfaction --was to work for myself. Duh! But how? Affiliate Marketing seemed to be the answer.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the promotion of another person's or company's product, in which you get a percentage of the profit if a sale is made. That doesn't sound so hard, does it? Well -- it's doeable if you have the information you need to get you started in this field -- and it is work. So let me begin the enlightenment.

First and foremost, you need passion?

What is Passion?

Passion is a feeling that you have -- a feeling that is so strong that it is your driving force in doing it.

As you can see, passion is needed in any venture if you want to succeed. With passion, it will drive you forward through the hard times, the bad times, and the good times when developing your business.

This passion thing, I must admit, was my first stumbling block. I believed I didn't have a passion for anything -- and feared that maybe, just maybe, the corporate world and it 70 hour work weeks may have consumed my passion.

However, I was not willing to give up. Not yet. I searched out sites, read articles, examined web sites -- in search of my passion. Then one day, in the middle of my research, I heard myself asking probing questions of -- Why? Where? When? How? My passion was found.

Research, curiosity and learning -- my strengths and my driving assets. My creation -- "My Affiliate Place", was born. It would be a place where an affiliate marketer or a want-to-be affiliate marketer could find information, articles, and free tools.

So, I say to you, if I can find my hidden passion, you can too.

Onward and upward --with my passion defined, I needed a web site.

Web site! Do I need one?

Many people say you can do affiliate marketing without a web site -- however, with a web site you can promote more than one product and reach a greater number of people with the same interests. And last but not least, marketing is the act of connecting with people -- and on the internet -- a web site is your vehicle.

Web Site Is Built. Now What!

Now that your web site is built, you will need to begin the promotion process. There are many avenues in which you can venture. To name a few:

1. safelists

2. ezines

3. classified ads

4. writing articles

5. Off-line advertising -- brochures, flyers

6. Search engine optimization -- To get help in this area, go to my web site at: www.myaffiliateplace.biz/affiliate_info -- to begin your optimization process.

As you can see, advertising is only limited by your own imagination.

To conclude, affiliate marketing is a viable way to begin your journey on the internet and to your own business. But as you know, with anything that is worth having, you must work diligently and passionately, and continue to grow and learn -- if success is to be yours.

To your success.

Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing. She left the corporate world as an Reports Programmer, to begin her journey as an Internet marketer.

Visit her site at: http://www.myaffiliateplace.biz for free tools, articles, ebooks, and how to info.

Affiliate Marketing - Make Big Bucks Through Your Internet Home Business

Affiliate marketing has become a booming industry thanks to the increasing popularity of the internet. Marketing is defined as the getting and keeping of customers. You must have customers to sell your service or product.

In order to increase your profits, you must turn your customers into repeat customers. Affiliate programs are an excellent way to increase traffic to your web site and increase your profits.

The benefits of affiliate marketing include the potential of automating the advertising process and immediate payments from customers, including the revenue shared between affiliates. Affiliate marketing has made it possible for millions of people to successfully operate their own home business.

Affiliate marketing gives you an effective and powerful network. You can effectively drive paying customers to your web site with a network of affiliate sites that have a direct incentive in helping you sell your product or service.

Internet home business owners are making millions each year due to the increasing popularity of affiliate marketing programs. Partners in affiliate programs not only have the incentive to drive traffic to your web site, but also have good reason to sign on new affiliate partners.

Affiliate programs give you risk-free advertising and you pay only a percentage of your total sales after you receive the money.

Compared to traditional advertising methods, affiliate programs are highly effective and cost efficient. A smart marketing strategy and effective sales techniques earn affiliate marketers large sums of money with little effort.

Every time a customer sees your banner on a partner's web site, you advertise your service or product. Each time you make a sale to a customer who clicked on your banner, your affiliate partner also makes money.

When your affiliate partners get paid through the use of your banner, they have a great incentive to keep your banner on their web site. You can operate a highly successful internet home business with the help of a large network of affiliate partners.

The benefits of affiliate marketing not only include inexpensive advertising, but increased profits for all involved.

No matter what product or service you sell, developing a support system is critical to the success of your internet home business. Starting an affiliate program is one of the perfect vehicles to attract customers to your web site. There is virtually no risk involved in affiliate marketing. No upfront costs and little effort make running an affiliate program very attractive.

The benefits of operating an internet home business include enormous profit potential, easy access to highly successful affiliate programs, and an effective means of advertising your service or product. Through the use of the internet, home business owners can now advertise cheaply and efficiently.

Affiliate programs are one the best ways to draw traffic to your web site. Offering a quality product and excellent customer service will keep customers returning to your web site again and again.

As an affiliate you should know that there are numerous successful affiliate programs out there. So when you are looking to join an affiliate program; choosing the ones you wish to be affiliated with is a simple process.

Make sure to read testimonials from current partners and do a little research on any program you are considering. Wise choices and effective advertising can make your internet home business more successful than you ever imagined.

Ian Canaway is an affiliate marketer, home business entrepreneur and the owner of http://www.asuccesfullhomebusiness4u.com and also http://ahomebusinessblog4u.blogspot.com. He will show you the simple and proven system he uses to enable 'anyone' to make money online. Check us out now!

Revealed The Myth of Making Money Through Affiliate Marketing

Many people enter into the affiliate marketing arena with the hopes of making some quick money whilst doing the bare minimum amount work and preparation.

They expect to be making the type of money super affiliates make within five minutes of joining an affiliate program without doing anything other than send out a few ezine ads.

How do I know?

Because I was there, I did exactly the same thing, it was what the affiliate program owner's instructions said to do; sign-up, send some of our pre-made ads out to a few ezines and newsletters and wait for the money to come in. Oh and send them straight to this affiliate link so you'll be credited with the sale.

Ok, yes, I did make a few sales, but only just enough to break even. It wasn't the sort of income they promised, so I thought to myself, 'well there must be other affiliate programs out there that'll make me more money', so I moved on to another one, and guess what, the cycle repeated.

Does this sound familiar to you? It's sometimes referred to as the 30 day average affiliate life span.

When you sign-up for an affiliate program don't they just make it sound so easy?

Well here's the truth it's not easy if you don't know what you're doing! But if you do, you can make the big super affiliate type income that only a small minority of affiliates are making. But it does require, time effort and persistence!

Now ask yourself these three questions,

-Do you have your own website?

-Do you have a newsletter?

-Do you send prospects directly from your advertising to your affiliate webpage?

If you don't have either of the first two you stand very little chance of making big commissions through affiliate programs. Sorry but it's true.

The top selling affiliates all have a few things in common; they all have their own websites and newsletters and they also never send prospects directly from their advertising straight to their affiliate webpage.

It's really important if you are an affiliate marketer to have your own website with the ability to collect e-mail addresses. I'm sure you will have heard that the money is in the list. If you have no list your unlikely to make much money.

If you can offer visitors to your website a free newsletter, ebook or training course, if they sign-up to your list, you should be able to build that list of prospects without too much difficulty. But you have to sell the opt-in as much as you would a product as people are much more wary of handing over their e-mail addresses these days. So make sure you offer something of good value to earn the trust of your prospect and build your credibility.

In the ebook or newsletter you can include or recommend products with which you are affiliated with. So instead of sending the prospect directly to your affiliate webpage, you send them to your website, where you collect the e-mail addresses; this allows you to follow-up and recommend products and related products which you believe they would be interested in.

Therefore you can make multiple sales from one prospect, whereas before you may have made one if you were lucky or simply lost the prospect forever.

Provide good content in your newsletters and ebooks, give honest recommendations on products for your prospects and they are much more likely to trust you and buy from you.

(Feel free to use this article online and in your email newsletters as long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The byline and biography must remain in the article.)

Ian Canaway is an affiliate marketer, home business entrepreneur and the owner of http://www.asuccesfullhomebusiness4u.com and also http://ahomebusinessblog4u.blogspot.com. He will show you the simple and proven system he uses to enable 'anyone' to make money online. Check us out now!

Affiliate Programs : Golden Opportunity or Waste of Time?

Now that the idea of doing business over the internet has been firmly established, many potential internet businessmen are searching for the best way to do business. Usually the choice comes down to whether you want to set up your own business and online store, or sign up for an affiliate program.

First of all, let's define what we mean by an affiliate program. An affiliate program is basically an internet business set up by someone else. They could be selling physical goods, education, information or any other products that can be sold online. By signing up as their affiliate, you are helping them promote their business or store. In return, they will pay you a commission for each sale you bring them. The amount of commission varies between different affiliate programs. Examples of affiliate programs include Amazon.com and Wordtracker.

1) EARNINGS

So how does an affiliate program differ from starting your own online store? Let's start by looking at the potential earnings. (After all, the main reason everyone wants to start an internet business is for the money). When you sign up for an affiliate program, you will be paid a commission for each sale you refer to the online store. This commission can range from 5% to 15% for physical products, and possibly up to 50% or more for virtual products such as subscriptions and ebooks.

On the other hand, if you start your own store, your profit can be much higher. For virtual products, your profit can be 100% of your selling price. After all, once the newsletter or ebook is created, you do not need to spend any more effort. When someone buys your ebook, they just download it from your website. If you are selling a physical product, your profit depends on whether you are manufacturing the product yourself, or buying from a wholesaler or dropshipping company. Your profit in this case could easily be more than 40% or 50%.

So, if you only consider the potential earnings, starting your own business is more lucrative than joining an affiliate program.

2) LOGISTICS

However, money isn't everything (Or so they say). When you are starting your own internet business, there are a number of logistic issues you need to look at. Here are a few things you would need to take care of:

a) Create your website

b) Design your product (if you are selling new products)

c) Create your product (if you are selling new physical products, or any virtual products)

d) Set up an online store

e) Set up a merchant account or payment gateway

f) Set up a warehouse or storage space (if you are selling physical products)

g) Have procedures and staff ready to fulfill orders

h) Set up an affiliate program to get others to market the products for you

i) Monitor for fraud

j) Monitor stock levels

As they say, "No pain, no gain". Having your own store pays very well, but requires a substantial time investment from you.

On the other hand, if you sign up for an affiliate program, all you need to do is set up a website to promote the program. All the ads, banners, marketing text etc will be provided to you by the affiliate program. Your only responsibilities would be to get people to visit your website, and hopefully click on the affiliate links to buy the products that you are promoting.

3) CONVERSION

Whether you have your own business or are promoting an affiliate program, the bottom line is the conversion rate, or the percentage of visitors that actually buy something from you. A number of factors influence this conversion rate. Factors as quality of the product, quality of the website, customer support are all important. However, I personally believe that the most important factor is trust.

When a potential customer arrives at your website, he will need to trust your site enough for him to be willing to buy from you. After all, on the internet you are just a faceless salesman. He doesn't know who is actually running the site and whether he will actually get the goods that he orders.

Having said that, one of the key methods of garnering trust is by recommendation and referral. If a store is being referred to or recommended by another website, the potential customer will feel that the store is trustworthy. After all, if the store is not trustworthy, why would the other website recommend it?

This is where affiliate programs shine. When you refer a potential customer to the store for which you are an affiliate, the customer will feel more relieved, since the store is being recommended by your site, a 3rd party. The customer will be more likely to buy from the store, benefiting both the store, and you as well.

There are both pros and cons to joining an affiliate program. You might earn less with an affiliate program compared to starting your own store, but I believe the benefits of not having to be responsible for the logistics makes affiliate programs are very viable "passive" source of income.

Steven is the webmaster of http://www.onlinebiz-help.com - Your Guide To Internet Business. His website contains various resources on affiliate programs and internet marketing advice to help you succeed in your internet business.

Your Home Based Affiliate Marketing Business

Did you know that you can make money on the internet without ever selling anything? There are very few home based business opportunities that are easier or cost less than affiliate marketing. There are businesses and people earning thousands of dollars each year doing affiliate marketing.

The business plan is simple. Your clients are already established online businesses selling a wide array of products and services. You get paid for bringing customers to your client which is the website you are an affiliate for. You then get paid either a set fee or a percentage of what the customer buys. Some affiliate programs also pay for every time someone clicks through.

The opportunities for affiliate marketing are numerous and growing every single day. Here is how it works. The affiliate places a banner or link advertisement on their website and every time a customer clicks through from the affiliate website to the merchant site and makes a purchase the affiliate earns a commission.

It is not that difficult to find affiliate programs because it has become so profitable and popular as an internet marketing tool that almost everyone seems to be doing it. This does not mean you should settle for just any affiliate program. It is important to choose a program that is at least somewhat relevant to your website or business. This way you have the best possible chance of your customers clicking through to the affiliate website. For example, if you sell cameras or photography equipment you might join an affiliate program with a company that sells photography books.

Be sure to read the affiliate contract carefully. While there are excellent legitimate affiliate programs out there it seems there is always somebody trying to rip you off while making a quick buck. You can avoid these scams if you review affiliate agreements carefully and go with your gut about whether a website or program is legitimate.

The great thing about an affiliate marketing home business is that you are not limited to doing only one affiliate program. You can sign on with as many programs as you want as long as you have room on your website to place their banner or link.

Here are some tips for finding a good affiliate program.

1. Will the product appeal to your customers?

2. How much does the merchant pay and for what do they pay? Click throughs? Purchases?

3. Do they pay only for the first purchase or do they give you a percentage of all future purchases by that customer?

4. How frequently are commissions paid? This information should be in the affiliate agreement.

5. Does the merchant provide access to view your account on a regular basis so you can see how the program is doing?

With some good research you can find the right affiliate programs for your home based business website and in no time you will be making money simply for referring customers from your website.

To your success!

Copyright © Paul Jesse

All rights reserved

Paul jesse is a a retired government employee and the author of several articles on home based business. Visit his site to subscribe to the free Marketing Tips newsletter. http://www.sheamarketing.com

Self-Replication, The All Important Third Step in Affiliate Marketing

'Self-replication' sounds like science fiction but it's not. It has nothing to do with cloning, in a biological sense. What I'm writing about here is a third and very important step of affiliate or multi-level marketing.

If you sell products retail or by commission, your sales are one time but, of course, you hope that you will have repeat customers. This involves good product quality and good customer support.

Anything that involves recruiting or sign-ups requires this third step of duplicating what you have done. What have you done? Step one, you have started. You have selected the affiliate programs you want to make money with. Step two, you have advertised and gotten some sign-ups under you.

Great, but really you are still in the starting stage. The real work is just beginning. If you fail to contact your new sign-ups, chances are you will lose a good percentage of them in a few short weeks or months.

The internet is full of 'tire kickers' and 'lookers' who will move right on to the next thing, if something doesn't automatically happen overnight with whatever they've just signed-up for.

You must seize your window of opportunity to contact them and try to make converts out of them. First, welcome them as part of your team. Congratulate them on the smart decision they have made in signing-up.

You must try to 'light a fire' under them and get them excited about the benefits they will get and the profits they will make by working your program. Relate to them whatever successes you have had. If you are new to the program yourself and have not made a lot of sales yet, don't be intimidated! Don't make a bunch of stuff up, though.

Do a little research with your own program. Somewhere they will tell you what the sales potentials are and you can use this information in your pitch.

Most importantly, offer to help them out and give them whatever sales tips or information has worked for you. Your success depends on their success. Lastly, stress to them the importance of sharing this information with their own sign-ups.

Remember; your success depends on this relationship that you build with others!

Brian Beshore has been involved with Internet Marketing for several years. He publishes his own Home Business Guide. http://www.surfinsafari.net

Free Affiliate Marketing Page Pays $755 in Commissions From its First 100 Visitors

Affiliate marketing is an easy way to get started making money online. You just sign up to be an affiliate, and refer new customers to the sales site(s) with a special, coded affiliate link. When your referrals click the link and make a purchase, you get paid a sales commission on the sale. Many of these commissions are now paid instantly, at the time of the purchase, as in the system below.

But few new affiliate marketing sites are as successful as the new system reviewed here. It is a free-to-copy, self-duplicating affiliate referral system that pays growing, residual sales commissions, and actually MULTIPLIES an affiliate's income, from a low, ONE-TIME purchase of less than $30.

From fewer than its first 100 visitors, it produced $755 in INSTANT affiliate marketing sales commissions from a total startup cost of $30. So it produced 25 times as much as it cost, from fewer than 100 visitors. This is a phenomenal return for ANY web site.

As you will come to realize, this new, free affiliate page is very different from anything you have ever seen. This new affiliate marketing system is very powerful and unique, and anyone can use it for free. It has several very innovative features:

First, it combines three special, hand-picked affiliate marketing programs, all of a unique type, which pay the highest commissions possible. (One pays 100%, $100 sales commissions.)

Second, you sign up sequentially, making it pay for itself from that first $30 purchase.

Third, It produces continuing, RESIDUAL income, from just that ONE-TIME $30 purchase.

Fourth, the residual income from the system GROWS exponentially, due to those special affiliate programs. The residual income MULTIPLIES automatically, in the same way that a viral affiliate marketing plan multiplies a merchant's customer base.

Fifth, you can 'set it and forget it'. After you make a sufficient number of new referral customers, it takes on a life of its own, and the income keeps growing, whether you do anything more, or not. You do NOT have to keep referring more and more new customers, to keep generating more and more income. (But your affiliate page can continue to refer more and more new customers as more people find it - each referral customer can start another multiplying pile of those instant sales commissions for you.)

No other affiliate marketing referral system has ever before combined all of these features into such a simple, copy-and-paste free system. It is very simple to use, although the affiliate plans may appear difficult to understand at first.

The secret of its success lies hidden in the special, unique affiliate payment plans. All three programs are lifetime membership affiliate marketing sites, offering 'tons' of marketing expertise and tools for affiliate marketing and traffic generation, for a low, one-time cost.

They use payment processors like Paypal and Stormpay, so a referring affiliate's sales commissions are actually deposited INSTANTLY, directly into the referring affiliate's account, even before the site owner gets his payment for the lifetime membership.

The continual growth of an affiliate's income is assured when his referral customers begin generating affiliate income for themselves. The pay plans are very unique: Every new affiliate gives up his first two sales commissions; they are automatically passed up to a sponsor above. This causes your commissions to multiply, automatically.

They are not MLM plans, they are one-tier affiliate marketing plans with a special, multi-tiered pay provision. This pass-up provision causes the pay to YOU as the referring affiliate to DOUBLE with each successive tier that spreads below you, starting from EACH new customer you find for them, after you pass up those first two sales.

You purchase from the next plan in sequence as soon as you receive $20 instant sales commissions from the first $30 plan. Each successive affiliate plan pays a higher sales commission than the plan before it. Adding up the commissions passed up, you wind up being paid $300 for each successful new affiliate you refer to this affiliate system. Yet you started it with only a $30 outlay, for membership in the first affiliate marketing site.

And those $300 sets of affiliate commissions then start DOUBLING from each tier, automatically, from each new successful referral affiliate you sponsor. From the next tier, you get $600, then $1200, then $2400, etc. That's how it was possible for less than 100 visitors to this system page to pay over $750 in affiliate sales commissions. And that's just the BEGINNING of the income from it.

Most of my referrals have not even finished signing up for all three of the plans in sequence yet, so I have much more affiliate income to look forward to in the near future, with no more effort on my part.

Like me, my referrals start their own doubling sales commissions with their third referral sale, after passing up the first two. And the passing up of the doubling commissions goes on for as long as the viral marketing of the plan goes on below you. It's the most lucrative affiliate plan ever designed.

Making the simple, affiliate system referral page free to copy-and-paste, makes it easy for anyone to duplicate it and keep it growing virally below you. Copying and pasting it for free makes the system easily self-replicating, ensuring the continued growth of your residual income, from that one-time $30 purchase. The system has instructions for setting up your own copy of the page online for free, too.

As your referrals purchase memberships in the rest of the plans and start using them, it will just continue multiplying your own affiliate income from the system.

I put my system in a free blog page, just to keep costs down as I got it started. And free blogs are as easy to use as email - just copy and paste, click a button, and it's immediately online with its own URL. Then just paste in your own affiliate links as you get them, and make some referrals to your page. There's a list of 14 free blog hosts in the system instructions. If you don't want to use a web site, use a free blog like I did.

The multiplication of your commissions is explained more fully on my free system blog page, at http://www.MoneyGrower.info

Although the affiliate pay plans are not easy to understand the first time through, the system 'works like a charm', as the saying goes. As you can see, this free system is entirely different from any other affiliate marketing plan or system in the world. And it PAYS like nothing else in the world, too.

Copyright 2004 by David L. Thorne

Copy this article free, keeping the links intact. David Thorne observes the many masters of internet marketing who make innovations, and make it simple for people to succeed. View his innovative system at http://www.MoneyGrower.info - TIP: Copy the system, then refer your readers to your OWN copy of the page, for your own multiplying, residual income.

Promoting Affiliate Programs through Personal Recommendations

Publishing articles online is a highly effective way to increase affiliate revenue. In the current marketing environment, it is increasingly important to differentiate yourself. Consumers have become savvier and are increasingly suspicious of pure shopping websites that send them to another site to complete product purchase. Furthermore, you may capture a consumerâ??s purchase once, but they are not likely to return to your site. Instead, they will simply return to the retailer you referred them to complete a purchase.

One, highly effective, way to attract new visitors and motivate them to return to your site later is to publish articles related to the product you are trying to promote. For example, if you are trying to promote a new portable MP3 player, you might publish a product review online and include your affiliate links in the article.

These product reviews add value to your website and can dramatically increase consumer confidence in your site. In addition, if you carefully craft your article, you can include targeted keywords which may help you achieve a higher rank in search engines. If your review is useful, users may even link to it from their personal blog, which may also increase your search engine page rank.

You may be thinking, "I am not a writer, so this strategy will not work for me."

However, if you choose affiliate programs carefully and focus your energy on products that you have a genuine interest in it becomes much easier. There are a couple of easy things you can do to increase your affiliate revenue and make your affiliate marketing strategy easier. Write articles that give more than a recommendation. You should talk directly to the consumer about how this product has impacted your life. Speak directly about your experiences with a product, tell a story about using it, ask questions that make the consumer think about how their life would be improved by owning the product.

By writing a product review, consumers will be less likely to be suspicious when you refer them to another site. In the consumers mind, you are simply reviewing the product, but are not involved in selling it directly. If your audience begins to trust your recommendations, you will find that you can sell products to them over and over again.

Now that you have written a compelling, personal article about your product, you have to make sure that other people find your masterpiece. How do you promote this article?

One method of promoting your articles is to publish your own newsletter. Publish an opt-in newsletter that features a teaser paragraph about your article and a link back to your website for the complete article. Be sure to avoid sending your articles out as spam. Be patient as your subscriber list grows and only send people information they have asked for.

If you do not have a mailing list, you still have options. You can publish your article in article databases so that other newsletter publishers will run your article in their newsletter or on their website. Publish your new product review in an article database with a link to your website in the articles credits. Do a search on Google for â??free contentâ?? and then learn how to submit your articles.

Finally, you can post your articles or product reviews on related bulletin boards and forums online. It is free and people will be able to interact with you. Of course, if you try posting an affiliate link, people will notice and you will immediately lose credibility. Simply include a link to your website in your â??signatureâ??. If your articles are interesting, people will visit your website where you can use your affiliate links.

In summary, provide your audience interesting, relevant content and they will trust your recommendations. If they trust you, they will buy from you. Promote your affiliate programs with personal recommendations in newsletters on relevant websites and online forums. The visitors will come, but more importantly they will buy.

Stephen Kelly founded Article Agents, a free tool you can use to promote your affiliate accounts by publishing product reviews and articles online. Simply submit your article, with your affiliate links intact, and it will be published on our network of sites for free. Visit http://www.articleagents.com for more infomation

Affiliate Marketing - Join in on the Success of the 2nd Wave

What do I mean by '2nd Wave'? Let me explain:

Can you remember the good old days when affiliate programs first came into existence in the mid to late 1990's? Everybody jumped in with two feet and put up dozens of affiliate links on their site with no real thought to what they were doing. We then wondered why we didn't make any money - not any real money that is.

The same thing has happened with the launch of other new industries in that the initial craze and hype got out of hand but when things quietened down people thought things through, put together business models and now succeed big time within that industry. The good news is that we, as affiliate marketers, can learn from these industries through their first and second phases.

A Definition of what a First and Second Wave is

The first wave is the pioneering stage, the launch of a new industry. There is lots of excitement and hype with most people now knowing what they are doing. There are many failures and very little profits during this period.

The second wave is the exciting phase. It has already come to light within phase 1 that there is potential within the industry. People put together long-term business plans and even ordinary people like you and I can succeed in a big way. Hence, wave 2 is when the real wealth is created.

Industry Examples of their First and Second Waves

Let's take a look at some examples of industries in their first and second waves and the success they have achieved for thousands of people who were in the right place at the right time:

Video Cassette Recorders (VCR): Remember the first VCRs? They were huge, very expensive and not many people could afford one. In 1972 Phillips were the first to launch a VCR for home use but it didn't appeal to the consumer market. Only a few hundred were sold.

Second wave: VHS introduced their version of the VCR in 1977 which was more appealing to the public. Prices came down and soon the average household had one. Today, DVD players are now replacing them and huge profits are being sought in this industry.

Personal Computers: In 1976 Apple launched the first PC, quickly followed by IBM with Microsoft's DOS operating system in 1981. These PCs were slow, expensive and always seemed to crash.

Second wave: Dell and Compaq introduced new design PCs, and Bill Gates and his Microsoft Empire launched 'Windows 1.0' in 1985. As a result of this boom thousands of millionaires were created in a single decade.

The 1st and 2nd Wave of Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing: The first wave of the Internet and the affiliate marketing business lasted between approximately 1996-2003. All the initial hype about the World Wide Web and making money from selling other people's stuff grew within this period. Affiliates give no real thought to their sites and put up dozens of affiliate links. Not many affiliate marketers made any real money to talk of and not many of these sites are in existence today.

Second wave: From 2003 onwards the initial hype has died down and with the introduction of new wave technology and software, means that it is now easier for the average webmaster to build a successful and useful website business to succeed long-term with big profits.

So What Does This Mean For Today's Affiliate Marketer's?

You are now caught up at the beginning of the 2nd wave of affiliate marketing. You are in the right place at the right time - use this to your advantage now... today... Here are some reasons why:-

· The online shopping industry is growing at a phenomenal rate

· More and more people are buying online

· The competition with affiliate sites is still relatively low as compared to what it will be like in the future

In order to get ahead of this ever-increasing competitive industry, you need to think of affiliate marketing as a business. Even go as far as writing a business plan out for your affiliate business. You need to understand that in order to get ahead of your competition and even get to the top of the search engines, you need to build a business platform for long-term success. You must think of yourself as a publisher of informational content first, then an affiliate marketer second. This is the 'key' to the success of the second wave of affiliate marketing. Let me repeat it again 'you must think of yourself as a publisher of informational content first, then an affiliate marketer second'.

Summary

Realize that the Internet is still in its infancy and that you are here in the right place at the right time. This could only happen once in your life, so jump on it straight away. The first frantic phase of affiliate marketing is over and we have entered the new and exciting second phase, which is where the 'real' wealth is created. Remember, Bill Gates and his Microsoft Empire came into existence within the second phase of the personal computer industry - the rest is history!

Claire Bowes is a successful freelance writer and owner of many successful affiliate marketing websites. Read how Claire built her money-making affiliate sites at http://www.website-business-solutions.com

Grow Your Business with Affiliate Marketing

To generate additional business income, consider expanding your business through affiliate marketing. Here are three ways of boosting your business income with affiliate programs.

1. Earn Commissions

By joining and promoting suitable affiliate programs, you can expand the number of related products and services that you can offer your customers. The company offering the affiliate program pays you commissions on products and services they sell as a result of your referrals.

Good affiliate programs will offer excellent products, website, credit card processing, commissions, sales aids and support. Your main function will be to direct your existing customers and others to the company`s website.

2. Earn Income from the Efforts of Others

In many affiliate programs, you can earn commissions on the referrals of other people that you sign up as affiliate marketers. So, now you are not only earning income from your own sales but also from the effort of others.

3. Start Your Own Affiliate Program

By starting and promoting your own affiliate program, you can obtain a worldwide sales force for your own products and services. The beauty of this arrangement is that you only pay for performance. Your sales agents are only paid a commission when they make a sale of your products and services.

By applying these suggestions, you, too, can grow your business through affiliate marketing.

For more information about affiliate marketing, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/affiliate.html

RESOURCE BOX:

J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.

For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/

Internet Affiliate Marketing 101 - Its All About Relationships

So you've found the perfect affiliate program, you've signed up and they gave you a website....now what? "They" say that "all you have to do" is drive traffic to your site...but you don't have a clue where to begin...

Never fear, Affiliate 101 is here...here's a list of a few simple, free or inexpensive tasks you can accomplish today. Details follow, first just the list:

1. Send emails to friends and family;
2. Make new friends on the internet;
3. Print out and distribute posters, business cards, and/or postcards;
4. Write articles and post free ads.

First of all, don't panic. You don't have to do ALL of these, just whatever you feel comfortable with. But I do heartily suggest that you push the envelope a little on your comfort level...

Email Friends and Family: If you're uncomfortable with contacting family members (they CAN be your sharpest critics) first scan the options, maybe one of the less obtrusive ones would work.

Be sure to write ONLY to friends. Anything else will be considered spam; any worthy company will drop you like a hot potato when they receive legitimate spam complaints.

Consider the friends and family you might write to and decide the best approach for each:

1. The Second Opinion Approach: save this for the hard nuts to crack, flatter them with "I've signed up for this opportunity and would really like to hear your opinion..."

2. The Beating Around the Bush Approach: "I'm making some extra money doing this biz, do you know anyone who might need a few extra dollars?"

3. The Direct Approach: for those close friends that you KNOW could use some financial miracles in their lives... you can lead with the business opportunity or with the products. I think it's Avon that has a nice promo these days, "products you can buy and sell". Simple and to the point...

4. The Chummy Letter Approach: just write a letter to a friend as you usually would and casually mention what you are doing, that it's on "wait and see", or already is making you a little money, or whatever.

5. The No-Mention Approach: just add a signature to all your emails that includes your website's URL and your email address, maybe the name of your company. Subtle, let's them explore if they want.

Getting to Know You...

How do you currently meet people on the internet? Game chat rooms, forums, opt-in email lists, Yahoo groups, messenger services...these are only a few ways to meet people. Many sites such as Yahoo, AOL, or ICQ let you create a profile including favorite websites, etc. While direct advertising is often frowned upon or prohibited, usually signatures at the bottom of posts is allowed. Many friendships formed in forums and chat rooms lead to email and website exchanges.

Stuffing Envelopes...

Printed fliers can be distributed everywhere you go, posted on your car...be creative. Include a business card or flier in every piece of mail you send including bills, on tables in restaurants, in phone booths, stick them in business books in the library. Make it fun! If you have mailing addresses rather than email addresses of anyone who might be interested, send them a flier or postcard.

Become a Famous Author

Anyone can write an article, everyone is good at something or has an experience that would help someone else out. Article writing helpsbuild trust and over time will brand your name and drive traffic to your website. And it's free. Submit your articles to individual webmasters and editors as well as article directories.

Banner Swapping and Text Linking

Some say that banners are not very effective in getting traffic to your website, but hey, it's free and it doesn't hurt to try. It's best to spend some time finding a high traffic site or two and not fill your site with banners. Text links are still your best bet.

There you have it, lots of good ideas for beginning promotion of your website.

I'll leave you with one more thought, something to come back to and mull over as time goes on...Spend some time on this one...

Find an online entrepreneur that you truly admire. There are lots out there, but there will be someone that really rings true for YOU. Maybe it's this person's style, or background, but something makes him or her stand out in your mind. Think of something that you can do FOR this person, and pursue that thought. Joint ventures...more on this later.

About the author: Glenn Beach is a poet, writer and home business entrepreneur in Nova Scotia, Canada. Free newsletter, more articles, and business start-up info at: http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com

Affiliate Marketing What Is It And Why Use It?

Affiliate Marketing is having Affiliates do your Marketing for you. What I mean by Affiliate is someone who tells people about your product/service and you pay them for a desired response, such as a purchase.

Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to get the word out about your product/service.

The best way to pay Affiliates is pay per sale. This means that you only have to pay your Affiliates when they actually make a sale. This reduces your advertising costs dramatically. your Affiliates take on all the risks so you don't have to worry about wasting your money on advertising which may not produce any results.

Using Affiliate is a very cheap way to advertise, however it is very effective. The software required to start up your own Affiliate program can cost only about $50 per month.

Then after that just wait for people to start promoting your product/service for you.

Please remember that 5% of your Affiliates will do 95% of the selling. What I mean by this is that most of your Affiliates will just sit there and do nothing. This can be countered if you teach them what to do, exactly how to do it and providing everything for them so they have to do as little work as possible.

To find out about teaching your Affiliates please see the "How To Super Charge Your Affiliates" article

You don't have to use this form of advertising just to sell your product or service. You can also use it to grow your opt-in mailing list. This is discussed in another article.

How Much Should You Pay Your Affiliates

How much you pay your Affiliates really depends on how much your product/service costs, its profit margin, how much you're willing to give up and what action you want to take place.

Lets say that your product is priced at $100. Lets also assume that it cost you $10 to make it. This leaves you with $90 profit.

How much of this do you want to give away to the person that made this sale possible?

Personally, I believe that you should give a rather high percentage of the profits back to the affiliate (Depending on how many sales they regularly generate), because without them, you wouldn't have made that particular sale at all, so reward them for it.

A fairly decent reward is about 50% of the revenue generated. Your product is priced at $100 so a $50 commission is quite generous. It really depends on your other costs (such as a mortgage) you have, which would help decide on a fair commission to both you and the Affiliate.

Another factor which plays a part is how much additional advertising you do, such as pay per click. For example, if you rely solely on your Affiliates to Market for you, then you may want to reduce the commission you pay to them to help you survive. However, you may want to pay them more, to encourage them to send more sales you way. It really is a judgment call.

On the other hand, if you advertise in other ways effectively, then you can afford to pay higher commissions, because you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.

In the end it's all down to how greedy or generous you are. The best advice I can give you is to pay the affiliate what you think he/she deserves. Hopefully that way everyone is happy and earning their fair share.

That is the key to a successful affiliate program.

By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.