This is a question that might spring to mind to both advertisers and affiliates.

We’ll start with the beginning; in its purest form affiliate marketing is based only on performance, on the model of CPA (cost per action), paying a commission for referred business.

The concept of revenue sharing existed before affiliate marketing and the internet; the first affiliate marketing program was established 1994, only four years later after the beginning of the World Wide Web. Since then it has grown quickly, becoming an important part in the marketing mix of any eCommerce website, as well as big publishers and also, people trying to earn an extra buck. Although many strategies implemented by affiliates are integrated in the marketing mix, affiliate marketing provides extended reach, adds distribution channels, provides competitive presence and focuses on late purchase-process conversion.

For affiliates, the main benefit that affiliate marketing brings is independency. You get to start your own business, with super low costs, you don’t need staff and most of all you don’t need a product. It makes a great way to earn passive income while working your own hours.

It might sound like a scam at first sight, mostly due to advertising like Make money online!!! Be your own boss! Work from home!. But, despite all the doubts related to affiliate marketing, we know it can be done and it’s not that hard. There are lots of known super affiliates such as Mark Ling (he founded a learning platform for affiliate marketing), Missy Ward and Shawn Collins (founders of affiliatesummit.com) who managed to earn huge amounts of money from affiliate marketing.

Basically, if you’re passionate about technology, advertising and what these two would bring for the future, then you should definitely try affiliate marketing! We’re nice people!

Now, I’m not saying that all you have to do is just create an account and expect to earn 6 figure amounts, but if you work hard and stay up to date with technology and marketing strategies you might just get there.

It’s clear that online is the future, with more and more businesses going online, more and more people gaining access to the internet (did you know it’s a basic human right now?) it’s definitely the place to be.

Going back to affiliate marketing, I’ll take you through some of the most known verticals that affiliates use:

• Blogs
  • Affiliates who use this method build content-saturated websites such as blogs, news sites, niche sites. They monetize these sites by featuring advertiser links/ banners, related to their end user profile.
• Couponing
  • These affiliates bring under one roof discounts in the form of coupons from a large number of merchants. They are targeting users who are trying to find a product at a discounted price.
•  Product Feeds or generally known as Data Feeds
  • A product feed is a mechanism created for affiliates to receive updated information from advertisers sites. Most affiliates use this tool in comparison shopping but they are also a great tool for creating contextual links and product-focused sites. It might sound complicated at first but it’s a great way to earn passive income.
• Email Marketing 
  • Affiliates that use this method are sending commercial messages to customers and opt-in email lists.
• PPC (AdWords, Facebook Ads)
  • These affiliates are PPC marketing experts that bid on advertisers-specific keywords and key phrases at Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines. They send the traffic directly to your site or through an in-between page of their own.
• Cashback
  • Affiliates that use this kind of method facilitate the action desired by the end user by giving them an incentive. The most popular forms of incentive used by affiliates are cash-back/rebate offers.
• Social media
  • These affiliates use the power of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) by promoting products on forums, micro-blogs, social networks, social media and other channels

  A series of articles with tips & tricks for each vertical will follow, so I hope you found this article interesting and will follow our blog and Facebook page.

  ---

   

  Let’s Sum Up

  Online is the future!

  We’re nice people.

  You can find a niche and monetize it on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, email marketing, cashback and so on.

  Stay tuned for tips & tricks on smart affiliate marketing strategies.

  ---

  HERE you can find more about us.

  THIS is where you can see a live demo for an advertiser account.

  Enjoy! 🙂