What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing has many descriptions, yet all have the same meaning. Affiliate marketing is a huge business piece on the Internet. It is a cooperative effort between merchants and an affiliate’s website. For many years now, affiliate marketing has proved to be a cost-efficient, measurable method of delivering long-tern results. It has become famous for Internet sites who are trying to make some extra or additional income for their site. Every day, people get interested to affiliate marketing and want to make money out of it. But in many cases, these new affiliates do not fully understand the affiliate world and make costly mistakes. In other words, affiliate marketing has often been misunderstood.

One of the common misconceptions that are being associated about affiliate marketing is “selling”, though selling is an important activity of affiliate marketing and the central function of a business operation. Another is that affiliate marketing is commonly linked with “advertising”. While the importance of advertising in marketing a certain product is not to be underestimated, the fact of the matter is, advertising like selling, is merely a part of the many functions of marketing.

In affiliate marketing, an affiliate is compensated for every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through his efforts. The said compensation may be made based on a certain value for each visit. The most attractive aspect of affiliate marketing from the merchant’s viewpoint is that no payment is due to an affiliate until results are appreciated.


Affiliate marketing is typically being run by affiliate networks and this affiliate networks are composed of two functional bodies, the group affiliates and the group merchants. Each has their special function and role when it comes to affiliate marketing. The affiliate network acts as a third party between the merchant and the associated affiliates. The network provides the technology to deliver the merchant’s campaigns and offers. The affiliate network also collects commission fees from the merchant and then pays the affiliates which are part of the program.

The merchant is any web site owner that wants or desires to take advantage of performance based marketing. The benefits to the merchant are many. First, the merchant maintains and operates the affiliate program. If it would be extracted, the merchant needs to do their part by researching interested affiliate websites to ensure that they are a good fit for that particular website. Finding a fit for their merchandise would be the key to more generated income. The merchant has access to markets and customers without him spending valuable time searching out. Banner ads on affiliate sites are not distracting to the site user. It might produce interest for that product and drive the consumer to the merchants’ website. It is also the merchant who decides how much he is willing to pay for each sale that results from a visitor sent from an affiliate.

The affiliate or the affiliate marketer also sees a lot of benefits. The affiliate is a web site owner that promotes one or more merchants and their affiliate programs. Affiliate marketing can generate a full-time income for the affiliate. But this is not an easy task to accomplish. The affiliate needs to have a better understanding with the merchant what the commission will be, expected payment method and time involved in the contract. The affiliate has also the responsibility to stand for the merchandise their user based would be most interested in. For example, if the site has a user base of mainly stay-at-home mothers, then on-line job openings such as surveys would be a good match for them. This group would also appreciate direct links to children’s products and informational sites. Merchandisers often provide targeted, best-seller items and personal support to their affiliate. They often offer sales promotions that will benefit the merchandiser as well as the affiliate.

Affiliate marketing is a great situation for both the marketer and the affiliate. If they would work together, they can be an advantage to both. Plus the fact that it seems to make sense, it is easy and inexpensive way to start, and you can be up and running within a few days. But there is one thing to consider, it is how to get traffic and make your offer different than all others. read more.....

Finding Hot Selling Products to Sell

In order to locate products that sell online, we need to understand what people already want to buy. Finding a good choice of idea or product is always accompanied by interfacing the demand for the product in the current market and the level of competition or market share that the product will be having in the long run.

“What should I sell? What products are hot selling? These are the questions most people are trying to find an answer in order for them to make the definite decision. And if we really want to know the answer to this question, our only choice is to do some research. There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they’re trying to buy. This three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or “gatekeeper” dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. Expectations, on the other hand, are values or intangibles associated with a product or service. Expectations are actually part of “wants” but they become extremely important when products or services are not differentiated.

For example, in reading a logic book, university students look for the following: Relevant logic concepts use of simple language, easy to understand and affordable prices. These similar ideas can be applied to Internet Sales as well. After all, the Internet is just another place to sell products. The basic concept of demand is the same there as it is anywhere else, and has been all the time.

Now, the second thing that must be considered in finding “hot” products to sell are the level of competition or the market shares do your product will have. Market share or level of competition means the ratio of your brand sales versus the total market sales. While companies would naturally define its target competitors, it is actually the consumers who ultimately decide the competitive frame, or the list related products or services that consumers consider when exercising their purchasing power. We must therefore choose the market segment where we can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role. Because the overriding objective of getting into this business is not just to satisfy the needs and wants of our customers but to do so profitably better than his competition. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest.

Third factor to be considered in finding hot selling products is finding out the general interest level about the product. General interest in a product helps us to gauge where our demand and competition numbers fall into the big picture. Simply saying, if there isn’t much demand for the product, and there isn’t much competition, it would seem that it might not be good a good put up for sale. But the research doesn’t stop here; there is one last thing to be considered to exactly find the hot selling products that you’ve been looking for. We must also learn how others are advertising those products. If there are a good number of them doing so, it may mean that it’s a good product to get into. Coming to the last phase of the process is analyzing and evaluating all the information that has been collected. We have to look at all of the data we have collected on demand, competition, and advertising, and make decision as how they all balance out.

And here are several factors or aspects that must be measured: (a) not enough demand means not enough people are going to buy (b) too much competition means not enough of a profit to go around (c) too much advertising drives up the price of pay per click ads, and competition as well (d) not enough general interest, combined with low demand, means there may not be a good market even if there is competition trying to make the sales. read more.....

3 Essential Elements of Operating a Successful Business

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to live your dream?
A good place to start would be to recognize that there are three
elements, and only three elements, that separate success from
failure. If you exercise one of the elements, you might just be
successful. Two and you will probably succeed. Three, and you can
practically guarantee your success.

What are they? They are deceptively simple, and deep down inside
you know what they are. But to purposefully write them down and
use them as guides in selecting your dream business will make all
the difference in the world. As you go through this exercise, you
will dramatically build on your chances of success. Nowhere will
it count more than right here, deciding how many of the three
essential elements will qualify you to realize your dream.

1. Find a need!

Is there a market niche for your particular product or service?
Does the world, or even your community, need what you have to
offer? Only by sampling and testing will you be able to determine
this with any degree of certainty, but we will be covering this
as we go along in greater detail. The most important aspect would
be to determine a Unique Selling Proposition for your product or
service. Too many business owners are just trying to be me-too
companies. You cannot be just like the next guy and expect to
prosper in this volatile economy.

One of the most important things I learned from my Dad was, there
are really only two things to consider, and next to them
everything else is minor. Those two things are: (1) What do you
really want? And just as, and perhaps even more important, (2)
Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it?

What do you really, really want from this endeavor? What is your
ultimate goal? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve
this goal? Instead of looking for a business based on how much
money you can earn up-front, select a business based on your love
for that endeavor. The most successful and fulfilled people are
individuals who are following a dream or vision of their own.
They are not just out trying to make a buck.

What opportunities can you act upon? Woolworth saw a need for
small inexpensive items and opened the chain of stores that
grossed billions. Wrigley started giving gum away as a bonus, and
seized the chance to expand worldwide.

You must create a uniqueness to your product or service. What can
you offer that no one else can offer? Is it a better warranty,
improved customer service, more technical support, faster
shipping, or lower price? Think of something that will set you
apart from your competitors and describe in detail exactly what
it is.

2. Be good at what you do.

Are you as good as, or better than, the next guy when it comes to
producing/marketing your product or service? This element
requires an honest self-assessment. "What are my abilities?" To
determine your abilities you must take an honest inventory of
yourself. Examine every possibility and be sure to include
strengths and weaknesses. Will your strong points be able to let
you overcome your deficits?

3. Have true passion for the business.

If there is one element you absolutely cannot do without, it is
passion. Passion is an irresistible attitudinal energy that
generates power. Do you have a passion for working with your
particular product or service? Notice, I didn't say "do you like
what you want to do?" There are too many competitors out there
who are ready, willing and able to "eat your lunch" when it comes
to competing with you. They may have found the same niche that
you have found. They may like what they do as much as you do. But
what separates the winners from the losers is passion.

What are you really passionate about? If your answer is, "I'm
passionate about making a lot of money." That is not the right
answer. Making a lot of money is consequence of engaging in a
successful activity where you remain motivated long enough to be
successful. The key to creating passion is to find and do what it
is that you truly love. Passion is the laser-like focusing of our
creative life force. We do not create passion. (Don't confuse
passion with being a workaholic. Workaholism devours while
passion amplifies.)

So there they are, the three key elements to having a successful

small business.

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