When you start your own home business you may come across terms
you”ve never heard before. You may also have found the
opportunities available are overwhelming. Where do you begin?
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS – EASY START
Affiliate programs may be the easiest way to start your own home
business. Why?
Affiliate programs are a way to start a business from home
online. With any online business you must have a product or
service to sell. First you must create this product or service
and then you must be able to fill orders.
Selling your own product or service also means creating a
website, learning how to write ad copy, setting up a marketing
plan, being able to accept payments online and obviously doing
the work. If you”re selling a physical product then you will
need to make or buy the item, package it and pay for shipping
costs.
If you provide a service than you will likely have to start by
doing free jobs to build your credibility and then when you are
charging for your service you are still limited by how much work
you can actually handle.
THE MAGIC OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Affiliate programs are a great way to get start a home business.
In fact there are even some “Super Affiliates” who are making
fabulous incomes from affiliate programs. So, what ARE affiliate
programs?
Affiliate programs allow you to sell another company”s service
or product and make a commission on every sale or lead. You do
not even need to build a website or handle the transaction. Your
job is to drive traffic (customers) to your affiliate link.
An affiliate link is a special URL code that will identify
customers coming to the company”s site from your advertising. It
will likely be the website address with a code attached to the
end.
Some affiliate programs also have tiers. That means if someone
who is interested in SELLING the product comes through your link
and signs up you will also get a small percentage of THEIR
earnings.
HOW DO I CHOOSE A PROGRAM?
You should research the popularity of some of your interests.
Try to determine if people are buying that product or service
online. There are many sources for finding that information
including free ones such as the Overture keyword tool.
When you have found an area that is popular then type the
subject along with “affiliate program” into your search engine
and see which programs have services or products for that area.
You can also use an affiliate program directory.
When you have found a program that looks interesting you should
read the terms of the program. Make sure that payouts are not
based on a high commission earning or you may never see your
money. Also try to choose programs with high commission rates.
Often you will find ebooks and downloadable software has the
highest rates as there is no physical product to make or ship.
If you are satisfied with the terms then you need to sign up –
usually a simple process.
START MARKETING
The reason affiliate programs are so great for beginners is that
you only need to focus on marketing – not making – your product.
This makes starting your own home based business easier to get
off of the ground. You do not have to be a jack of all trades.
Just become a master or one……promote, promote, promote!
Many affiliate programs have information on how to market and
give you tools such as banners, product feeds and more. You can
also look for other information on marketing including writing
articles, creating pay-per-click campaigns, commenting in online
forums etc. As you gain experience marketing you will make
adjustments to your selling and start creating a wonderful
income!
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