by Saeed Darabi

Created on: November 27, 2010   Last Updated: November 29, 2010

Affiliate marketing is one of the first things people who want to start making money online, hear about. There are ads all over the internet about affiliate marketing, telling us how people are making mind blowing amounts of money with affiliate marketing. So, what exactly is affiliate marketing? How can you make money as an affiliate marketer?
 

How was affiliate marketing born?

To begin, lets see how affiliate marketing came about. Affiliate marketing was born about 4 years after the birth of the World Wide Web in November 1994, and believe it or not, the “Cyber erotica” is credited for being the first or one of the first affiliate marketing innovators, which used a CPC (cost per click) program. Of course in the early days of its birth, affiliate marketing wasn’t taken seriously. But, as time went on and investor and business owner discovered the huge potentials in affiliate marketing, it became another cyber space based phenomenal. How is $2.1 billion in affiliate marketing fees paid to blog and website owners in 2008 for a phenomenal. The thing that makes affiliate marketing very desirable, is the low investment it requires, and the huge profit potential it provides.

 

How does affiliate marketing works?
For those who haven’t gotten their head around affiliate marketing programs yet, it's very simple, in fact you may even know how it works, but with a different name like, reseller programs, revenue-sharing programs, referral programs and even bounty programs. Affiliate marketing stands on three legs, seller/brand, affiliate/middle man and the customer/buyer. I have a product/service that I need to sell. You use your website, blog or whatever else way to promote my product/service, and send buyers my way. Every time someone who you send to me buys a product or service from me, you get a pre agreed upon percentage of the revenue earned from sales to that customer.

Affiliate marketing continues to be a great way for both merchants and affiliate to make money. If you are looking for a way to make money online, I strongly suggest you consider affiliate marketing. It's one of the best ways to make money online, you do not need to invest any money, you don't even need a website of your own to make money as an affiliate marketer. All you need to do is pick a product and promote it anyway you can.

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