Making Money With Affiliate Programs

The quickest way to start making money from a content based website is to place Affiliate Links to products that pay you a commission for every sales lead generated.

An affiliate (or associate) is someone who promotes someone else’s products and receives a commission for each paying customer they send to the site. When your paying customer arrives at their site they pay your commission into your PayPal or bank account or send you a cheque.

They will either provide you with banners or text links to place at your site that have your unique id so they know where it’s from. While banners are quick and easy to organise, endorsements work a whole lot better as it is usually obvious that you believe what you are saying.

I only promote products I know, trust and believe in. Not just because I couldn’t live with myself if I promoted rubbish for a quick buck, but if you have a natural enthusiasm for a product you really don’t have to do any sales at all. All you will need to do is simply tell all about how you feel about the product through reviews, articles or your own content based website.

If you are completely new to affiliate marketing, I suggest you check out the Amazon Associates Program. They are the pioneers of the affiliate program, and make a huge amount of their profits through affiliate partners.

There are many other affiliate networks, including my top 3:

1. Commission Junction (www.cj.com)

Commission Junction was one of the very first affiliate networks. It has the best tracking known to affiliates.

Most commissions are in 3% to 15% range but some run as high as 50%. One of the most popular affiliate networks, with a wide range of products to promote.

2. LinkShare (www.linkshare.com)

LinkShare also has very good stats and reporting with their Synergy Analytics system. There are also New Zealand and Australian networks, so you can work with affiliate providers a little closer to home.

3. Shareasale (www.shareasale.com)

Shareasale has 1,700+ merchants to choose from, and also very good tracking of your clicks.

The reporting is very good and the control panel is very easy to use. Shareasale pays the month following your sales.