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In the past, I've written about affiliate marketing, and how I started out totally in the dark. Not until I found a few credible and successful marketers to follow, did I begin to see the full picture of what the affiliate marketing industry is all about, and that it is possible to create a business and good living at home. Most people who surf the internet are unfamiliar with the term affiliate marketing, and that an industry exists where people like myself can make money online. When I try to explain what it is that I do I usually receive vacant stares or eager head shakes from friends who really haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about. Generally, I don't try to explain my business. I just say that I build websites and make money when people visit them. That makes sense to the average 'non-marketing' person, but what about the folks who are genuinely wanting to know how it is that I can stay home and still make money but yet not 'sell' a product or have parties in my home like most work at home moms? Below is a simple explanation that works well in explaining affiliate marketing for those who may be interested in pursuing the industry for themselves.

Affiliate marketing is a wonderful way to monetize a website, and an excellent introduction into the world of e-commerce in general. You will learn to build your own website, and bring traffic or visitors to it, thereby creating an excellent income. So, what is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing programs are where a company offers to pay you a set amount for either a click through from your website, or a set amount for visitors signing up, or even a percentage of a purchase made by visitors as a result of being referred from your website. Even if visitors don't buy something at the first visit, almost all companies offer cookies, usually around 30 - 90 days. How does this help an affiliate marketer? Once the cookie is in the visitor's computer cache, whenever they return to that site and make a purchase, you'll receive the commission for the sale.

When you're first starting out, you'll need to spend time researching your niche, or topic, and finding keywords and affiliate marketing programs that complement your website. There's an affiliate program for virtually every niche or interest online, so finding one in your area will probably not be too hard. Finding a good program from a company that you can trust is at times harder. Take your time and do your research to find the best programs.

At the beginning, when affiliate marketing and the internet were new, people could put banners or other graphics up and that was often enough to bring in visitors and sales. Times have of course changed since then, and now the average internet surfer is aware of marketing tricks and for the most part ignores flashy banners that still tend to litter websites. Reputable affiliate marketers know that publishing banners all over their websites is the first sign of an amateur, and not at all the way to make a living from affiliate marketing. Banners and too many links tend to confuse and irritate visitors to the point of clicking out of the site and on to the next.

Once you have found some good affiliate programs to join, you'll need to start tracking the program to watch how profitable it is. Most good programs will supply marketers with a personalized link or code. One mistake newbies to affiliate marketing make is of putting the code on their site incorrectly, so make sure you copy and paste the code from your programs correctly so that you can get credit for sales and visits to your site.

There is money to be made in affiliate marketing, and for anyone interested in starting an affiliate marketing business, the simple explanation above should suffice. This is only a tiny piece of what new marketers will need to know at the beginning of their new venture. Look for a reputable affiliate marketer to learn from and use their advice and tactics in your own online business. With time and consistency, you will begin to see positive results.