An affiliate marketing referral is when a customer clicks on a link on your website which then directs them to the merchant's website and to the product that you have recommended. This referral results in a sales commission for you every time someone buys a product by clicking on your link.
In the eyes of the merchant, this is an excellent form of advertising as you do all of the promotional work which results in greater sales for them and paid commissions for you. As you can see this is a win-win for both parties, with many people making a full time living off of affiliate marketing.
There are many online merchants that offer sales commissions for affiliate marketing referrals. Companies such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Clickbank all offer affiliate marketing referral programs.
This gives the affiliate marketer the choice of promoting either physical or digital products depending on preference. Digital products are e-books, software downloads, videos or any product that provides the customer with immediate access to the product purchased. Physical products are those products that are in tangible form that are shipped to the customer by the merchant.
Either way, there is a lot of money to be made by matching customers with products. Finding out what shoppers are looking for is done by researching a particular product and finding out what type of people use, why they use it and the search terms they use to find it. By following this process, your online content is highly targeted to a specific group of people.
When trying to get an affiliate marketing referral, you need to make sure that the search term you are using to promote will result in sales. When looking for search terms for a particular market, you want to make sure that the term you're using is one that someone would use when they're ready to buy. Initially, when someone searches online they are often looking for information before they make a decision. You want to catch these customers after they have already made their decision and are ready to buy.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to supplement your existing income or to create a business for yourself with very little startup cost. If you are new to affiliate marketing and want to know more, you could speed things up a bit by becoming a member of an active online marketing community. With a supportive community atmosphere and training modules, you'll have your first affiliate marketing referral in no time.