Don’t Miss The Affiliate Marketing Bus

While not right for everyone, there's one method of marketing on the internet that is overlooked by many...affiliate marketing. One of the more prolific ( and most successful) affiliate marketing systems available today is the one from Amazon.com. In your travels around the web, I'm sure you've seen something like the bar to the right more than a few times. This has turned into a very successful marketing tool for Amazon, because the legions of people spending time, money and effort promoting and marketing their products only get paid when a sale is made. "Sure, Dave," I hear you saying, "I already know all of this. What does that have to do with me?" If you're not using affiliate marketing with your online business, you should. And if you don't think your online business is compatible with affiliate marketing, you haven't spent enough time "outside the box" while thinking it over. If you sell a product (as Amazon does), then affiliate marketing seems obvious, but if you sell a service you can still take advantage of the power of affiliate marketing, because what you're really selling is your expertise. So why not write an ebook in your area of expertise? This isn't the frightening prospect you think it is. True, you may want to hire a professional writer to put your knowledge into the proper form, but it will take less time than you think, and accomplish several things:

1. It will increase your standing as an "authority" in your field.
2. It will lead people to your website that might not otherwise find it.
3. It will lead to an additional revenue stream!

When it comes time to start up your affiliate program, there are services available that take care of the process for you, with Clickbank being one of the largest. After that, you can also let your present customers know through your regular email newsletter that an affiliate program is now available, giving them the opportunity to make money while promoting your product. This can lead to an increase in sales, because the best salesperson you can have is a satisfied customer. Here's my question for you...have you used affiliate marketing, and what were your results?