What is an Affiliate?

Dear Internet Friend,

If you're stuck in a job or profession that limits your income, frustrates or bores you, or you just want to earn an honest living at home -- in the safety and security of your familiar surroundings -- and you have access to a computer, along with some basic software and Internet skills, then you may find the information presented here quite interesting.

Amazing things are happening on the Internet as HUGE companies, such as DIRECTV, MasterCard, (even the Denver Broncos and the A&E cable network through www.cj.com) have begun setting up distribution networks that employee the talents of webmasters and publishers (big and small, home-based or not) through exciting and lucrative Affiliate Programs.

Not familiar with Affiliate Programs?

Simply put, merchants offer affiliate's commissions for sales activity generated by the affiliates' websites.

It's a major new trend for companies wishing to reduce spending on traditional advertising and improve the bottom line with a pay-per-performance model.

The only qualifications are that the affiliate have their own domain name, a good website and bona-fide traffic.

There are no fees or purchase requirements.

The merchant provides a login area where you, the affiliate, go to select advertising materials to place on your site.

These advertising materials consist of buttons, banners and text links, which are embedded with your pay codes, so the merchant knows where to send the check each month.

Many offer direct deposit into your bank account.

And, although this income is paid in U.S. funds, it will be sent to wherever you instruct the Merchant to send it -- and if you move, you can just go to the login area and change your personal information.

The most amazing thing about these emerging Affiliate Programs is -- that once the ground work gets done, -- (i.e. - the site gets built, pages are optimized, relevant merchants are added, link-partners are sought, and internal links are properly organized) -- then with only minimal maintenance, and ridiculously low overhead, you've got an enduring asset that puts money in your pocket EVERY day of the week, -- for as long as the emerging trend of online shopping continues!

Do a Search on any search engine for "work at home", "home based businesses" etc...and you'll find thousands of places offering free web sites, free marketing information, free tools. Everyone is an expert and everyone wants you to buy their stuff. Anything wrong with that? Please don't say no unequivocally, this is free enterprise at work!! However it does need to be qualified!

Information is worth whatever price someone is willing to pay for it. Have you ever visited a site that had a ? in it? ( or a cgi=someone's name or cfm?u=9819) That means it is an affiliate site. There is a home site.....can you say owner! It is the base site....(i.e. whatitis.com). Whatitis.com has found that they can make more money off the marketing efforts of more than just themselves, so they have created 'mirror' sites, one for every affiliate in their program. This is how they track who made what sales. SO! If the home site has lots of these little satellite sites feeding into it, guess who is making the most money?

Are affiliates making fortunes?

Some are.

Are they making more that the owners?

Relax!!! and don't worry about that just yet. We're working thru this step by step remember??

I don't know what page you arrived here from, but unless you have been to Getting Started... That would be the place I'd advise you to go to from here....