Business Website Advice

I am saying Affiliates can make you money, not will make you money. I set up my blog to give you tips yes, but also to model different Internet Marketing techniques for you. 

Here I explain a Internet Marketing buzz word, ‘monetize’ your website, meaning make some money on your website by using Affiliate Marketing techniques. 

You can become an affiliate and refer your customers to other businesses and earn a small commission fee on sales and/or set up an affiliate programe of your own and encourage other people to sell your products/services. Both are not new and getting easier and easier.  

A key to your success as an affiliate - in a word - traffic.  The more traffic you have on your website the more potential click throughs to your affiliate products, the more sales, the greater likelihood of meeting their minimum, etc etc. Read on.

First let me explain becoming an affiliate.

Bottom line, while giving your visitors extra customer service by vetting products of interest to them, you can set up a passive income stream through becoming an “affiliate ” of an established online seller.  For example, Fishpond NZ.

To see them in action see my left sidebar Kath’s Fav’s or right sidebar Get a Life…Balance or read Review articles. 

 Why do I do this?

1. I earnestly want to help you
2. I want to show you how its done
3. and I also don’t mind getting few coins for my effort.

Programs vary in their requirements.  Sample.

To be successful as a Affiliate I suggest two criteria to follow.  You need a Yes to both questions:

1. does it provide good customer service? meaning does it give your visitor extra value or is it totally self-serving. If the later it probably will come across as marketing-hype and be a huge turn off  or worse, repel people from your site.  Don’t smack of ’swampland for sales hype’, it’s a known no-no on every user survey.
2. is the potential income worth the time resource and potential risk involved?  investigate the fine print on the Affliate Terms and Conditions agreements.  Most involve little risk, but your circumstance may put you off.
   • I signed up to be an affiliate with a USA based online storage company, a product I fully believed. Part of the sign up procedure I was asked to complete a USA withholding tax status form. That sent me underground.  As a former USA tax payer I did not want to open the IRD equivalent snake pit for the sake of a few dollars. 

Readers, please share your experience as an affiliate.  I’ve had several clients go on to make a steady US$ income from becoming an affiliate for several international companies. A previous hiccup of some have been questionable payout methods. These problems have been addressed with automated processes in place.

Next I’ll write about setting up an Affiliate Program of your own.

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