Smart and efficient entrepreneurs know that simply working hard on their products and services is not enough. Alternate streams of revenue are not only welcomed but a necessity in today’s marketing scenario. So how can they alter their ways to add an additional flow of income to their regular life? And no, we don’t mean starting a new business to work yourself to the brink of exhaustion. This is something that earns money for you, even while you sleep.

Netzens Softech brings you the answer: Affiliate Marketing. Affiliate Marketing is a popular technique to generate online revenue by driving sales to the company paying for advertisements. In simpler terms, think of 3 entities- the Advertiser, the Publisher, and the Customer. The process entailed in this is explained briefly below.

1. The Publisher partners up with the Advertiser to advertise the Advertiser’s products/ services on the Publisher’s sites, micro-sites, blogging channels, etc.
2. The Publisher publishes the Advertiser’s ads to reach more customers, who are interested in the Advertiser’s offerings. It is done through a link.
3. The Customer buys products/ services from the Advertiser through the Publisher’s link.
4. The link is monitored by the Advertiser to check the number of clicks/ sales that were driven by the Publisher. The Advertiser pays the Publisher on the basis of the amount of clicks/ sales being driven to the Advertiser through the Publisher’s link.

While this may look to be quite simple, there are various details you need to know before you get into this. Let’s start with the basics, shall we?

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is an online sales technique where the products/ services owner increases their revenue by allowing others (known as affiliates) who are targeting the same audience as them to recommend their product/ service to the customers. In the same process, it also allows the affiliate to earn money by advertising and recommending other’s products that target the same viewers that they do. That is also *coincidentally* what we do great at! (Perks of being the best digital marketing agency and all).

In short, Affiliate Marketing is basically recommending a product or service by sharing its link on social media platforms, a blog, or a website. The affiliate then earns a commission every time customers make a purchase through their unique recommendation link. If done the right way, it becomes a legit and significant secondary source of income for the affiliates.

How Can You Make Affiliate Marketing Work?

If you are an affiliate looking to participate in an affiliate marketing program, here are the simple steps you need to follow.

1. Research and sign up for an affiliate marketing program online that you resonate with.
2. Choose the offers you want to promote.
3. Get the unique affiliate link for every offer you want to advertise.
4. Share and publish those links on your blogs, websites, and social media.
5. Collect commissions when customers make a purchase(s) through your links.

However, if you’re an advertiser looking to promote your products, Netzens Softech offers unbeatable affiliate marketing services to help you build and grow your sales revenue. When you are planning to opt for Affiliate Marketing as an Affiliate, there are a few things you need to know.

1. Rates of commission vary extensively, depending upon the company, brand, and the type of product/ service.
2. The lowest you can earn from promoting is 5% of the product/ service you are advertising, and the highest can be up to 50%, usually when you advertise and/ or recommend a class or an event. There are also programs that offer a flat, fixed rate for every sale you make, not a percentage.
3. You need to be the owner of one (or more) of the following: influencer, blogger, vlogger, microsites, email marketing lists, full-fledged website(s). Through these outlets, you will be promoting Advertisers’ products/services and gain commissions.
4. You need to have great online communicating skills so you can develop a rapport with your audience. You can only be successful at Affiliate Marketing when you have a dedicated audience who trusts your word for recommendations on a product/ service they can buy.

Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer

When you are planning on being an affiliate marketer, there are no risks and many benefits. All you need to do is focus on marketing and promotion instead of developing or matching customer demands. Netzens Softech lists some of them down below. Keep reading.

1. Source of passive income.

Affiliate Marketing is a great source of secondary income if done and managed in the right direction. With the links placed in the right places, you stand to earn a significant amount from Affiliate Marketing.

Netzens advice: Do some research on what categories of products have the highest rate of commission and see if it is related to what your viewers prefer.

2. Work from home.

Affiliate Marketing is one of the PPC services which doesn’t need a fancy office and equipment to work. All you need is a loyal audience along with a dedicated work routine and you can work from practically anywhere you want. That can be your home, hall, kitchen, or maybe sitting on a chair in a verandah, looking out on misty hills or a windy beachside. Yeah, we know the perks are just too good in here!

3. Cost-effective for affiliates.

You, as an affiliate, don’t need to spend a penny to recommend or promote the links, if you don’t wish to. Affiliate Marketing is a cost-effective approach to setting up and managing a secondary inflow of income.

That’s not to say that you can’t invest in it either. If you are an established online presence and have your own brand, Netzens recommends that you invest in good Affiliate Marketing techniques as it can account for about 10- 16% of your regular income.

However, if you are a beginner looking to start out in affiliate marketing, you don’t need hundreds of followers or lots of money to invest in it. This technique is based on the loyalty and trust of your audience, no matter how big or small they are in numbers. Just sign up and go!

4. Flexible and convenient.

Since you are essentially either looking to be a freelancer or an independent brand, Affiliate Marketing helps you achieve that goal. You are free to choose your hours of work, your team members, and your place of work, and your surroundings.

You can adjust, alter, customize and literally do whatever you want to work as effectively as possible. This also means you can have boasting rights on your resume about managing great ad campaigns about the products/ services you choose to promote.

5. Performance-based earnings.

Like any other work, this is based on how well your unique affiliate links perform, i.e. how many Customers buy the product/ service on your recommendation, click on the ad, or become a lead for the Advertiser.

This helps you and the Advertiser review what your performance is in boosting their sales and you get your earnings based on that factor. This also helps you understand where you can adjust or alter your campaigns to make them perform better and reach more of your online viewers.

6. Build a trustworthy online reputation.

Through reviewing and recommending genuinely helpful products/ services of the Advertisers, you have the platform to build your audience’s trust in your word. Now, this is a double-edged rotational benefit. We’ll explain.

If what you’re promoting is really helpful to your audience, they will buy more of it. When they buy more of your recommendations, they will leave reviews online. This makes your online worth and presence grow as more people come to know about you, follow you and eventually, buy what you are recommending/ promoting.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and use the pointers to improve your brand presence online while earning a passive income through Affiliate Marketing. And if you’re the Advertiser we talked about here, don’t hesitate to know more about Netzens Softech’s services in online marketing. We promise we don’t let our Customers down, any moment, anytime!

Also Read: Digital Marketing Tips and Tricks to Increase Sales