Understanding the Power of Affiliate Marketing and its Potential for Passive Income
Introduction
There are many ways to earn Money Online and Affiliate Marketing is one of them. Among the available means of earning Money Online, Affiliate Marketing is one of the best due to it ease of activities. It requires little to no techniques and it is practiced almost worldwide
If I put up an Offer or I give you an Offer that says:
“I’m looking for Readers who will be coming to be reading Articles on this Blog & I will give you #1 (One Naira) for every one person you bring. If you registered & participated by bringing people to read this Blog while you got paid as promised, Affiliate Marketing would have taken place.
A simple Google Search will give you a ton of definitions with different flavors & styles. While some are correct, some of them are something else. Nevertheless, let’s get to find out exactly what Affiliate Marketing!
What is Affiliate Marketing?
To start with, let’s Understand How the word “Affiliate Marketing” was formed
Affiliate Marketing is a phrase that contains two words which are: Affiliate & Marketing. To understand what Affiliate Marketing really is, you need to know what those two words represents.
The word Affiliate in the context of Affiliate Marketing simply means: Associate, to be a part of something especially something bigger. While the word Marketing in the context of Affiliate Marketing simply means: The promotion, distribution and selling of a product or service; it also means: the work of a marketer; that includes market research and advertising.
Having scrutinize what the word Affiliate & Marketing stands for, let us put them together so that we can define what exactly Affiliate Marketing is.
What Exactly Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is an attached promotion, distribution and/or selling of a product or service(s). It is the work of an attached marketer; that includes market research and advertising on behalf of the product or service owner for compensation. This compensation can come in cash or in kind but in most cases, the compensation comes in cash.
Affiliate Marketing is one of the Online marketing strategy that involves referring people. It is not an Online marketing strategy alone. It can also exist Offline
Terminologies Of Affiliate Marketing
There are basically Ten (10) Terminologies of Affiliate Marketing and they are:
- The Products/Services
- The Merchant Or Advertiser
- The Marketer
- The Customers
- The Prospect
- Prospecting
- Marketing
- Copy
- Sales
- Commission
The Products/Services
The Product or Service is what the Merchant contracts the Affiliate to Sale to their Audience for the Affiliate to be paid a Commission. In other words, it is what the Affiliate Marketer sales to their Audience for them to get paid a commission by the Affiliate Merchant
The Product can be Rice, Car, Real Estate Electronic Device or even textile Materials and the Service can be, Plumbing, Car Hiring Service, Laundry Service of even farming activities Service. An Affiliate Product/Service can also be a program or a Competition etc.
The Merchant Or Advertiser
The Merchant is an Individual who own the Product or Service and is out looking for Customer’s patronage making him/her to Contract an Affiliate Marketer to help in the marketing and selling of that their Goods/service
The Affiliate
The Affiliate is the Individual bridging the gap between the Merchant and the Customer for the purpose of selling the Merchant’s Goods/Service to Customer
The Customers
The Customer is the Individual that patronizes the Goods/service of a Merchant through the recommendation of an Affiliate
The Prospect
The Prospect is an Individual that an Affiliate Marketer is recommending the Product or Service of a Merchant to. But he or she is yet to purchase the product/service
Prospecting
Prospecting is the action of marketing the Product or Service of a Merchant to a Prospect
Marketing
Marketing is the act of recommending the Product or Service of an Affiliate Merchant to the targeted Prospect for Patronage by giving them reasons why they should patronize the Product or Service
Copy
Copy also known as Copywriting is a written advertorial content created by an Affiliate Marketer with the Intention of creating a desire in the prospect or targeted customer to patronage the product/service of a Merchant
Sales
Sales is the Successful buying activities of Customers influenced by the Affiliate Marketer
Commission
Commission is the Money paid to an Affiliate Marketer for his or her activities of influencing the patronage of a Customer.
Purpose of Affiliate Marketing.
The main purpose of Affiliate Marketing is to make people take favorable action of either buying a Product or Service or participating in an activity. This action can be relative depending on the reasons why an individual is taking part in an Affiliate Marketing Program or what they are marketing in the Affiliate Marketing Program.
Why Vendors or Merchants takes part in Affiliate Marketing Program
To the vendors or Merchants, their purpose of taking part in Affiliate Marketing Program is to make Affiliate Marketer(s) take the action of marketing their goods or Services for them on their behalf to boost patronage from the Affiliate Marketer’s audience that the Merchant have no access to. So, for an Affiliate Marketer to succeed in Affiliate Marketing, he/she needs Audience
Why Affiliate Marketers are getting Involved in Affiliate Marketing Program
To Affiliate Marketers, their purpose of getting involved in Affiliate Marketing Program is to make his/her Audience and Affiliate Merchants take action.
The Affiliate Marketer wants the Merchant to take the action of paying for marketing their goods or Services for them on their behalf & impact sales of the Goods or services that Affiliate Marketers never had ownership to
Furthermore, The Affiliate Marketers wants their Audience to take the action of purchasing the goods or Services from merchants they recommend to their audience & make money from the Goods or services that the Affiliate Marketers never had ownership to
Why Customers are getting Involved in Affiliate Marketing Program
Custormers are also involving themselves in Affiliate Marketing. This could be conscious or unconscious to them. As a matter of reality, customers are the reasons why Affiliate Marketing exists
To the Customers, their purpose of getting involved in Affiliate Marketing is to make the goods or services recommended to them by the Affiliate Marketer to take action.
The action that the goods or services they patronize takes depends on the goods or services and the intention behind the patronage. Be that as it may, the goods or services must satisfy the intention behind the customer’s patronage. If the goods or services fails to do that, the Affiliate Marketer loses trust and consequently loses audience
Features Of Affiliate Marketing
There are four main features of Affiliate Marketing with wich without any of them, it won’t be said to be Affiliate Marketing. Those features are:
- The Products/Services
- The Merchant Or Advertiser
- The Marketer
- The Customers
The Product or Service
The Product or Service is what the Merchant sales to the Customers through the marketing effort of the Affiliate Marketer. The Product or Service is the most significant reason why Affiliate Marketing exists. They are what the Affiliate Marketers tries to sale by promoting them to their audiences. Without Product or Service, there’s nothing to promote to an audience by the Affiliate for the Merchant to make sales.
The Product or Service can be anything. It can be Electronics, an Electrical or Plumbing Service, an Event Ticket, a Blogging Website like this one, a Coaching or a public speaking service & even transportation service. Whatever the Product or Service is doesn’t matter. What matters is the Product or Service’s ability to attract the Customers for a purchase & the best way to find out if a Product or Service have the ability to attract people is to know how valuable people consider the solution that the goods or services provides for the Customers
The Merchant Or Advertiser
The Merchant Or Advertiser is the owner of the product or service that is going to be sold to Consumers or Custormers through affiliate marketing by an Affiliate Marketer also known as Affiliate or Publisher.
The Merchant Or Advertiser can be a big or small Organization or Business. It can be an Entrepreneur, an Artisan or an Agent. Whatever the Merchant Or Advertiser is doesn’t matter. What matters is the Merchant Or Advertiser’s ability to pay the Affiliate for the Marketing Job & the best way to find out if a Merchant Or Advertiser have the ability to pay Affiliate Marketers is through carrying out Research Online & making findings from other Affiliate Marketers that had ever marketed the Merchant Or Advertiser’s goods or services as well as trying it out yourself which is the best way as people may spread false information about what hate it what didn’t work out for them
The Affiliate or publisher
The Affiliate or Publisher, is the person who tries to sell the products or services of the Merchant Or Advertiser using his or her own channels. Affiliates may forward visitors to the advertiser using the promotional material provided by the advertisers. If, as a result of this, a sale takes place in an advertiser’s webshop, the affiliate will receive the predetermined fee for job well done.
The Affiliate or publisher can be an Organization, an Individual, a Blogger, a Coach or a public speaker & even student or House wives working from Home. Whatever the Affiliate or publisher is doesn’t matter. What matters is the Affiliate or Publisher’s ability to market market & sale the Goods/Services that the Merchant or Advertiser wants to sale & the best way to find out if ab Affiliate or Publisher have the ability to sale the Merchat’s goods or services is by allowing the Affiliate Marketer to apply in their Affiliate Marketing Program & watch out for their performance
The Customer or Consumer
The Consumers or Custormers are one of the major reasons Affiliate Marketing exists. They are the ones who get to buy the product or service Merchant that the Affiliate tries to sale. The Consumer or Custormer may not be aware of it, but they are the driving force behind affiliate marketing. Without consumers, there’s no audience to share the products with or patronizers to patronize the Merchant through the Affiliate
The Consumers or Custormers can be an Organization, an Individual, a Blogger, a Coach or a public speaker & even student. Whatever the Consumers or Custormers are doesn’t matter. What matters is the Consumers or Custormer’s ability to buy & pay for the Goods/Services that the Merchant or Advertiser wants to sale & marketed by the Affiliate Marketer & the best way to find out if a Consumer or Custormer have the ability to buy & pay for the the Merchat’s goods or services is by marketing to them using the best Affiliate Marketing practice.
Model of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing exists in three models & they are:
- Related Affiliate Marketing
- Unrelated Affiliate Marketing
- Involved Affiliate Marketing
Related Affiliate Marketing Model
An Affiliate Marketing will be said to be a Related Affiliate Marketing models when the Affiliate Marketer is marketing the goods or Services in a Niche or field that he or she is an expert in. His or her been an expert in that Niche or field will give him or her the benefit of having the ability to influence people especially his existing audience in taking action towards the goods or services they are marketing.
The Affiliate Marketer may or may not have used that goods or services but the fact that he or she is known to be a trusted source regarding the Niche, this will enable him or to generate enough Traffic to suit his marketing needs.
In this situation, an Affiliate Marketer can meet his or her marketing goal without spending Money in Advertising.
An example of a Related Affiliate Marketing is a Religious Leader who is an Affiliate Marketer & marketing a Religious Book. It will be super easy for him or her her to meet up with his or her marketing goal since he or she already have a Religious audience who trust him or her and see him or her as an Authority in Religious Niche or Field.
The Religious Leader would find it a little bit difficult if he or she tries to market Vehicles as an Affiliate Marketer since he or she would be assumed to have limited or little to no knowledge about Vehicle Niche or field & in that case, he or she will be tantamount to have been involved in an Unrelated Affiliate Marketing
Unrelated Affiliate Marketing Model
Unrelated Affiliate Marketing model is the opposite of the Related Affiliate Marketing model. Affiliate Marketer in this model markets goods and services that they are not an expert in the Niche of the goods or services that they are marketing
The Affiliate Marketer may or may not have enormous knowledge, skills or expertise in that field or Niche and may or may not have used the goods or services. In this situation, the Affiliate Marketer can have difficulties influencing patronage of the goods or services they are marketing.
For an Affiliate Marketer to meet his or her marketing goal in this situation, he or she may have to spend Money in advertising to widen his audience of what he is promoting.
An example of an Unrelated Affiliate Marketing is a Mechanic who is an Affiliate Marketer & is marketing a Religious Book. It will be super hard for him or her her to meet up with his or her marketing goal since he or she does not have a Religious audience who trust him or her and see him or her as an Authority in Religious Niche or Field.
The Mechanic would find it a super easy if he or she tries to market Vehicles or Vehicle spare parts as an Affiliate Marketer since he or she would have had a vehicular audience and is perceived to be an Authority in that Niche or Field & in that case, he or she will be tantamount to have been involved in a Related Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate Marketers who participates in Unrelated Affiliate Marketing does it for the money that they feel they will be earn by Marketing the products or services
Involved Affiliate Marketing Model
If an Affiliate Marketer is Marketing the goods or Services that he or she have used, it will be recognized as an Involved Affiliate Marketing model
The Marketer will have an advantage of knowing how the goods or services works well enough to convince people to buy as he or she had already tested & trusted the goods or services he or she is marketing & at such his or her confidence will be strong when sharing the experience with others. They have used or use the product and are confident that their positive experiences can be shared by others. Their experiences are the advertisements, and they serve as trusted sources of information.
Affiliate Marketers in this case may or may not find it easy to meet their marketing goals as they will have the ability to offer undocumented advice & recommendations to their audience at every chance they get. As well as they may not have the passion to market the goods or services of the compensation is not perceived suitable for them.
One of the problem with this situation is that, an Affiliate Marketer’s reputation may be compromised with any problems arising from the offering.
Why Does People Fails To Make Money In Affiliate Marketing?
There are many reasons why some Affiliate Marketers fails to make money in Affiliate Marketing. Some of those reasons includes but not limited to the following:
- Lack of proper Affiliate marketing related Skills.
- Lack of proper knowledge of the goods or Services been marketed.
- Lack of persistence.
- Participating in the model of Affiliate Marketing they lacks the capacity to meet their marketing goals in.
- Lack of sufficient audience.
- Lack of the right Audience.
I will be publishing an Article in the nearest future concerning “The reasons why some Affiliate Marketers fails to make money in Affiliate Marketing”. If you want to read that Article, subscribe to this Blog by entering your best email and any other information required in the subscription box below this Post or indicate in the comment box by commenting: ” I’m interested in your next post concerning reasons why some Affiliate Marketers fails to make money in Affiliate Marketing” and include your E-mail Address. You will get a notification whenever the Article is been published
How To Become A Professional & Successful Affiliate Marketer.
To become an Affiliate Marketer, all you need to do is to join an Affiliate Marketing platform or program of your choice & acting in line with the Terms and Conditions of the Affiliate Platform to make sales of Product or Service for the Merchant to customers and receive your Commission
To become a Professional and Successful Affiliate Marketer is not a day job but it is achievable. It takes time, processes, Skills, Strategies, Techniques & Technologies. To achieve that, you will need to take Affiliate Marketing as a full time Job
Below are some of the steps to take in becoming a professional Affiliate Marketer
Take an Affiliate Marketing course or Training. This could cause you money, Except if you are fortunate to see an expert or a platform that is willing to teach you for free Online or Offline (I teach people for free a lot too)
Learn Copywriting. This could also cause you money. Except, if you are fortunate to see an expert or a platform that is willing to teach you for free Online or Offline (I also teach people for free a lot too)
Get yourself a Website or a Blog. This cost money too except if you choose to use free Website or Blogging platforms although you can be an Affiliate Marketer without a Website.
Choose to participate in Related Affiliate Marketing Model. This will enable you to make proper use of your existing audience.
Read good Books on Affiliate Marketing. I will refer some of the good Books to you in my next Article. I can also refer some good Affiliate Marketing Books to you is you indicate interest in the comment box below this Article)
Make good Friend with professional Affiliate Marketers. Show me your friend and I will show you who you really are
Learn Marketing itself. Affiliate Marketing is a branch of Marketing. If you want to succeed in it, acquire basic understanding of Marketing
Master the act of Communication. Marketing is a communication Skill. If you are good at communication, Affiliate Marketing will become easy for you
Learn to pay attention to little details.
Master the act of Internet Usage like the Social Media such as: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Whatsap, Telegram, Pinterest, Quora among others.
I will be publishing an Article in the nearest future concerning How To Become a professional Affiliate Marketer. If you want to read that Article, subscribe to this Blog by entering your best email and any other information required in the subscription box below this Post or indicate in the comment box by commenting: ” I’m interested in your next post concerning How to become a Professional Affiliate Marketer” and include your E-mail Address. You will get a notification whenever the Article is been published
What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing To Join?
There is no best Affiliate Marketing to join. As a matter of reality, Affiliate Marketing is a field of it own. It has no different type. It only have different programs and platforms. What you can join as an Affiliate Marketer is an Affiliate Program or Platform
There is a difference between Affiliate Marketing and Affiliate Marketing Program
So, the right question is not: What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing To Join? Rather, the right question is What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing Program or platform To Join?
What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing Program To Join?
With all honesty, the best Affiliate Marketing Program you should join depends on you. It depends on what Best means to you.
There are about Five things you should consider when choosing an Affiliate Marketing Program. The one you prefer to be the best could probably be the worst to others.
To you, the type of Affiliate Marketing Program that is the best to you could be the type that pays huge compensation.
To some people, the type of Affiliate Marketing Program that is the best to them could be the type that attracts high patronage.
To others, the type of Affiliate Marketing Program that is the best to them could be the type that does not require an entry fee.
Meanwhile, to a whole lot of other people, the type of Affiliate Marketing Program that is the best to them could be the type that have little to no technical activities.
So, the choice is yours.
Nevertheless, if you are still interested in me telling you the Best Affiliate Marketing Program you should join, I will be publishing an Article in the nearest future concerning the Best Affiliate Marketing Program you should join. If you want to read that Article, subscribe to this Blog by entering your best email and any other information required in the subscription box below this Post or indicate in the comment box by commenting: ” I’m interested in your next post concerning The best Affiliate Marketing Program to join” and include your E-mail Address. You will get a notification whenever the Article is published
Bottom Line
Affiliate Marketing is one of the Online system of Marketing strategy that gives people the benefits of making from Home legitimately even when they are asleep, on a trip or even when they are dead.
It is not a get rich quick Scheme. But if you put your act together by learning how it works & working hard and smart in line with the best Affiliate Marketing parctice, it will sure make you rich quickly.
One thing bery important is that, if you want to become a Professional & Successful Affiliate Marketer, do not stop learning new trends and always continue building your Network. As an Affiliate Marketer, your Network is your Net worth.
Over to you, I will be waiting for you in the comment box. What do you think about Affiliate Marketing is it for you or It is against you? Are you for it or you are against it?
I will also like to know what you think about the Article. Is it helpful or unhelpful? Did you found value or you found rubbish. Will you recommend it to your Family, Friends & Followers or you will debunk it.
Which other thing would you want to know about Affiliate Marketing? Whatever it is, do well to let me know in the comment box and I will do justice to the it. Honestly, I will like to hear from you. Trust me, you are the reason why this Blog is created. Let us relate
This guide is very helpful for me in Affiliate marketing
Thanks for bring just a amazing knowledge towards us.
Thank you for your nice comment
Very nice article and with detailed explanation.
Thank you for your impression