First, let me share some very good information on Affiliate Marketing that’s available online:
- A nice, concise definition/overview of Affiliate Marketing from MarketingTerms.com
- Wikipedia’s Detailed Review of Affiliate Marketing
- AssociatePrograms.com Affiliate Program Tutorial
Third Party Affiliate Networks
In my opinion, one of the best ways for small business online entrepreneurs to get started with Affiliate Marketing is to have a third-party run the technical behind-the-scenes portion of your affiliate program, AND again, in my opinion, the ONLY third party Affiliate Networks to consider using for this task are Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate by Conversant) or LinkShare (Rakuten Affiliate Network), particularly if you’re launching your first Affiliate Program.
Another key point – think of your Affiliate Marketing Program just as you would one of your key products or services. Why? Because for an Affiliate Program to be successful, it must first be “sold” to affiliates and then managed as if it were a key product or service.
Understand The Basics First
I think these resources will get you off to a good start understanding the basic concept of Affiliate Marketing and how to join either an individual company’s Affiliate Program and/or an Affiliate Network.
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Note: My name is Dave Ingalls. If you need help with your SEO and/or Digital Marketing tasks, please review the B2B SEO Services and B2B Digital Marketing Services I offer.