Question by myportraitdrawing: How is affiliate marketing? Is it another smoke screen to sell useless guides to desperate people?
I am desperate to find a way to start my own home based business, and affiliate marketing seems good because there is virtually no startup cost (I’m broke). Is this something likely to bring in a real income?

Best answer:

Answer by Daniel K
If you have a good teacher, affiliate marketing is an excellent way to make money online. Selling eBooks is only one small aspect of affiliate marketing, and I agree that most of them are junk. You can sell almost anything with affiliate marketing, there is an affiliate program for almost any product imaginable. I’m making most of my money right now selling cell phones. But you name a product and there is probably a way to make commissions from it.

I learned everything I know about affiliate marketing from a great website called “Wealthy Affiliate.” It takes you step by step through the marketing process and includes everything you need to get started. It even includes an easy to use website builder and web hosting.

My favorite part of Wealthy Affiliate is the members forum where you can ask any question, and will usually receive a good answer from an experienced marketer in minutes. The people there really want to help each other succeed. See the link below for more info.

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Question by Syed A: How does affiliate marketing work, and how do people make money from it?
Could somebody please explain how does affiliate marketing work, and how do people make money from it.
P.S: I need only answers no links to join some groups and thereby asking to pay certain amount to proceed. Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by Jay
Typically, you’re asked to sell a certain amount of product. In additional, you’re suppose to recruit others to do selling. For those you recruit, you get a cut.

That’s one kind of “affiliate marketing” and is the “bad” kind because it’s a pyramid scheme. There are alternatives that do fancy things so as not to be labeled as such, but they all have the problem that those that at the bottom end up losing because there’s no one else to recruit.

The other kind is where you sell a product for a company, such as cell phones or satellite dish services. This allows the primary company to expand their sales force, without actually having people on the payroll. You get paid by the sale. The other benefit to the company is that they aren’t responsible for the sales tactics of the affiliate. Sometimes, an affiliate will make promises to a customer that the main company will need keep. By the time that the the customer finds out, the affiliate is either gone or simply says “not my problem.”

This isn’t to say all affiliate marketers are dishonest, of course. And if you work hard to market your product, you can make nice commissions. But it’s up to you to sell. In some markets, there is an over saturation.

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