Selling Products Online or Becoming an Affiliate Marketing Professional: Two Ways to Get Involved in E-Commerce by Marci Crane
There are two ways (and most likely many more) to make money online. The first is to sell products online and the second way is to advertise products for those who do sell products online (affiliate marketing). Both options are valid even for those who don't have a million dollars to start the e-commerce business of their dreams. This article will discuss 1) options for finding products you can sell online and 2) tips for a successful affiliate marketing campaign.
Finding Products to Sell Via Your Website
Ana Ricon from about.com (a fantastic source of good content) describes a variety of options for finding products to sell online.1 From the fantastically simple to the daringly extensive, Ricon provides a variety of options that I will quickly summarize:
Neighborhood Sales, The Flea Market Fix and the Auction Sites Solution
To simply give online e-commerce a try you can start small.....small and local that is. For example, look at those garage sales you've been avoiding for years or take a glimpse around the flea markets. These products (often inexpensive) can often be sold for semi-large (or large) profits via eBay or other product auction sites. Ricon also describes eBay as another place you might want to become familiar with for products that you can buy and resell. Some of these products might be sold by the case, by the flat, etc. and you can individualize the products and sell them for more. It might take you a while to sell all of the products but it will be worth it if you choose a product that is popular and that isn't likely to lose it's glamor over time. Ricon also suggests utilizing drop shipping as a method for selling products online. Drop shipping is somewhat like affiliate marketing in the sense that it allows you to avoid inventory and costs for labor/storage while still allowing you to sell products online via your website. However the two processes present what could be considered to be significant differences as another online source suggests:2
"Profit margins and earnings are generally substantially higher (varies considerably according to the product) than the typical 5-15% commissions you can typically earn on hard goods sold via an affiliate program."
Additional Product Finding Options: Look into Local
An interesting suggestion that Ricon also brings up is that of networking with businesses in your area who may not have invested in their own online sales methods is a great way to find product sales opportunities. These local business professionals are likely to be pleased that someone is interested in getting their products in the current of online e-commerce. Ricon also makes the suggestion that craftsmen and craftswomen in your area may have some interesting products that are exclusive to your local area and that are "waiting" to go online. Both of these options (the local business and craftsperson objects options) would probably require more than the typical affiliate responsibilities (order processing might be a responsibility for example) but both options could certainly be good opportunities to get involved with local networking and create your name as an online affiliate or reseller.
An Affiliate Marketing Program
If you want the ease of dealing with 0 tangible products, then take advantage of the following affiliate marketing tips:
Affiliate Marketing Tip #1: Focus on Your Website
An affiliate marketing program can be lucrative....very lucrative in fact, but that doesn't mean it will happen overnight. Many aspects of a successful affiliate marketing program require a firm foundation. This firm foundation must certainly include an SEO friendly website. After all, the main responsibility of an affiliate is to attract online visitors to their respective websites. If your website and website content is SEO friendly you will be more likely to attract qualified visitors to your website.
Affiliate Marketing #2: Synchronicity Between Your Website and the Affiliate Program Products
The more synchronized your optimized site content is with the optimized affiliate product banners that you choose to sell, the better off you will be because you will 1) be able to attract more visitors and 2) will be sure that the right visitors are seeing ads that they would truly be interested in.
Whether you plan to start an affiliate marketing campaign or your own online resell business, make sure to start off with plenty of research and with the right kind of e-commerce networking.
1 onlinebusiness.about.com/od/shoppingcarts/a/productsourcing.htm
2 sitesell.com/sbi-tips/drop-shipping.html
About the Author
Marci Crane is a copywriter for Main10 in Orem, Utah. For more information in regards to affiliate marketing management services, please feel free to contact a Main10 representative.Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer by Max Cook
Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing has become one of the most effective ways to advertise online. It is also one of the easiest ways for anyone with a website to make a profit online. Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant and a website owner. The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant's products by linking to the merchant's website. In exchange, the merchant pays a commission to the affiliate on all sales generated by the affiliate. Every time someone clicks on the link on the affiliate website and proceeds to make a purchase, the affiliate gets a commission. The merchant will pay the affiliate only when a customer clicks on the product link and makes a purchase.
Affiliate marketing programs are described as a win-win situation for both the merchant and the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance scheme. Both the merchant and the affiliate enjoy some benefits in affiliate marketing. There are many benefits on the merchant's side. It gives the merchant a wider market in which to advertise a product or service. Affiliate marketing will give the product or service the maximum exposure that it may not get with other traditional advertising techniques. The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic, which can convert to sales. Affiliate marketing is the equivalent of having an army of sales people who will do the advertising and will only get a commission if a customer purchases.
Meanwhile, since an affiliate marketing relationship is a win-win situation, the affiliate also enjoys many benefits. Foremost among these is the easy way to make a profit. The affiliate can earn by having an ad or link to the merchant's website, which prospective customers will hopefully click and proceed to make a purchase. As soon as the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate's site, is redirected to the merchant's website and goes on to buy that particular product, the affiliate earns a commission. The more referrals there are the more profit for the affiliate.
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn money while at home. There are virtually no production costs. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant, and all you have to do to find, as many prospects as you can that will bring in the profit for both the merchant and the affiliate. Affiliate programs are usually free to join, so affiliates do not have to worry about start-up costs. There are thousands of products and services you can choose from. You can find affiliate programs for every product under the sun. Surely, there is a product or service out there that is relevant to your website.
In addition, there is absolutely no sales experience necessary. Most affiliate programs offer excellent support when it comes to providing marketing material. The simplicity of affiliate marketing allows you to be an affiliate marketer at the least cost and the most comfort. You can even build a successful affiliate marketing business right in the convenience of your own home. In affiliate marketing, your responsibility is simply to find prospects for the merchant; you do not have to worry about inventory, order processing, and product shipping. These, along with customer service support are the duties of the merchant.
Because of the global reach of the internet, you can easily find thousands of prospects. You can intensify your advertising campaign by exploiting more aggressive and productive strategies such as viral marketing. By attracting more prospects, you also maximize your potential to earn. Another benefit of an affiliate marketer is the minimal risk involved. If the product you are advertising is not making money then you can dump it and choose another. There are no long-term binding contracts tying you to products that are not making enough money.
All the same, the best benefit of being an affiliate marketer is the opportunity to increase your income; and you can make a profit even if affiliate marketing is only a sideline business. With your own affiliate business, you can earn easily earn extra income, although you do have to exert effort and use your imagination to maximize your earning potential. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities on the web today. Hot Information Products For Internet Marketers http://cookdeals.rubirich.hop.clickbank.net/
About the Author
I am an Internet Marketer Who Writes about various ways to earn money Online. http://internetmarketingtips.bravehost.com/
Finding Products to Sell Via Your Website
Ana Ricon from about.com (a fantastic source of good content) describes a variety of options for finding products to sell online.1 From the fantastically simple to the daringly extensive, Ricon provides a variety of options that I will quickly summarize:
Neighborhood Sales, The Flea Market Fix and the Auction Sites Solution
To simply give online e-commerce a try you can start small.....small and local that is. For example, look at those garage sales you've been avoiding for years or take a glimpse around the flea markets. These products (often inexpensive) can often be sold for semi-large (or large) profits via eBay or other product auction sites. Ricon also describes eBay as another place you might want to become familiar with for products that you can buy and resell. Some of these products might be sold by the case, by the flat, etc. and you can individualize the products and sell them for more. It might take you a while to sell all of the products but it will be worth it if you choose a product that is popular and that isn't likely to lose it's glamor over time. Ricon also suggests utilizing drop shipping as a method for selling products online. Drop shipping is somewhat like affiliate marketing in the sense that it allows you to avoid inventory and costs for labor/storage while still allowing you to sell products online via your website. However the two processes present what could be considered to be significant differences as another online source suggests:2
"Profit margins and earnings are generally substantially higher (varies considerably according to the product) than the typical 5-15% commissions you can typically earn on hard goods sold via an affiliate program."
Additional Product Finding Options: Look into Local
An interesting suggestion that Ricon also brings up is that of networking with businesses in your area who may not have invested in their own online sales methods is a great way to find product sales opportunities. These local business professionals are likely to be pleased that someone is interested in getting their products in the current of online e-commerce. Ricon also makes the suggestion that craftsmen and craftswomen in your area may have some interesting products that are exclusive to your local area and that are "waiting" to go online. Both of these options (the local business and craftsperson objects options) would probably require more than the typical affiliate responsibilities (order processing might be a responsibility for example) but both options could certainly be good opportunities to get involved with local networking and create your name as an online affiliate or reseller.
An Affiliate Marketing Program
If you want the ease of dealing with 0 tangible products, then take advantage of the following affiliate marketing tips:
Affiliate Marketing Tip #1: Focus on Your Website
An affiliate marketing program can be lucrative....very lucrative in fact, but that doesn't mean it will happen overnight. Many aspects of a successful affiliate marketing program require a firm foundation. This firm foundation must certainly include an SEO friendly website. After all, the main responsibility of an affiliate is to attract online visitors to their respective websites. If your website and website content is SEO friendly you will be more likely to attract qualified visitors to your website.
Affiliate Marketing #2: Synchronicity Between Your Website and the Affiliate Program Products
The more synchronized your optimized site content is with the optimized affiliate product banners that you choose to sell, the better off you will be because you will 1) be able to attract more visitors and 2) will be sure that the right visitors are seeing ads that they would truly be interested in.
Whether you plan to start an affiliate marketing campaign or your own online resell business, make sure to start off with plenty of research and with the right kind of e-commerce networking.
1 onlinebusiness.about.com/od/shoppingcarts/a/productsourcing.htm
2 sitesell.com/sbi-tips/drop-shipping.html
About the Author
Marci Crane is a copywriter for Main10 in Orem, Utah. For more information in regards to affiliate marketing management services, please feel free to contact a Main10 representative.Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer by Max Cook
Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing has become one of the most effective ways to advertise online. It is also one of the easiest ways for anyone with a website to make a profit online. Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant and a website owner. The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant's products by linking to the merchant's website. In exchange, the merchant pays a commission to the affiliate on all sales generated by the affiliate. Every time someone clicks on the link on the affiliate website and proceeds to make a purchase, the affiliate gets a commission. The merchant will pay the affiliate only when a customer clicks on the product link and makes a purchase.
Affiliate marketing programs are described as a win-win situation for both the merchant and the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance scheme. Both the merchant and the affiliate enjoy some benefits in affiliate marketing. There are many benefits on the merchant's side. It gives the merchant a wider market in which to advertise a product or service. Affiliate marketing will give the product or service the maximum exposure that it may not get with other traditional advertising techniques. The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic, which can convert to sales. Affiliate marketing is the equivalent of having an army of sales people who will do the advertising and will only get a commission if a customer purchases.
Meanwhile, since an affiliate marketing relationship is a win-win situation, the affiliate also enjoys many benefits. Foremost among these is the easy way to make a profit. The affiliate can earn by having an ad or link to the merchant's website, which prospective customers will hopefully click and proceed to make a purchase. As soon as the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate's site, is redirected to the merchant's website and goes on to buy that particular product, the affiliate earns a commission. The more referrals there are the more profit for the affiliate.
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn money while at home. There are virtually no production costs. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant, and all you have to do to find, as many prospects as you can that will bring in the profit for both the merchant and the affiliate. Affiliate programs are usually free to join, so affiliates do not have to worry about start-up costs. There are thousands of products and services you can choose from. You can find affiliate programs for every product under the sun. Surely, there is a product or service out there that is relevant to your website.
In addition, there is absolutely no sales experience necessary. Most affiliate programs offer excellent support when it comes to providing marketing material. The simplicity of affiliate marketing allows you to be an affiliate marketer at the least cost and the most comfort. You can even build a successful affiliate marketing business right in the convenience of your own home. In affiliate marketing, your responsibility is simply to find prospects for the merchant; you do not have to worry about inventory, order processing, and product shipping. These, along with customer service support are the duties of the merchant.
Because of the global reach of the internet, you can easily find thousands of prospects. You can intensify your advertising campaign by exploiting more aggressive and productive strategies such as viral marketing. By attracting more prospects, you also maximize your potential to earn. Another benefit of an affiliate marketer is the minimal risk involved. If the product you are advertising is not making money then you can dump it and choose another. There are no long-term binding contracts tying you to products that are not making enough money.
All the same, the best benefit of being an affiliate marketer is the opportunity to increase your income; and you can make a profit even if affiliate marketing is only a sideline business. With your own affiliate business, you can earn easily earn extra income, although you do have to exert effort and use your imagination to maximize your earning potential. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities on the web today. Hot Information Products For Internet Marketers http://cookdeals.rubirich.hop.clickbank.net/
About the Author
I am an Internet Marketer Who Writes about various ways to earn money Online. http://internetmarketingtips.bravehost.com/
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