“If you think you can do something, or if you think you can’t do anything, you’re right.”
–Henry Ford

affiliate marketing

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to start your own business today is through affiliate marketing. There are some fundamental advantages that affiliate marketing has over almost any other business. Advantages that have made this type of business very attractive to both the relative novice and the experienced entrepreneur. Some of those advantages are:

or no boss.

o You never have to see a client. It can be all web based if you want.

o There are no geographical limitations. You can reach customers globally.

o Very low start-up costs.

o You do not have to rent office space.

o You do not have to store merchandise.

o Many merchants provide you with your own free website.

o You do not have to accept credit cards. All purchases from your website are routed through your merchant account.

o Most merchants will offer free training and online support.

So what is affiliate marketing anyway? Well, that’s the beauty of this business. As an affiliate, you simply send visitors to the website of a merchant that you represent. If they buy, or in some cases, just fill out a form, the merchant pays you a commission. There are literally hundreds of merchants online that offer affiliate programs. Merchants like BestBuy, Office Depot, eBay, Amazon.com, JCPenny, Macys, Circuit City, iTunes, Netflix, Sony, Toshiba and the list goes on and on. These top-tier merchants will provide you with everything. Excellent products, ordering, payment processing and delivery.

There is also a very good level of security and growth in this business. According to the latest internet retailer survey*, most web retailers have already invested several years in affiliate marketing and have a network of several thousand affiliates to drive visitor traffic. In another recent survey, more than 40% of surveyed web retailers said that 42.1% of their total merchandise sales come from the web, and that number is expected to rise to 51.1% in the next five years.

You can sign up for free as an affiliate on the retailer’s site or through an aggregator like Commission Junction or LinkShare.

But, understand this. Success is never achieved without effort. If someone tells you otherwise, grab your wallet and run! However, it can be achieved with minimal effort.

One of the things I always emphasize in any business venture is the importance of preparing first, then acting. Success in business is achieved through preparation, action, and persistence. If you prepare first for the business venture you are about to undertake, you will already be a few steps ahead of your competition. Yes, there is a lot of competition in affiliate marketing. There will be competition in any business you engage in. That is a universal law.

The most important step for the success of your business is preparation. Believe it or not, 98% of the online businesses they start fail because they don’t complete this simple task: prepare. Yes, it’s a fact that completing the necessary prep work before you begin “doing business” on the web will delay your grand opening. But it is important that you take the time to prepare well now. Then there will be nothing to repair or repeat once it starts. “Get it right the first time.”

Benjamin Franklin once gave this valuable advice…

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

The few hours you spend preparing will determine exactly how big your success will be. At any given time you can find thousands of online resources, many of them free, to help you prepare for affiliate marketing. Once you’ve prepared yourself, go ahead and move on. It’s just a matter of applying what you know.

Let’s be honest. It’s easy to lose interest in something when you have nothing to lose. Affiliate programs are free, but this advantage can also be a disadvantage. They are much less like a real business than, say, opening a store in your local mall, where you commit to putting up some serious money. The people who are most successful in selling products or services take their affiliate business very seriously. They spend personal time and financial resources, just as they would for any other type of business.

Make some type of monetary commitment to your affiliate business.

And last but certainly not least, be persistent. don’t give up One sure way to fail in any business is to quit. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; genius without reward is almost a proverb. Education will not it will; the world is full of educated bums. Persistence, determination and hard work make all the difference.” — President Calvin Coolidge

Successful people become successful by never giving up.

Until next time, I wish you much success.

* Survey results are from the June 2005 and October 2005 issues of Internet Retailer Magazine. http://www.internetretailer.com