Have You Ever Considered Affiliate Marketing?
I’m sure that, if you do a lot of work online, you use a lot of web-based tools. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve even paid good money for some of them!
I’m also sure that, based on your recommendations, friends and fellow freelancers have signed up for the services you use. It’s just too bad that, in some instances, you could’ve gotten paid for your informal marketing.
Affiliate marketing represents a great investment for freelancers, because it can provide some decent additional income, with little, usually one-shot work on the contract worker’s part.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Simply put, affiliate marketing is a system of revenue sharing. “Publishers” market a web business, and when they refer a paying customer (usually), they get a cut of the profits generated by the sale.
The Internet makes this process easier for publishers, because online properties will market to potential customers and create sales even while unsupervised. For example, a publisher posts an article on her blog about a web host she uses, complete with some personal testimonials and persuasive copy, all designed to convince the reader that the service is worth purchasing.
A One-Shot Deal
Note that as readers turn into customers, the publisher was never involved in the actual process of attracting and convincing prospects, but only in getting paid for generating the sale (”conversions” in affiliate marketing speak). If the freelancer was a publisher, it was most likely that she was working on a project, taking some time off, or even sleeping. The best thing about affiliate marketing for freelancers is that, with the right set-up, they can actually earn as they go about their daily business.
Affiliate Marketing isn’t as work intensive as say, your main profession. That’s because if you know how to create a convincing online presentation, and somehow make sure that potential customers see it, you can generate sales and make some decent money. All while advancing your freelance career.
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POSTED IN: Freelance Finances
3 opinions for Have You Ever Considered Affiliate Marketing?
Shannon
Nov 14, 2007 at 12:02 pm
I love affiliate marketing. Everyone wins! I have several products I often recommend to people, so it’s nice to see a little kick-back now and again.
In addition, I also have an affiliate program for my products and services. It has helped me reach a market I might have be able to.
Harrison
Nov 15, 2007 at 4:44 pm
For me, being an Affiliate Marketer is totally cool!
In order to make money, a lot of money, through affiliate marketing, we must learn the skills of internet marketing and internet communication/internet selling skills. However, this is not easy to learn and this make me feel that those affiliate marketers are really cool.
Anyway I still believe that if we work hard enough, we will finally find the way to make money from it.
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Apr 23, 2008 at 8:50 am
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