When it comes to finding people in your target market online, it can be hard, grueling process. Although you can buy Google AdWords that are targeted on different Web sites, or pay for Google search engine results, there’s no guarantee that people will click through to your site. There’s also no guarantee that people will even read your ad – I know that I tend to ignore Google AdWords anymore, just because I see them everywhere. I don’t have to read them to know what they are.
So how else can you get a target market online?
Many blogs and articles I’ve read talk about using affiliate marketing, but it all seems fishy to me. Let me explain how I understand affiliate marketing, and then if I’m off base, maybe someone can help me understand.
From the HowStuffWorks Web site, I got this definition: “Affiliate programs, also called associate programs, are arrangements in which an online merchant Web site pays affiliate Web sites a commission to send them traffic. These affiliate Web sites post links to the merchant site and are paid according to a particular agreement. This agreement is usually based on the number of people the affiliate sends to the merchant’s site, or the number of people they send who buy something or perform some other action. Some arrangements pay according to the number of people who visit the page containing their merchant site’s banner advertisement. Basically, if a link on an affiliate site brings the merchant site traffic or money, the merchant site pays the affiliate site according to their agreement. Recruiting affiliates is an excellent way to sell products online, but it can also be a cheap and effective marketing strategy; it’s a good way to get the word out about your site.”
That’s the clearest explanation I’ve seen from any other sites I’ve visited. It sounds like swapping links, but instead of an affiliate getting some link love, they get money instead. It almost sounds better for the affiliate site to me.
Amazon.com has over 500,000 affiliate Web sites that they pay if the affiliate can send someone over who actually buys something from Amazon. It seems kind of easy to work for a site like Amazon, which is known as the place to buy books, but what about the new sites that are unknown? I don’t usually buy from Web sites I’ve never heard of, or at least can’t find reviews of because I’m afraid of getting burned. I ordered some clothes from a Web site I’d never heard of, and when I tried to return an item, no one would email me back and I couldn’t find a phone number. Now I know better!
I suppose if Amazon is using an affiliate program, as is TiVo and many others, then it could be legit. Then again, the HowStuffWorks article talks about multilevel marketing being similar to a type of affiliate program – that makes a red flag go up. Anything that reminds me of Amway tells me it’s bad.
But still, I’m torn. Are affiliate programs good or bad? Someone please give me some laymen terms into what’s going on and whether it’s shady or not.
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