Internet Marketing Tycoon

**scmbody** · 08-05-2007, 10:38 AM

Hello. Sorry to bother any of you masters, but I'm a complete idiot and newbie at web meistering, so obviously I have come to this forum with questions galore.

So here are my completely newbie questions.

1. What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?
2. Is there a way to make money off a site where no one buys anything?
3. What's the best way to get traffic to a site where there isn't anything for sale?

Thanks in advance for helping this young newbie,
Zane

**vangogh** · 08-05-2007, 03:49 PM

Zane affiliate marketing is essentially where you're marketing products for someone else and they give you some portion of any sales that came through you.

Let's say you have a site about hiking and you find an affiliate program selling hiking shoes. Your job becomes getting people to your site, putting them in the right frame of mind to buy hiking shoes, and then sending them to the affiliate's site. The link from your site to their's would have code to track that the potential customer came through you and if that customer buys you would get paid.

There's a lot more details of course. I think an easy way to think about it is to think of a salesperson who earns commissions on every sale made.

You can make money from when no one buys anything. In fact some affiliate programs won't require a sale to pay you. They might pay for subscription to a newsletter or some other action. You could also make money advertising where you can make more as more people visit your site.

Contextual advertising (like AdSense) doesn't require a purchase, but it might require a click on a link. Some contextual advertising will be based on the pageviews.

The best way to monetize a site would be to use a variety of different sources of revenue so you might run ads and also direct people to affiliate products. You might even sell some products directly on the same site.

Getting traffic is a huge topic. The key to real and lasting traffic is to have a site that offers value to people. That might mean great information in the form of articles or blog posts or it may mean displaying images or videos. The idea is to have something people want on your site.

I'd suggest reading through some of the threads here in the forum as well as other forums and blogs for more information about driving traffic to your site. It's not really something that can be answered in a single post or thread.

It will also depend on your site. Te best source of traffic for my site might not be the best source of traffic for your site.

**scmbody** · 08-05-2007, 03:56 PM

Okay, I think I got this. Let's say I make a site about support for Proboards. (a crappy and stupid free forum host that I used to use :P ) There's a new version of Proboards hosting coming out and the community's seen some screenshots but they don't really like it. There's a lot of skepticism about the new version of the hosting. I could take advatage of that by posting an add to Proboards on my forum and Proboards would maybe pay me for it.

**elena29** · 08-06-2007, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scmbody

Okay, I think I got this. Let's say I make a site about support for Proboards. (a crappy and stupid free forum host that I used to use :P ) There's a new version of Proboards hosting coming out and the community's seen some screenshots but they don't really like it. There's a lot of skepticism about the new version of the hosting. I could take advatage of that by posting an add to Proboards on my forum and Proboards would maybe pay me for it.

This look like a fairly good idea, however I would take the guesswork out of your business model and go for the security of income compared to the time spent to actually put your plans to reality. Talk to the ones who own that product and make a deal before starting the entire thing.

**fitnfree** · 12:10 PM

May I suggest checking out 5 Star Affiliate Forum?? I won't post the link - not sure if I can, but just Google it and you should get right to it. Very helpful people and information on using Affiliate programs. Good luck!

**vangogh** · 08-07-2007, 02:09 AM

Feel free to post the link Jeni.

**ADAM Web Design** · 08-07-2007, 02:12 AM

Yeah, Jeni, you've at least earned the right by now by showing you can post intelligent comments without the need to spam.

**vangogh** · 08-07-2007, 02:14 AM

Adam you read my mind.

**chrishirst** · 08-07-2007, 09:22 AM

http://www.webmaster-talk.com/affili...-programs.html

**gtterry** · 08-07-2007, 10:02 AM

I would like to follow on the original question. I am not a newbie to publishing, but I have never had any success with affiliate programs. I have an Azoogle account, have translated into many clicks of which I got paid squat. Can anyone point me into a direction of success here.

And with all due respect, please don't tell me to read forums. I'm not sure I can read anymore, my eyes and head hurt right now. Just ideas on products that strategies that you personnaly know have worked.

**vangogh** · 08-07-2007, 06:33 PM

Read more forums. Sorry, couldn't resist

If you're able to get a good clickthrough to the affiliate and you're not making money then either the affiliate isn't a good one or you're not putting people in the right frame of mind prior to sending them there.

They might have an under performing site or are charging too much or any number of things not leading to sales. It could also be a dishonest affiliate who is making sales and not crediting you.

On your site are your pages sales pages or are you presenting informational pages? If you're trying to sell the product and then someone clicks only to find another sales page they likely get turned off. If your pages are more informational then you should sell more.

**gtterry** · 08-07-2007, 10:31 PM

Probably a combination of all of the above. I am amazed at how different the affiliate marketing game is versus information publishing.

**fitnfree** · 08-07-2007, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Yeah, Jeni, you've at least earned the right by now by showing you can post intelligent comments without the need to spam.

Aw shucks, thanks guys!

DRUM ROLL...here's the link!

http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5s...eprograms.com/

**codingmaster** · 08-30-2007, 02:19 AM

Affiliate marketing is the best and easiest way to earn a nice and steady income from the comfort of your home. Whether you are just starting or an experienced affiliate, you have free access to a lifetime of affiliate marketing tools, tips and techniques.
Like most aspects of affiliate marketing it has got harder but affiliates will always be at the forefront of working out new angles and ways to generate traffic.Affiliate marketing doesn't have any kinds of limits or borders.in the affiliate marketing world every affiliate has the potential to reach every market and geographical area. Think very carefully when setting up your program and don’t put yourself in a position where you are auto rejecting affiliates that could be prepared to work hard for you.
Affiliate marketing widens the scope of your internet presence by encouraging other websites to become advocates for your services, increasing your online exposure and improving the efficiency of your advertising spend.

**contact247** · 09-05-2007, 04:12 AM

Affiliate Marketing is just making your site an increasing popularity. i don't know much about how much profit you can gain from it.

**chrishirst** · 09-05-2007, 06:38 AM

Totally Wrong.

Affiliate marketing is NOT and should NEVER be about "popularity"

It is All about making sales and therefore profit.