How to become an affiliate

If you're looking to generate revenue online, there are thousand ways to make money - one of them being through affiliate programmes. Becoming an affiliate only requires you to set up a website in a certain way, and if done correctly, you can earn residual income without having to do any further work after setup. Here's a guide on how to become an affiliate online.

Affiliate programme: The basics

Produce traffic
As an affiliate, your primary aim is to produce traffic, known as visitors, towards outside vendor web pages in return for commissions, thus making you the affiliate. You may also see this form of income referred to by many as affiliate marketing. Totally dependent upon the contract that you have personally set up with this vendor, you can either be paid each time someone clicks on your affiliate link (pay per click), per sale (each time the customer makes a purchase, you receive a small percentage), or per lead. Unfortunately, due to a high number of fraudsters, the pay per click affiliate marketing strategies are a dying breed and not used as much today. The Google affiliate programme Google has a programme that is very similar to an affiliate offer that you would find on other websites, such as the Google Adwords referral programme. To participate in this programme, users submit an application to Google expressing interest. Upon approval, you may place Google's logo (usually in graphic or link form) onto your web page that advertises Google's adwords. Adwords is a "per lead" programme, offering a flat fee to each participant that enlists. Blogging Blogging is another great way to get started in the affiliate programme. Blogger offers the Adsense programme created by Google through the blogspot pages. Simply create a blog, request approval directly through the Blogger site, and upon approval, links to the affiliate-like programme will be posted on your blog page.

Affiliate education

With a little patience and time to read, you can further your education in affiliate marketing for free. There are a number of sites giving out info on how to get started and the best strategies to use. One helpful site offering several articles on the do's and dont's of affiliate marketing is Associateprograms.com. Feel free to visit Google or your preferred search engine to browse for additional pages on the topic as well.