If you are like many others who are looking for ways to supplement your income or considering leaving your 9-5 job, becoming an affiliate marketer might be right for you. Affiliate marketing is considered one of the best home based businesses because it’s very easy to get started, requires minimal or no up front money and the risk factor is very low. You will also find that in most cases, depending on the products you promote, the commissions can be very generous and range from about 30-75%.

Regardless of the experience you have as an online marketer, just about anyone can start an affiliate marketing business. Here are the primary reasons why so many people are finding the affiliate marketing business so attractive:

1. No web site or blog needed.
Although I do recommend that you have your own web site or blog, it isn’t necessary as an affiliate. If you do have a web site/blog that’s great. All you would need to do is add the appropriate links or banners that are provided by the merchant. If you don’t have a site, you can still make money by promoting your links. One of the most effective ways of doing that is writing articles. You would then include your affiliate link at the end of your articles and submit them to the article directories. When people read your article and click on your link, you earn a commission if they make a purchase.

2. No product creation.
As an affiliate, you will be selling other people’s products so you do not need your own product. This eliminates all the time and costs associated with developing and researching a new product.

3. Shipping and handling included.
Another great benefit of affiliate marketing is; all the shipping and handling is done by the merchant. Your main focus will be driving traffic to the merchant’s web site. When a sale is made, the merchant is responsible for the product delivery and the payment processing.

4. So many products, so little time.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of products and services an affiliate can promote. You have the ability to pick and choose the products or services you want to sell. Obviously, you will want to promote the most popular, high in demand, and hot products. This takes a bit of research but there are many free resources to help with that task. It’s also best to choose products that you have an interest in and those you wouldn’t hesitate to buy yourself.

5. Hosting and domain expense eliminated.
As I mentioned earlier, you don’t necessarily need a web site or blog. If you choose not to have your own domain and web hosting, you eliminate that expense. Many people when first starting out, have limited funds so those expenses can be eliminated and you can still earn money as an affiliate. However, if you feel you must have a site, you can set up a site or blog utilizing some of the free services that are available such as Blogger.com. I’ll say this again; it is recommended to have your own site or blog. You will most likely earn more and build credibility with your own web site/blog.

6. No customer issues.
As an affiliate, you will not have to deal with customer issues such as refunds. The merchant or network is responsible for handling any refunds, however, the affiliate will be charged back if a refund is issued. For this reason, you should try to find products with a low refund rate. One of the affiliate networks that makes this task a little easier is ClickBank. In addition to all the other stats that they provide on every product is the refund rate. If the product has a high refund rate, move on to something else.

When you take into account all the above benefits and advantages of affiliate marketing, it’s no wonder that affiliate marketing is so popular. With that being said, I should also mention that affiliates who do earn a significant amount of money, work very hard. This is not a business where you’ll make tons of cash overnight. Affiliate marketing is a wonderful business and the rewards can be great but it takes lots of hard work, dedication and patience.

Are you an affiliate marketer or are you considering becoming one? What is it that you find most attractive about affiliate marketing?

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