Affiliate marketing is an extension of the traditional marketing mix when applied to selling products and services on the internet.Amazon effectively used affiliate marketing to turn itself into one of the net marketing greats, and with persistence and modification, has transformed the whole concept of selling online to a whole new plateau of profitability for not only themselves, but also a vast number of those affiliated with them.
But what is affiliate marketing? In essence, it is where a merchant grants permission to sub-merchants to promote their products in return for a percentage of each sale generated through their efforts. Now this is not difficult to understand at all. By sending targeted visitors through to a vendor like Amazon, sales (and resulting commissions) are sure to follow. So it makes sense for webmasters to affiliate themselves with complimentary products and services, in return for a commission upon every sale generated through their promotional efforts.
What isn't so clear however, is how to make affiliate marketing profitable for the sub-merchant, commonly referred to as the 'affiliate'.
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