If you’ve used the internet even a little, you will be aware of affiliate marketing – you know when you get an email persuading you go to a website and sign up for a free trial. Are these sites genuine. How can they give free iPhones away? It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, when you delve a little deeper you’ll see a business plan which does make sense, and which seems to be working. Let me explain.
What is affiliate marketing and how does it work?
Affiliate marketing is a simple way to improve traffic and sales to a site. It is cheap and effective for advertisers and it almost always delivers the goods for a good return on investment. The most simple form of affiliate marketing is a google adword (you know those little links to the right of your google search page?). Links like these pay commission to the hoster of the link when they deliver someone to the site or get a sale out of them. For a click you might get a small amount, for a site where you get a number of people to sign up and take out a trial offer, the commission is considerably higher.
How do they afford giving away gifts such as iPhones iPods and Playstation 3’s?
Because of the way that sites like kudosnetwork and freebiejeebies (see below) are structured. The reason they can give you so much more is that most everyone who signs up wants to get an iPhone for themselves, and so it’s not just 18 referrals that you get, it’s the 18 referrals that each of the 18 people that you referred go out and get. That’s 324, and if all of those people want an iPhone, and get one, that’s 5832 customers all for the cost of 19 iPhones paid out, and so on it goes. As you can see, in a very short space of time, the numbers of people, and hence the income grows exponentially, and they can afford to honour their promise.
To buy advertising is not cheap. The advertisers know this, and look towards clever ways to get their product ‘out there’. With affiliate marketing the advertiser is paying the affiliate marketing site, who then passes on some of the money to you, who are actually bringing in the punters. Of course, it’s not free, but it only takes a little time and a little clever thinking.
What’s in it for the site owner?
They make a commission for everyone who takes out a promotion. They pass on some of this to you. As you are doing the legwork, you are identifying the people and persuading them to sign up; ruling out those who it would be wasted on. You are filtering out, through your knowledge, those who would never sign up. Effectively, you are doing the donkey-work, and the site owner is just sitting there and taking his cut. So as you can see, there’s quite a lot in it for him.
But if everyone completed their referrals, wouldn’t the site lose money?
It is possible that if everyone suddenly did complete all their referrals, that the site might temporarily be out of pocket, but they would raise the amount of referrals required to ensure that they are always making a profit. As you come at the bottom of the chain, you are the last to get paid, so to speak, so know that the sites always have cash, and that’s how they honour their contract with you, and give you your iPhone. Also remember, it pays for them to keep their reputation sweet amongst their agents (you guys), as without you and your clever efforts, they are nothing. Can they really afford to go around making promises they can’t keep? Not for long, and these sites are alive and well and have been for some time, so it appears they’ve got the balance right.
And what about the advertisers? If everyone cancelled their free trials, would they not lose out?
Again, they probably would lose customers (and money) if all people cancelled, but this is never the case. There are always people who forget, or who don’t know how to cancel. More importantly, the company gets one very important thing; your attention. They get a chance to make a good impression. Think of it as a ‘loss-leader’, a sales call. If they can convince you that what they are selling you is good, then you will buy it and they will have a happy customer and a revenue stream. The reality is that some will stay, some will go, and some will forget to cancel their direct debit (and so remain ‘gym’ members by default)
So, is affiliate marketing worth getting involved in?
Yes. Absolutely. And for everyone involved. Just have patience and determination and you will get there. If you don’t believe me, have a look on the web and see for yourself. The internet is plastered with examples of success stories of affiliate marketing. The question is, what have you got to lose by giving it a go?
You Game? Check out the following sites for more info: kudosnetwork & freebiejeebies. Click on the links below to visit the sites. Have fun!
check kudosnetwork AND freebiejeebies for more information about how to start claiming your free iPhone. Also check thebestthings.co.uk for further information and to make your affiliate selling more profitable.
