Affiliate marketing can be great money-maker if done right. But there are so many types of publishers that it's hard to know which ones will give you the best return on your investment. In this article we'll discuss several popular types of publishers and help you decide who to partner up with based upon their revenue potential.
Before getting into all the details about each type of publisher, let me first explain what affiliate marketing is. If you're unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, here's a quick explanation: You put content online (like articles or videos) and then promote it through various platforms like social media, forums, email lists, etc. The more people click on those ads, the higher your commissions go. This is why most major websites have affiliate programs where they pay out commissions when someone clicks on a link within their website. Many times these sites also offer additional incentives such as free products or gifts. For example, Google pays $50 per 1000 impressions for display advertising. So if you place an ad on its search results page, Google will pay you 50 cents for every person who clicked on it.
So now that you understand what affiliate marketing is, let's talk about some of the different types of publishers. There are four main categories of publishers in affiliate marketing. They include:
1. Content creators - These are individuals who create original content. Examples would be bloggers, authors, podcasters, vloggers, photographers, artists, copywriters, etc.
2. Publishers - Also known as 'affiliates', these are companies that either own other publications or sell space in their publication to others.
3. Networkers/Network marketers - People who build relationships among advertisers, publishers, and consumers by sharing information between them. Example networks include ClickBank, CPA Hubs, and ShareASale.
4. Monetizers - These are businesses that use affiliate marketing techniques to make money off of their existing product lines. Some examples of monetizing products include Amazon Kindle Fire tablets, Apple TV boxes, and Roku players.
The list goes on but hopefully you see how these broad categories fit together. Now let's take a look at each one individually.
The first question you need to ask yourself before choosing any particular network is whether or not you want to join an established program or start your own business. If you just want to make extra cash without having to manage anyone else's account, you might consider starting your own blog and promoting affiliate offers directly from vendors instead of joining an established network. However, if you'd rather avoid learning new skills and dealing with customer service issues, you could sign up with an established affiliate network. Let's explore both options further below.
If you decide to join an established affiliate program, there are two ways to determine how much you should charge for each sale. First, check the terms and conditions of the program itself. Most good affiliate programs have clear guidelines regarding minimum earnings requirements and maximum earning caps. Second, you can always try asking around to find out what typical rates are being charged by similar affiliate partners. Once you've determined how much to charge, you can add 20% or 30% onto whatever rate you set. It's important to note though that setting too low of a price will lower your chances of making sales. Setting too high of a price can cause buyers to feel ripped off.
Now that you know how much you can earn, you may wonder how much you actually stand to gain from affiliate marketing. How much percentage does the company hold in affiliates?
This varies greatly depending upon the size of the company. Smaller companies usually only keep 10%-20% while larger corporations often retain 40%+ of the profits made from their affiliates. And even though large corporations tend to hold more of the profit pie, smaller companies still benefit because they don't have to worry about paying salaries and overhead costs. Plus, small companies tend to provide better support than larger corporations since they typically employ fewer employees.
Another factor worth considering when deciding how much percentage to accept is the quality of the vendor's products. A reputable company will likely allow you to keep 100%, whereas less reputable companies will sometimes require you to give back part of your cut. On average, you should expect to receive anywhere from 25% to 75%.
Finally, you must consider the amount of effort required to generate income. If you're going to spend hours creating valuable content and writing promotional emails, you probably shouldn't settle for anything less than 60%-70% of the total payout.
As mentioned above, you will generally earn somewhere between 5%-75% of the purchase price. That means if you were selling a $100 product, you would net anywhere from $5-$75. Of course, if you had thousands of customers buying your products, you could potentially double or triple your earnings!
However, there are certain exceptions. Sometimes sellers will only offer lower percentages due to competitive reasons or limited resources. Other times, sellers won't offer any commissions whatsoever because they simply aren't interested in working with affiliates.
Some programs will also cap your earnings once you reach a certain number of sales over a specific period of time. Usually, this happens after 2 months of active participation.
In addition to holding a portion of the profit generated from their affiliates' transactions, companies will often also hold control over the entire process. When a buyer makes a purchase using an affiliated link, the seller receives credit for the transaction regardless of whether she has paid her affiliate yet. Because of this, the seller doesn't really care how much her affiliate received. She cares only how much she gets paid.
Most affiliate programs operate under a "first come, first serve" model. Meaning, the first affiliate who places a successful order earns his share of the payment immediately. After that point, subsequent affiliates get nothing until the previous affiliate completes payments. This is called "payout priority." Payouts usually occur weekly, although some programs operate daily.
Many times, companies will also require their affiliates to maintain strict privacy policies. By signing up with an affiliate program, you agree to abide by the rules specified in their Terms & Conditions document. This includes keeping everything confidential and preventing third parties from accessing your accounts. Failure to adhere to these stipulations will result in immediate termination.
It's also essential that you read the fine print regarding the exclusivity clauses. These provisions prevent affiliates from offering competing products during the same timeframe. While some affiliates may argue that this policy isn't fair, it's something that needs to be taken seriously.
When placing your affiliate links on blogs and webpages, it's crucial that you follow the proper procedures. One way to ensure you comply is to use special software designed specifically for affiliate marketing. Programs like LinkShare, Commission Junction, and ShareASale offer easy integration features that enable you to automatically track affiliate conversions and submit orders to your preferred merchant.
You can also manually enter data and perform manual checks whenever necessary. Using a spreadsheet tool like Excel, you can easily organize your records according to date, location, and product category. This allows you to quickly spot trends and identify areas where you may have missed out on opportunities.
Once you've identified problems, you can correct them accordingly. For instance, suppose you noticed a decline in your sales figures last month compared to the month prior. To remedy this situation, you could contact your suppliers to resolve any possible supply shortages. Or perhaps you didn't meet your monthly quota despite spending plenty of time trying to increase traffic and sales. Then again, maybe you weren't doing enough research to discover relevant keywords and phrases that would drive more targeted visitors to your site. Whatever the case may be, you can tweak your strategy in accordance with what worked previously and what didn't.
And finally, remember that affiliate marketing is all about building long-term partnerships. Don't burn bridges early on by failing to communicate effectively. By treating everyone involved with respect, you'll ultimately reap greater rewards down the road.
Have you ever been approached by an affiliate marketing firm? What was your experience like? Did you end up going along with it? Leave us a comment and tell us about it...
Affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular online monetization strategies. It's easy to set up and it can be profitable if done right. But there are many variables that you must take into account when choosing your strategy. One of those important factors is which type of website or publication should you choose as your platform. There are several options available to you depending on what kind of audience you want to reach. If you're looking to make money from home then you'll need to have at least some basic knowledge about digital publishing. You may already know something about this but just in case here we go!
1) Blogging - This is probably the easiest way to start making money through affiliate marketing because all you really need is an internet connection and a computer. You don't even need any special skills or equipment other than a standard web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). All you need to get started is to find a niche topic that interests you. Then write articles related to that topic and post them regularly. The more people read your content, the better chance you will have to earn commissions.
2) E-zines / Newsletters - A newsletter is similar to blogging except instead of writing posts once every few days like blogs usually do, newsletters often publish multiple times per day. They also tend to focus on current events rather than topics that are easily searchable by Google so they require more effort to maintain. However, e-zine sites offer much higher potential earnings due to their ability to target readers who specifically seek out information related to certain subjects. In addition, these websites typically charge less for advertising space compared to blog networks and therefore offer lower rates for advertisers.
3) Video Sharing Sites - Similar to news letter, video sharing platforms such as YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo allow users to upload videos. Unlike traditional media where viewers watch ads before being able to view the actual content, visitors on these websites browse through user generated content without seeing advertisements first. Therefore, these websites attract a very specific group of people who prefer watching short clips over long format movies or TV shows. In order to succeed on these kinds of sites, you need to understand how to promote your own product while still appearing authentic. That means creating original content and not using pre-made scripts designed for viral success.
4) Podcasts - Another great option for earning passive income through affiliate marketing is podcasting. Like blogs, podcasts consist of audio files that you record yourself. But unlike blogs, you only need a microphone and a sound recorder app on your mobile phone or tablet device to produce quality content. Because it requires no technical skill, podcasting is perfect for anyone who wants to start making money passively through affiliate marketing.
5) Magazines & Newspapers - These types of publications include everything from general interest magazines like Time magazine to newspapers like the Wall Street Journal. Many of these titles pay handsomely for both exclusive rights and syndication to third party websites. To maximize profits, you should try to partner with large companies that sell products directly on their site. For example, if Coca Cola wanted to advertise on your article about coffee consumption habits, they would likely pay a fee to place the ad along with the subscription price. And since you receive payment regardless of whether someone reads the entire article or clicks on the advertisement, you could potentially earn hundreds or thousands of dollars each month.
6) Social Media Pages - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are social networking giants that millions of people use daily. By posting links to relevant products and services, you can drive traffic back to your own website and increase sales. Some businesses even hire influencers to help boost their brand awareness on social media pages.
7) Direct Marketing Companies - Direct mailings and email campaigns are another effective method of promoting products via affiliate marketing. When used wisely, direct mailers can generate high levels of qualified leads with little cost.
8) Shopping Carts - Online shopping carts are programs offered by merchants to track customers' purchases. Merchants can use these systems to keep track of customer purchasing behavior and provide personalized recommendations based on previous purchase history.
9) Content Creation Services - If you enjoy writing, consider offering freelance content creation services to local businesses. Writing for print and online publications provides steady residual income and allows you to build credibility as well as establish relationships with clients and colleagues. Just remember to always research your client and ensure that you fully disclose any conflicts of interest.
An affiliate program works in the following manner. First, you join an affiliate network. Once you sign up with an affiliate network, you agree to promote its products and/or services within specified parameters. Next, you develop promotional materials for distribution to interested parties. Finally, you send emails and/or distribute flyers and brochures promoting the company’s offerings. Upon meeting the agreed upon criteria, the affiliate receives a portion of the sale made through your efforts.
One of the best ways to create an eBook is to simply copy and paste text from various sources and save it as a Word document. Don't worry if it doesn't look professional yet--you can edit it later after you've completed it. Also, don't forget to add images whenever possible. An image goes far beyond words alone. It makes your book seem more personal and gives you a reason to recommend it to others.
The answer is yes and no. Most affiliate marketers purchase products for themselves personally or on behalf of a business. However, there are two exceptions. The first exception occurs when someone buys a product for you with the intent to resell it. For instance, let's say you found a new pair of shoes that looks amazing. Instead of buying them yourself, you tell the store owner that you'd love to give them to a friend. He agrees and says he'll bring them to you tomorrow afternoon. Later that night, you see him approaching with the shoes in his hands. Your heart leaps with joy because now you can pass them onto your friends who desperately needed a new pair of shoes at the time. This is called "referral" marketing. As a result, you received free products and the person receiving them got an additional source of revenue.
Another exception happens when you actually buy the product for yourself and decide to share it with other people online. Let's say you bought a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 inch Tablet. After reading reviews and researching the specs, you determine that this is exactly what you were hoping for. Now, you realize that you might be able to convince your sister to buy one too. So you show her the Amazon link and ask her if she thinks it's worth the $200+ price tag. She replies affirmatively and tells you that she was considering getting one herself anyway. Suddenly, you have two happy consumers. Even though you didn't technically refer either of them to Amazon, you indirectly did because you helped them come closer to achieving their goal.
Commission rates vary widely between different affiliate markets. Typically, the larger and established brands tend to have the highest rates. On average, you can expect to earn anywhere between 5% and 10%. However, you can sometimes negotiate a smaller percentage if you're willing to put forth extra effort. Keep in mind that the bigger the deal, the harder it is to convert a lead into a paying customer. Therefore, it pays off to spend more time working on landing page designs and optimizing your SEO keywords.
When you're first starting out in affiliate marketing (whether it's your primary source of income or just one avenue among many), you may be wondering about what type of website owner will best fit your needs. There are a lot of different types of publishers. We've listed nine common types below and explained why they might appeal to you.
We'll start off by explaining what affiliate marketing is before we discuss each of these specific categories of publishers.
A typical example of this form of advertising would involve some sort of product review site where visitors can buy products through affiliate links on that page. The affiliate receives a small percentage of sales from any purchases made using their link(s). This means that if someone clicks through to buy something from Amazon, the affiliate gets paid after every purchase. If there are no additional costs associated with running such a campaign (such as hosting fees) then all profits go directly back into the affiliate's pocket.
This model has been around since at least the late '90s and early 2000s but has recently taken another turn towards more direct monetization methods. Nowadays, websites like ClickBank offer "affiliates" who don't actually own any inventory of goods themselves a way to profit from selling other people's. These affiliates sign up and start creating ads promoting various items on the marketplace. The ads are usually text based and include information about the item being promoted along with a hyperlink directing users to a landing page where they can make their purchase.
While not always possible, this method allows the affiliate to generate revenue without having to deal with shipping charges, handling fees, etc., which makes it much easier than trying to sell physical merchandise. In addition, it also gives the individual writing the ad greater control over how often they want to run promotions.
As mentioned above, this form of online advertising is becoming increasingly popular because most advertisers have realized that it offers a better return on investment than traditional forms of advertising. As such, companies like Google Ads and Facebook Ads now allow marketers to bid for certain keywords so they can place advertisements on search engines and social media sites respectively.
It should come as no surprise that these two platforms dominate the industry - both provide easy ways for content creators to build traffic and drive conversions while allowing those same individuals to earn money when others use their services.
Yes! While it isn't quite as lucrative as PPC, affiliate marketing still pays well enough to support a full time job for anyone looking to get started. And unlike many sources of passive income, affiliate commissions tend to grow faster than inflation.
However, it does take time and effort to build authority. A good rule of thumb is that you need to reach 10% of monthly unique visits across multiple niches before you really see significant earnings. That said, the more targeted your audience is, the higher your chances of earning commissions.
An affiliate publisher is simply somebody who runs a blog or website and earns money through advertising. They don't necessarily write articles or create videos - instead, they partner with brands whose products and/or services they promote.
Some examples of affiliate publishers include bloggers, YouTube channels, Instagram accounts, podcasts, and even ebooks. You could also consider yourself an affiliate publisher if you publish articles related to your niche and earn revenue whenever readers choose to buy products recommended within the article.
Affiliate publishers typically receive a portion of the price customers end up paying for advertised products. It sounds simple right? Well, it kind of is...but it takes a bit more than just posting affiliate links.
You must actively manage the relationship between you and the brand you're working with. Some tips include getting involved in discussions about the products you're promoting and sharing interesting and relevant content. Also, keep in mind that while you may think your audience only wants to read quality content, they're likely interested in learning new things too. So long as you stay true to your brand guidelines and stick to providing value to your readers, you should be fine.
If you'd rather avoid dealing with third parties entirely, you could try building your own site dedicated to promoting sponsored posts. Then, you wouldn't have to worry about negotiating contracts or figuring out whether or not you deserve a cut of the sale. But, this approach requires significantly more upfront capital compared to standard affiliate programs.
No. An affiliate works exclusively with a single company whereas a publisher creates content for several clients. However, most affiliate marketers prefer to remain anonymous due to the fact that they don't personally handle customer service issues or interact with potential buyers.
Instead, they rely on trusted partners like vendors, distributors, and manufacturers. For instance, let's say you were offered a $100 gift card for signing up for a particular product. Instead of handing over the cash immediately, you'd send your contact details to a distributor who would forward your request on to the vendor responsible for producing the giveaway.
In exchange for sending you referral emails, the vendor would give the distributor a set amount of money once a given number of referrals was reached. All three parties agree upon the terms beforehand and everyone wins.
Publishers have similar setups although they generally don't require intermediaries. Rather, they negotiate deals directly with large corporations where they get a share of the revenues generated through their efforts.
Many of the larger players in the field have gone public and are traded on stock exchanges. Others are private entities that operate independently. Either way, they're known as "network marketing" organizations and are commonly referred to as MLM businesses.
Advertisers in affiliate marketing
Advertisers are essentially the ones buying space on your website. Like publishers, they'll typically pick a few or maybe even hundreds of domains to advertise on depending on the size of their budget. Many times, however, they won't know exactly who owns these domains until they arrive on your site.
So, in order to prevent duplicate listings, they hire domain name registrars to track down available names and register them on behalf of their campaigns. Once they find a suitable match, they submit it to the registrar alongside payment instructions. After receiving confirmation of payment, the registrar passes the domain onto the advertiser.
Once they've acquired a domain, advertisers can use tools provided by affiliate networks to upload files containing banner images, video trailers, call-to-action buttons, and other promotional materials. When someone lands on the page featuring their advertisement, they'll be directed to a separate webpage where they can browse through a series of options to decide whether or not they want to view further information or make a purchase.
These files are typically hosted on remote servers managed by third party providers. At any point during the process, the advertiser can log in via FTP software and delete unused banners, adjust image colors, and add new ones.
CJ Affiliate
One of the largest and oldest affiliate networks in existence today is CJ Affiliate. Since its inception in 1999, the company has grown to include thousands of participating merchants worldwide. Alongside the numerous opportunities for network members to join, the platform provides detailed analytics for tracking results.
Today, CJ Affiliate operates under the parent company of GoDaddy.com. According to recent statistics, over 80 million active affiliates belong to the network. Not bad considering it's owned by one of the world's biggest web hosts!
Rakuten Advertising
Another major player in the affiliate scene is Rakuten Advertising. Founded in 2007, the company claims to be the second largest affiliate program behind Commission Junction (CJ). Unlike CJ, however, Rakuten doesn't charge membership fees for advertisers. In turn, Rakuten pays affiliates 75 cents for every dollar spent through their network.
On average, Rakuten says it sees approximately 90,000 transactions per day. By comparison, CJ reports a total of 5 billion dollars worth of business annually. Both figures are impressive, especially considering that Rakuten is less than 20 years old.
Adsterra
Like CJ Affiliate, Adsterra is a leading provider of affiliate marketing solutions. Founded in 2001, the company currently boasts partnerships with over 100,000 merchants. Unlike CJ, however, Adsterra doesn't charge membership fees for advertisers. Instead, affiliates are required to spend a minimum of $25 per month to participate in the program.
Today, Adsterra claims to be recognized as the fastest growing affiliate network in history. Their success comes largely thanks to the team behind it. One of the founders of the company went on to found the successful social networking app Bebo. Another founder founded the mobile gaming firm Angry Birds.
Conclusion
The aforementioned list represents just some of the many types of publishers out there. To learn more about affiliate marketing and how it relates to publishing, check out our guide.
Just follow our battle-tested guidelines and rake in the profits.