"Ten ways to explain affiliate marketing…“

Posted by Affiliate Program Advice

January 28, 2007

Ten ways to explain affiliate marketing…
“I’ve been pondering lately how it is that Affiliate Marketing, which helped to generate more than £2 billion in UK e-commerce revenues last year, has scarcely ever got a mention in the national mainstream press. Why is this? It’s not as if the papers have been shying away from e-commerce stories.” 5.6.6 of the affiliate census, How do you describe Affiliate Marketing to friends & family?’ See full blog post here Source E-consultancy.comIts so true, how many times have I tried to explain what it is that I do. I start of with, “I do affiliate marketing” Watch the blank expression… “It’s a form of internet advertising”. The light bulb goes on but nine times out of ten they are still seeking more clarity. The more I try to simplify the explanation, the more it becomes complex. Example, if I said affiliate marketing is performance based marketing, I still have to expand. If I explain the processes, affiliates are webmasters with content rich sites, this is not always true as some affiliate are just ppc affiliates and dont require any websites at all.You see what I mean? Its also dependent upon which side of the fence you sit on. Example Stephen Pratley is an affiliate, here is how he describes affiliate marketing “I drive visitors to website to buy their products and services, and I get paid a commission for it.”

From an affiliate networks perspective, interestingly enough, not one network has a clear definition of what affiliate marketing is… too funny :0) The closest is AffiliateWindow.com but it does not really explain exactly what affiliate marketing is. Buy.at have had a go on their home page. So… what is affiliate marketing? People need and want to know. Think about this from a merchant’s perspective who has been on the planet Tharg and just landed on earth and from the newbie affiliates perspective. What is affiliate Marketing?(Im going to get a duplicate content ban for repetition of the word affiliate marketing,lol)

I have to confess, I would love to say the following…
10) “Pimping other companies’ products for cash.” Or
4) “Like wearing a sandwich board offering directions and charging the destination for pointing people there.”
Priceless!