Have an idea that you want to share with the world? Already have your own blog, fanpage or website? Affiliate Marketing is a method of monetizing your existing site by linking offers that are valuable to your current audience. Also known as Ebusiness, Ecommerce or Emarketing, Affiliate Marketing allows you to display an offer for a service or product and earn an income when your audience either purchases that offer , explores the store through your link and purchases another item/s or even sometimes simply by clicking on the offer.

A couple of great ways to market these offers are by adding widgets to your site with the html codes of the offers directly, or by completing article and content type marketing with links within the body of the article. The second being a great option as you are adding value with your engaging content written to the reader, not just promoting the offer itself.

If you are brand new to Affiliate Marketing, I would highly recommend undertaking one of the great Udemy courses for a low cost. This will really help you understand the basics, and point you in the direction of the right platform for you. If you are in search for a free or low cost website/blog option then try wix , wordpress, or http://www.blogger.com.

Next, you need to determine your niche audience. What is the message that you are wanting to share with the world? Who is your ideal reader? Now is the time to start loading your chosen content. Remember, headlines are your 3 second opportunity to grab the readers attention so are vitally important. Likewise, visual appeal and lush high-quality images that are appropriate to your content are also key. Check out your website providers albums for any appropriate image access they may provide or check out sites such as http://www.pexels.com . It’s important to have depth of content before you launch it to the public. This is also a necessary step to take before approaching some affiliate sites (especially Google AdSense which pays you per clicks). When originally applying to be an affiliate you will be asked to provide the link for your site, which will then in turn be reviewed for traffic and depth of content to see if you are a good fit.

There are many companies these days that have an Affiliate program, and these can usually be found at the bottom menu of their pages, but check out the sites that are relevant to your niche. Try searching for Affiliate Marketing in your country, and one of the easiest ones to start with would be Amazon who have thousands of products relevant to many markets.

When it comes time to promoting your site and growing your audience, there are many ways you can do this but some of the more popular options are through email marketing, social media marketing, blog and article marketing sharing sites, forums and online classifieds.

Overall, remember that as Affiliate Marketing is connected to your chosen niche it is a labour of love and therefore its important to manage expectations with regard to the time frame of financial return , and as you hone and develop your site so will you see financial rewards.