Small Business Ideas – Affiliate Marketing

Entrepreneur.com describes affiliate marketing opportunities as perfect small business ideas. It highlights affiliate marketing in the article entitled “5 Perfect ‘Spare-Time’ Online Businesses."

What is affiliate marketing? Basically, it involves running a referral business. You don’t create a product, sell a product, or serve a customer base. Rather, you recommend businesses to people.

As the Entrepreneur.com article sums up, “you can get paid a referral commission just for sending people to sites (or vendors) that are set up to pay affiliate fees once a sale is made.”

Those certainly sound like great small business ideas to me!

How do you choose an affiliate with which you can partner? Some choose affiliates based on the amount of commission they will pay for each referral that leads to a sale. For example, insurance companies and credit card companies are known for their high commissions. Some pay from $40 to $150 and higher.

Others choose affiliates based on their hobbies, passions, and interests. They promote what engages them.

If you’re looking for ideas, Entrepreneur.com recommends ClickBank.com.

How do you attract people to your website and then refer them to vendors? One way to do this is through a blog.

Some blogs are like personal journals where you can communicate your personal thoughts. However, it is often wiser to concentrate on a particular subject. Having a focused target audience and definite niche will give you higher chances of succeeding financially.

You can blog about virtually anything nowadays. Competition is less of an issue. Entrepreneur.com notes that “[f]olks who read one blog are apt to read others on a topic they’re passionate about, as long as you have something interesting to say.” This less competitive focus can make your small businesses ideas that much easier.

When you start generating traffic with your blog, you can start making money. One option is to use Google Adsense, Google’s advertising program. If you place ads on your blog on behalf of Google, Google will give you a slice of the advertising revenue it generates.

Another option is affiliate marketing. You can promote vendors related to the topic about which you are blogging.

Check out the blog SparkleCat.com.

Told from the perspective of a cat, the blog is unique and interesting. It features Google ads and, in addition, references many online vendors.

For example, the blog describes gifts that the cat’s “human” brought home. “There were also several cool catnip items. Of course, by the time we got around to that, catnip junky Boodie had starting poking around. She didn't even wait for my human to open up the catnip Pawbreaker package. She was all over it in a flash.”

When the blog references the Pawbreaker package, it links to the Petco website, directing its readers to buy this SparkleCat-endorsed , cat-friendly item.

Consider affiliate marketing, especially in conjunction with blogging, and see how easy it is to launch your small business ideas.

Return to Small Business Ideas
Return from Small Business Ideas – Affiliate Marketing to Home