The Basics of Affiliate Marketing

Surprisingly, most African American entrepreneurs are not involved with affiliate marketing. Many aren't even aware of what it is.

Affiliate marketing is when you promote an advertiser's services or products on your web site. In exchange, the advertiser pays you a commission every time a lead or sale is generated from your web site. The concept is called CPA (Cost Per Action) Advertising.

Sounds simple, but believe it or not: The affiliate marketing industry generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for people (like me and you) who have web sites. Because everything is on a pay-per-performance basis, it is completely free and easy to get started.

To get involved, you can sign up at an affiliate marketplace like Websponsors.com or Hydramedia.com (my personal favorite).

The key is to find offers that match the content of your web site. For instance, if you have a web site that is focused on health - It would make sense to run offers from Health Insurance providers who will pay you up to $20 per quote that you generate.

If your web site focuses on education, it would make sense to run offers from colleges who will pay you up to $35 every time a student requests more information.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to generate revenue from your web site, especially when you're having trouble convincing advertisers to pay you upfront.

To stay informed about the affiliate marketing industry and the latest developments therein, I highly recommend that you subscribe to Revenue Magazine.

In addition, I recommend that you attend the next Ad Tech conference (held annually in New York, Chicago, Miami, or San Francisco) and the next Affiliate Summit (held annually in Las Vegas and Miami). These events are free to attend, and should help you to better understand why affiliate marketing is so huge.