Affiliate Marketing Explanation For Beginners
Affiliate marketers help publish sellers’ or companies’ products.
Seller Or Affiliate Network
Many sellers offer an affiliate program for anyone who wants to participate. Usually, you will find an Affiliate Program link at the footer of the seller’s website that will direct you to its respective page.
There’s also what’s called an affiliate network. These are platforms where sellers display their products for affiliate marketers to choose from. Affiliate networks are the middlemen between sellers and affiliate marketers. Examples are Clickbank, ShareASale, and Commission Junction.
Either option will provide you with a personalized affiliate link.
The Affiliate Marketer (You)
After acquiring your personalized affiliate link, you can place this link in many forms. Some examples include paid advertisements, blog posts, social media posts, and emails. Affiliate marketers act as middlemen between sellers and consumers.
The Consumer
If the consumer clicks on your personalized affiliate link and makes a purchase, the affiliate marketer (you) makes a commission.
Who Pays?
The seller or the affiliate network pays the commission and tracks the earnings (depending on where the personalized affiliate link came from).
Customer Support
Usually, the seller or the affiliate network deals with customer support, not the affiliate marketer.
License?
I would check your local laws; you don’t need one generally.
Conclusion
If you intend to use traditional affiliate marketing to promote products to people more directly, this simple explanation might be enough for you to understand the concept. Usually, people who buy from you come and go, never to be seen again.
Another method of affiliate marketing is creating a list of subscribers (which I’m implementing in this journey). Constant communication with subscribers can lead to long-term customers. This method requires additional steps.
If you subscribed to my list, I wrote about these steps in my series of autoresponder emails.
18 responses to “Affiliate Marketing – Without Mumbo Jumbo”
Hello Albert,
This post provides a clear and concise explanation of the basics of affiliate marketing for beginners. It covers key components. I congratulate you on so a clear explanation, I know that your reader will find useful this content. I wish you all the best in your journey.
Hi Ezequiel,
Thank you. Lots of times I want clear straightforward answers and had difficulty finding it whenever I do Google searches.
Hi Albert,
Great article on what affiliate marketing is. Very easy to understand.
I just want to add that sometimes, sellers may use “Associate Program”, “Referral Program”, “Partner Program” instead of “Affiliate Program”.
Hi Alan,
Thank you for pointing that out! It’s true, they use different terminologies many times.
Albert. A very simple clear and concise overview of affiliate marketing. This is perfect for the absolute beginner, who hasn’t either heard of it or doesn’t really know the basics. I often go into too much detail but what are you showing here is that there are lots of people that are high-level thinkers and they don’t need or want detail or not at the beginning anyway. Very well done looking forward to your next one. Thanks, Atif
Thanks Atif,
Hopefully someone who is a complete beginner gets value out of this .
Simple and straightforward explanation, thank you! No unnecessary fluff 🙂
Cheers, Katrin
Short and sweet! Thank you!!
Thank you Kate
Albert, Thank you for creating this post for the beginner affiliate! I am just a little down the line, however I would say that I would have thoroughly found this post incredibly helpful when I was first starting out. I remember when I first started, I had a difficult time grasping what affiliate marketing really was. I couldn’t get a clear explanation that didn’t seem too ambiguous. Thank you for writing something that is easy to understand that invaluable for the beginner affiliate!
Hi Lauren,
I know how frustrating it can be when you Google something and you just can’t get a straightforward answer. Or sometimes the explanations are for people who already know something about the topic but your still a beginner.
Hey Albert, Well done, A short, sweet and straight-to-the-point overview with no complexities. Those who are maybe only hearing about Affiliate Marketing for the very first time and wonder…what is that? will find your post very helpful, great job!!
I look forward to visiting your blog again to read your future posts and watch your progress.
Thank you for this post. Sometimes I use words that I think I know but hearing other perspectives really helps to get that clarity.
Hi Eleanor,
Yes sometimes hearing something you already know in a different way can make a difference .
Hi Albert,
I grew up with the saying, “Lay the cards on the table.” Nice, open, honest, and to the point. Thank you for the straightforward post about affiliate marketing.
I look forward to reading more of your posts!
All the best!
Milissa Neirotti
Hi Albert,
It doesn’t get more simplified than that!
That is very clear and straight forward…no fluff 🙂
Lot’s of people need it short and to the point!
Denny
Albert,
Very concise and easy to understand explanation of Affiliate Marketing! Excellent for someone not familiar with it, to be able to understand.
Kelli
I like this way of explaining what affiliate marketing is. Very concise and to the point! A breath of fresh air in hubub of the online world. So many people make it much more complicated.