Lets simplify the affiliate marketing process as much as possible, because there is so much information, and outdated information as to how affiliate marketing works. It isn’t complicated at all and you are just as capable as I am of creating an online business.

If you have a few minutes, let me show you how I have built successful affiliate marketing businesses on the way to creating financial freedom and am now helping thousands of people do the same through Amazon KDP Publishing. affiliate marketing, content writing, and academic writing.

So, let’s have a look at the process of affiliate marketing, and how that works, and then I am going to show you the process on what and how to start an affiliate marketing business, and how you can get started TODAY, with your own business online.

How Affiliate Marketing Works

There is a brain numbing amount of information on affiliate marketing on the web, but the problem is with so much information there is going to be bad information. The problem is finding great information, plus a vibrant community that will help you along the way.

I have been running several successful online businesses over the past 6 years and the same “simple formula” that worked for me continues to work to this day. You have a product, and you have a customer. Your job as an affiliate marketer is to align these two things. That’s it!

Here is a diagram outlining how affiliate marketing works:

Now this is a slight oversimplifying, but I am doing this for a reason. I don’t want you to be scared of the word “affiliate marketing”, because you are just as capable of creating a full-time and very successful affiliate marketing business as I am. All you need is the right training, the right guidance, and the tools necessary to get you there.

The thing is, affiliate marketing at its core is very simple. There are a few terms that you will want to become familiar with.

Affiliate (YOU). You are the affiliate, this means that you can join companies like Etsy, eBay, Walmart, Amazon (and 10,000’s of others) and promote their products and services. When you join these companies’ Affiliate Programs, they will give you a special “affiliate link” that is exclusive to you, and allows you to track all of the sales you generate.

Affiliate Program (companies like Amazon). Most companies have an affiliate program, 99% of all of the brands in the world in fact can be promoted online and you, as an affiliate, can earn a commission. Amazon is one of the biggest affiliate programs in the world and will allow you to promote 100’s of MILLIONS of products, with a single account.

Earning Affiliate Commissions. Affiliate programs will give you a kick back if you can send people to their website, and they end up buying something. Say you send someone to Amazon through your affiliate link, and they end up buying a fridge. Amazon will pay you a % of the total sale. Amazon offers around 3-6% commissions, so a transaction like this may yield you $50 – $100 (depending on the price of the fridge). Depending on the company and affiliate program, they will typically pay between 2% and 50% in commissions.

Unlimited Potential. As an affiliate marketer, your potential has no limit. The more people you can get buying through your affiliate links, the more money you make. Many affiliate marketers make several million dollars per year, and this can be a reality for anyone that is willing to put forth the effort to build an affiliate marketing business. But HOW do you build an affiliate marketing business? I am going to cover that in the next section.