Over the past decade, we have had bubbles burst in a number of industries, a stagnant economy, high unemployment rates, and an ongoing Global Financial Crisis.

Even with all this bad news and overall feelings of being depressed and worried, there is some good news.

There is no recession on the Internet.

Right now, there are more and more opportunities to make money online and there are more people online that ever before.

As a result of the bad economy and poor job situation, many don’t feel secure and this means major cutbacks in non-essentials; and an overall tightening of our belts is essential to everyone’s financial survival.

As a result, more people are staying home now than there used to be.  How do they spend their time?  If you guessed watching TV, you would be wrong.  There are millions more people online and this simply means there is no shortage of Internet customers.

This blog post, future posts, and this overall site, is going to show you how to get in front of these online users and with Affiliate Marketing strategies and techniques, cash in on the Internet.

So, what is Affiliate Marketing and how does it work?

Let’s start by taking a look at the big picture and the big picture for Affiliate Marketing involves three major entities.

First there is a retailer, a wholesaler, or a service vendor who wants to generate more customers and businesses using their website.

Second is an Affiliate Network that contracts with these businesses to bring them customers.

The third of the three major entities are the Affiliate Marketers that setup Internet Marketing campaigns to deliver leads through the Affiliate Network to become customers of the vendor.

The Affiliate Marketers do not warehouse product and they do not fulfill customer orders.

The Affiliate Marketers do not sell; the merchant or vendor does the selling.

The Affiliate Marketers setup campaigns to promote a good or service essentially getting in front of like minded people, searching for something on the Internet, and letting these people know about a good or service.

On the Internet, the purchasing power has shifted from the seller to the buyer.

On the Internet, buyers typically will only buy from an individual that they view as a trusted advisor.

What the Affiliate Marketers bring to the party is knowledge about a good or service.  With an effective web presence and effective copywriting, Affiliate Marketers establish trust.

Successful Affiliate Marketers position themselves as a trusted advisor and deliver leads through the Affiliate Network to the vendor.  The amount of commission earned by the Affiliate Marketer is based on the action taken by the lead as they become a customer of the vendor.

Now that we have the big picture, let’s understand some of the details of the business model.

A merchant or vendor knows they can spend a fortune to do their own online marketing including the expense and overhead of maintaining many websites and monitoring their results.  As a way of managing this expense, a merchant or vendor approaches an Affiliate Network and offers to compensate the Affiliate Network based on their ability to deliver customers.

The Affiliate Network does just what their name implies.  They build a network of Affiliate Marketers who build websites, deliver knowledge about the product using blogs, and launch campaigns to promote and market the goods and services that the merchants or vendors want to sell through the Affiliate Network.

Another business driver for the merchant or vendor to sell their product using an Affiliate Network is the potential savings in their cost of sales.  Most retail vendors have physical stores so they incur facility costs.  They also have employees in the stores and pay salaries and sales commissions.  If a merchant can sell the same item to a customer using the Internet, their cost of sales is lower and the potential savings is passed on to the Affiliate Network and ultimately to the Affiliate Marketers that setup campaigns to drive leads through the Affiliate Network to the merchant's website.

Here is how the process works.

- the potential customer, also called a lead, becomes aware of an enticing offer or link at an Affiliate Marketing site.

- the lead clicks on the offer button and ends up at the merchant’s site with a tracking code that shows the id of both the Affiliate Network and the Affiliate Marketer.

- the merchant has contracted to pay the Affiliate Network a set amount or a percentage for each lead that converts to a customer by purchasing the item being promoted.

- the Affiliate Network takes a commission and pays out an agreed amount to the Affiliate Marketer.

The beauty of Affiliate Marketing is that everyone wins when the Internet lead takes the called for action and becomes a customer.

This blog, and related posts, will continue to provide a blueprint for making money online with Affiliate Marketing.  You will find step-by-step road maps for various parts of the Affiliate Marketing business.  You will find tools, education, training, and support.  And you will find a community of like minded entrepreneurs that are using the Internet to get out of debt, build wealth, and secure their financial future forever.

In closing, be sure to Read More of my Posts at aspenIbiz blogspot, my Internet Marketing blog; Obtain Some Tips About Being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners website; and Learn How to be Savvy with Your Money Like the Insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.

I Hope You Enjoy the Posts and I Trust You Will Find Them Insightful!  Let me Know What You Think.

Happy Reading and Here's to Your Success!  Mike Farrell, founder, owner, and operator of the aspenIbiz group of online businesses.

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