I know a lot of people have had periods of introspection in recent times, what do I do to maximize my efforts? Increase my earnings? Make money work for me? Etc. I have suggested some business ideas in past articles but this came to me recently. We all spend so much time on the internet these days and own some web or online real estate with blogs, websites and our social media platforms. Why not let that real estate work for you through affiliate marketing, I mean you are already putting in the time. Why not become an affiliate marketer?
Let’s discuss.
Affiliate marketing gives you the opportunity to earn a commission by selling products or services offered by other companies. It’s a great way to supplement your income from the convenience of your own home. Fortunately, it’s also easy to become an affiliate for companies that are household names.
How does affiliate marketing work?
Affiliate marketing allows you to recommend products and services from other companies and be paid a commission if someone buys the product as the result of your recommendation. To track which purchases happens as a result of your recommendation(s), the merchant will provide you with a special link to use when linking to their website that contains a unique referral code assigned to you. If people click that unique link, and buy the product or service within a specified timeframe (the timeframe varies depending on the merchant), you get a commission on the sale.
The products cost the consumer the same amount of money as it would if they didn’t buy it through your affiliate link, but the merchant pays you a referral fee for generating the sale.
So affiliate marketing is legitimate?
So how do you find affiliate programs to promote?
The easiest way to find affiliate programs to promote is to check if the people selling products and services you love have an affiliate program – assuming those products and services would be relevant to the visitors to your blog or website.
One of the most successful affiliate programs in Nigeria is with Jumia. They allow third parties to place links, ads, and other types of visual references on their websites or social media channels with direct traffic to http://www.jumia.com.ng. In return, associates get up to 9% commission for one sale when customers use the links for purchases. For the first month, associates earn 500 NGN on top of the commission for each order.
Even if you do not own a website or blog you can use social media platforms like Facebook or twitter.
You also have to choose a niche with affiliate marketing. If your interests are in fashion, you promote fashion items, if tech you promote gadgets etc.
Extra money is always a good idea.