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Whether
you realize it or not, if you've been on
the Internet today, you have encountered affiliate marketing. If you
have ever
“clicked thru” one site to order something from
another, the first site
probably received a portion of the sale. For instance, independent
booksellers
have limited shelf space for books. But they can offer their customers
an
almost unlimited inventory of titles by affiliating with companies like
Amazon
or Powell's. The more orders, the bigger the affiliate percentage.
Visitors to your site are interested in lots of things that may or may
not be
related to your product. But when you know your customers well, it's
simply a
matter of affiliating yourself with sites that offer what they want.
What you
receive is just a small percentage of the sale, but it adds up,
especially when
you consider that all it costs you is a link on your web page. And
usually, the
more sales your affiliate makes from your “click
thru” traffic, the bigger your
percentage will be.
The key to success in affiliate marketing is being able to track
referred
customers. As an affiliate manager, you want a system that reliably
tracks what
you want, with minimal effort on your part, and without affecting the
performance of your site or server. Over the last few years a variety
of
technologies and strategies have been developed in an attempt to
improve
accuracy, convenience, and flexibility.
There are at least half a dozen methods, but by far the most preferred
method
is Cookie Tracking. It's popular because it makes tracking
affiliate-referred
sales so convenient, without negatively impacting your site. This
system writes
a small text file, called a “cookie,” to a user's
browser when they click on an
affiliate link. When you are the referring affiliate, the cookie holds
your ID,
so that at the merchant's order page, you get credit for referring the
sale.
One drawback is that many computer users disable cookies, although most
choose
not to, since their favorite sites require them. One bonus is that the
merchant
can save the information, so that even if a customer buys long after
clicking
through your site, you still get credit for the sale.
Affiliate marketing, at its best, is a win-win scenario. It's an easy
way to
offer your customers more of what they want, while you benefit, both in
terms
of building goodwill and making money.
About The Author
Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.
Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is
turning Authors,
Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The
Secrets http://promotingtips.com
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