Affiliate Programs

OK, let’s stay with our target audience of dog owners. So you log onto
one of the search engines and enter the keywords, “dog owner” and
“affiliate program”. Make sure you include the quotes. Up will pop
numerous sites that
a. cater to the interests of dog owners and
b. have affiliate programs you can become a member of.
I came up with 89 “hits” when I entered those words into the Google
search engine.
Affiliate programs are nothing more than referral-based marketing
arrangements where you get paid to refer people to other sites. For
example, if you referred your database of dog owners to a web site
that specialized in dog supplies, you would share in the proceeds of
any resulting sales.
Another affiliate example is provided by Amazon.com. If you see a
button for them at a site that is not Amazon.com itself, chances are
that that other web site owner participates in Amazon.com’s affiliate
program. So if you were to click on that merchants Amazon.com
button and bought a book or other merchandise, that referring
merchant would share in the proceeds of the sale.
You can also search for affiliate programs at sites that specialize in
rating affiliate programs for profitability, as well as standings against
other like web sites and affiliate program directories. Here are some
sites you may want to check out:
www.associateprogram.com
www.affiliatematch.com
www.marketingtips.com
www.sitesell.com
www.cj.com (Commission Junction)
If there's one common thread that runs through most successful
affiliate web sites, it's that each Webmaster has a passion for their
subject matter. The right affiliate program can turn a hobby web site
into something with a life (and a revenue stream) all on its own. What
could be better than being paid to do something you love to do?
A prime example of this is the owner of The Flick Filosopher, which
was launched in September 1997. The Flick Filosopher has original
movie reviews and affiliate links. In order to derive income, each
review contains direct links to the specific movie at Reel.com, so that
readers can immediately purchase the film in DVD or video tape
format (new or used), as well as movie soundtracks in CD format.
Most reviews feature a host of relevant text links to other related
movie reviews on the site, as well as to actor-specific links. The Flick
Filosopher's biggest successes stem from special review themes.
Reviews of television movies from the A&E, HBO, Showtime, and TNT
networks provide content that's hard to find elsewhere. Mining the
niches pays off. Affiliate links to Reel.com's massive inventory allow
readers to easily purchase made-for-TV movies, which might otherwise
be hard to locate.