By Brian Lett


Affiliate programs have presented companies with a new wave of business opportunities. Nowadays, businesses are put at an advantage, as they are able to do away with expensive advertising campaigns which may not do enough to boost sales. Before affiliate marketing came into being, it was difficult for many product developers or small scale service operators to even enter into the market. They simply did not have the capacity to risk the advertising dollars required to lift a new business off of the ground. However, affiliate marketing came along and changed all of this.

These days, many business owners are in a great position. When affiliates market their products or services, they take on these efforts knowing that the only way that they will get paid is if they produce sales. Thus, the owner of the offer which is being promoted stands to make a profit upon each sale.

Of course, there are several different structures of affiliate compensation. The structure which was just laid out above is what is known as, "Cost Per Sale" or CPS. The creation of this term stems from the fact that the product or service owner experiences and advertising "cost", only when a sale is made. Due to the fact that affiliates are only paid when revenue has been generated, they tend to receive higher commission under the CPS structure. Conversely, under a structure such as "Cost Per Click", in which the affiliate is paid for every visitor who they send to the target website every time their affiliate link is clicked by a visitor, the compensation for each action is much less.

To this point, I have primarily focused on the business opportunities which affiliate programs provide for business owners. Now we are going to switch gears, and look at the advantages provided to the actual marketers. One of the biggest advantages that any affiliate marketer has, is the fact that they need not spend any time or money in the development of a marketable offer. Thus, they do not incur the risk of the product or service not becoming profitable and covering its development costs. Furthermore, the affiliate's only responsibility is marketing. Thus, if a customer has a complaint, the affiliate does not have to deal with it. Furthermore, they do not have to ship the product or perform the service. This is not an affiliate's responsibility.

Affiliate marketing has been successfully implemented by online entrepreneurs from around the world. The reason why this form of business will be around for a very long time, is because all parties involved come out ahead. As we discussed above, both the affiliate and the business are provided with huge business opportunities. However, the customer is also provided with a service or product which is specific to their need. It is safe to say that affiliate programs are one of the top businesses opportunities on the internet today.




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