Why Affiliate Marketing?

After considering many supplemental income ideas including: a part time job, a home business, consulting, etc. I came to the conclusion that, for me, affiliate marketing through my own niche websites is the best match to the lifestyle I ​want. It just might be the best choice for you too. If you learn how to make money in the online world you can choose your own hours and you can work anywhere that you want to.

Whatever your interests, there are other people on the Internet who are interested in the same things. They are the target audience for your affiliate marketing campaigns and that is why affiliate marketing works so well. Your hobbies, your favorite travel destinations, medical issues you have researched, food you like to cook (or eat). Anything you are passionate about, other people are too. Affiliate marketing is all about reaching out to those people and providing them with quality content about that topic. Do that and you will be successful online.

Listed here are what I consider to be some of the key benefits of affiliate marketing for everyone.

Affiliate marketing, done right, can provide a significant supplemental ​or even full time income. Many affiliate programs pay high commissions for each sale while others pay lower commissions but are easier to sell so the volume makes up the difference. Some are subscription services that pay you a residual income for every month your customer continues the plan.

Regardless of who your target audience is, you will find affiliate programs that will sell well to that group. You can get an idea of what is available by searching on two of the biggest affiliate program sites Linkconnector and CJ

And then, there is Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate you can link to any product in that massive online store and make a commission when one of your visitors buys it.

You can get started in affiliate marketing with little or no up front cost and fund your business growth as you go.

While owning your own online domain name should be a goal, you can start with a free blog or website. Practicing with a free site is a great way to learn how to become an affiliate marketer and make you first sales. Then you can reinvest some of your profits to buy a domain later. There are also tools like traffic exchanges and link directories that you can join for free to get some traffic to your pages or to your affiliate offers.

I have ​hosted websites on low cost companies but now my personal choice is to host ​all my sites, on Wealthy Affiliate. ​There are significant advantages to hosting there. To learn more visit the Why Wealthy Affiliate page and also read this comparison of hosting sites.

​Look, our time is precious. Of course you want time to pursue your own interests, have time with family and friends, travel and simple enjoy life.

It will take a little while to set up your website for the first time but once it is up and running you can devote as much or as little time to maintaining it as you want. ​If you enjoy tinkering with ​your websites ​you will probably spend more time than most people working on them. ​If you want your business to run mostly on autopilot you can set iy up that way.

An hour or two a day is probably a realistic ​ time for part timers. You will spend that time creating new content, editing old content to keep it fresh and updating the ads on your site.

The time you spend will all be productive time, There is no need to commute to work or attend meetings. Set your own schedule. Login when you want to and when you find the time. Your online business does not have to interfere with the things you want to do.

Once you have your first website up and running smoothly, it will be easy to add additional sites if you choose. You have more than one interest so you can target more than one audience to grow your business.

Expansion is completely optional though. If you are happy with the money you are making from your first website, by all means stick with just one.

If you host your sites on Wealthy Affiliate, hosting for 25 websites is included in your membership so the cost for each site is low.

You can maintain your websites from anywhere you can connect to the Internet. You can work from home, your favorite vacation spot, on a beach or even at sea. Affiliate marketing will not cramp ​your freedom ​to go where you want.

With today's cellular and WiFi technology, it is getting easier and easier to connect from the Internet - even from previously remote areas - and it will just continue to get better in the future.

You don't have to stay tied to any particular workplace anymore.

Affiliate marketing is a wonderful opportunity for people looking to supplement or replace their income. I hope you will learn more about it and give it a try. You can succeed beyond your wildest dreams if you approach it right.

Good luck with your affiliate marketing business and remember to ​Have Fun!