Sarah Clark — October 29, 2016 Follow @b3net
So it’s October and the grandest festivities of the year is just about to begin. To put things into perspective, one word that is almost synonymous to festivities is shopping. You start your shopping for Halloween, follow it up with Thanks Giving gifts and make things grander for your Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
In other words, this festive period also offers a lucrative opportunity for all types and sizes of business. The sales go up so does the market, offering a window for small or seasonal businesses to make some quick money.
A cool way to cash in some extra bucks
Who doesn’t want to earn some cash especially during the festive season? A cool and effective way to earn money during the holiday season is through Affiliate marketing. If you are new to online business there is a fair chance that you are not aware of this type of marketing and far from using it.
Whether a retailer or a website owner, this time of the year can be highly lucrative for any business owner. However, you need to be innovative, smart and well informed about marketing techniques and campaigns. Using affiliate marketing to conduct business especially at this time of the year can pay you high returns.
So for beginners let’s start by understanding the concept of Affiliate marketing. Basically, it is a way of marketing where manufacturers can sign up with online websites or e-business companies to sell its products. These websites market the products online in exchange for a commission.
Approaches of Affiliate Marketing
Well, the concept of affiliate marketing can be approached in two ways. You as a website owner can offer an affiliate program and sell goods from different manufacturers through your website. Again you as a manufacturer can sign up with another business, to be their affiliate.
As a business, you need to pay a fee or commission to every sale or lead they drive for your website. The idea is to find affiliates that can drive customers from untapped territories. To make sure you tap a large section of interested customers, it’s important to operate through trusted companies.
Partnering with a well-known trusted website or business ensures a steady flow of traffic which eventually can result in great business. Introducing a product through a trusted affiliate partner makes it easier to grab attention which could be tough in this competitive market.
So, a brief read or understanding of affiliate marketing programs feels like a dream. Though a highly foolproof marketing plan, there are certain sticky issues that you need to align to make sure it works right.
Determine the “cut-out” you can offer
You need to do your maths right. You need to figure out how much of percentage of your profit you can spend for affiliate marketing. The general rule is the higher the percentage the more affiliate traffic you have.
Pricing is a very important component of affiliate marketing program. You need to be balanced with both the pricing of a product and the cut-off you will be offering as commission. There are ways you can rank your product on different ecommerce stores and one needs to research on the different aspects of it.
Don’t compete with your own affiliates
It’s important to make sure you do not compete with your own affiliates, that is the marketing channels that you are using like content sites, search engines or email lists. These should be the limit to your affiliates. The best way to is to make a strict affiliate agreement, strictly notifying your rules to conduct business.
So how do you conduct Affiliate Marketing
The easiest way to do things is to sign up with affiliate marketing networks like Commission Junction, ShareASale, Christmas Gifts Affiliate programs and many others. Such programs offer marketplaces where your affiliate program is advertised to other affiliate marketers. Moreover, these are provided with their own tracking system and thus have no trust issues.
Seasonal Affiliate Marketing programs
If you do not want to involve in full-time affiliate marketing, a great way to enjoy the perks of such marketing is the festive season. There are many gift websites that offer affiliate programs and offer a product for specific needs or products like Perfume.com, Harry, and David, Starbucks, Ice.com.
Moreover, if you have a website or an e-commerce website you can easily use the website as an Affiliate marketing network. You can help retailers market the products in festival seasons or otherwise and earn through the commissions offered by businesses.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing as a marketing strategy, can be a highly lucrative business program, especially during festive seasons. So, if are still open to the idea of making some extra money during the festival, try your hand in this marketing and enjoy the mullahs this coming Christmas.
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