Continuing in the affiliate marketing series this is a follow up to my post a few days ago – What is Affiliate Marketing? Today we are going to cover some of the advantages of affiliate marketing.  In other words the why?!  I have four kids and every one of them have gone through the “why?” stage.  It always drove me crazy and I often had the desire to say “Just because!”.  Just as with kids it is important to ask and answer Why?!

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for the companies?

Have you ever wondered about a new Mexican restaurant that you saw a commercial for?  The restaurant looks really good but how much does it cost?  Does the food taste just like Taco Bell or is it good traditional Mexican food? One day you are talking to the neighbor and she mentions that her family went to this restaurant last night.  You are so excited and you ask her all the questions.  It turns out it is a fabulous restaurant and even accommodate children really well!  So the next night you plan to take your family to the restaurant.

In this example the neighbor is not getting paid for her recommendation of the Mexican restaurant but she willingly gives it.  The restaurant benefits from this greatly!  Companies would rather have personal recommendations given they pay the high costs of advertising.  People look at commercials skeptically but when someone you know recommends it you are very likely to use a product or service.  As an encouragement companies will pay people to recommend their stuff! It ends up being a win-win situation.

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for marketers?

If I like something I am going to tell you about it!  Recently I told my accountability partner Angie Newton about how much I love Quicken Home and Business.  I gave her such a recommendation that she went out and bought it!   Then she said “Why haven’t you written a blog post about it and told others?”  When I told her about Quicken I had no intention of her buying from my affiliate link but she did.  She trusts me that I am not trying to get her to just buy something. I just saw that she needed some organization with her checking account and told her what I use.  Now I am getting paid a commission from Amazon!

Most of us are going to recommend something to someone.  If you see a need and you know of something to help why not give an affiliate link to them.  Honestly people don’t have a problem with this.  So keep recommending things to people that know, like and trust you and if they decide to buy from your link you will get paid.  If not that person still will remember that you cared enough to share something that works for you!

Success,

photo credit: kevinspencer