If you haven't heard of Clickbank, you're probably new to the concept of affiliate marketing too. Clickbank is the largest affiliate marketplace on the World Wide Web. And what's an affiliate marketplace you may well ask. Affiliate marketing is the latest buzzword in internet marketing. It means you promote other peoples products or services by putting a link in your web site or web page that leads visitors to your page, directly to the merchant's site. In return, you are paid a commission for every sale resulting from the link. The amount you earn depends on the vendor.

A Brief History Of Clickbank

Clickbank is a pioneer in the field. It was started in 1998 to provide a platform for new businesses to set up shop, and sell their goods and services online. At that time, selling goods online was not as simple as it is now. New businesses with no credit card history had a tough time getting their own merchant account and credit card processing.

Today, Clickbank is the retail market for all kinds of digital goods and services, right from e-books to software to any downloadable goods you could possibly want. It has over 10,000 products and services with its list of registered vendors. It has a massive network of affiliate marketers who promote these products.

What makes Clickbank tick? The secret to its success lies in it widespread reach. As an online marketplace, millions of potential customers all over the world can access it. The advantage of being an online marketplace also extends to the ease with which anyone can sign up as an affiliate. What's more, Clickbank acts as the intermediary. They will process all the payments for each sale and send the proceeds to the vendors twice a month. They also take care of after sales services, like refunds and returned goods, and pay out the commissions to the affiliates.

Clickbank is a great place to start your own online venture, or to turn your surfing hours into an income generator. The first time user may need a little guidance, but once you grasp the basic idea, it is really quite simple.

If you are looking to sign up as a vendor, all you have to do is register yourself, make the necessary web pages available with all the info about your products, and start selling right away. You only have to pay a small amount of a little over a dollar per sale to Clickbank for their services and as much as you wish to affiliates.

As an affiliate, you have the freedom to choose just which products to promote from the huge list of vendors. Before you choose the products, make sure they meet your standards. All the info you need is available right there with the inbuilt directory, so you only need to do a keyword search. So go right ahead and get clicking!