Affiliate marketers are kind of like online salesmen that make money from commissions. These commissions come from companies that have stores online an run affiliate programs. You would be surprised at how many stores this includes. You can find affiliate programs for Amazon, Ebay, Walmart and just about a zillion other companies.
The best thing about affiliate marketing is the start up cost that is required. By the time that you buy some decent info to give you some training and start using some free promotion methods you will be out about 40 - 100 dollars. This is an incredibly small amount of money for starting your own business.
By using articles, blogs, and free classified sites you can start promoting products that will earn you commissions and not pay a single cent in advertising costs. Of course as people learn more about affiliate marketing and get better at what they are doing they usually do start paying for some advertising.
When you start paying for advertising most people use services like Google Adwords where you have ads online that you are only charged a fee when someone actually clicks on your ad. This is known as Pay Per Click and you almost always see it referred to as PPC. This should not be where you start off though. There is more money to be made with PPC but there is also money to be lost with PPC.
Most of the affiliate programs that I participate in pay me by direct deposit just like the last company that I had a real job for. These companies do offer payments by paper check if you prefer. The frequency for how often they pay varies quite a bit. One company that I am an affiliate for pays me every week but most of the others pay me once a month.
You don't have to have a website to get started or even know very much about computers. These are skills that you will want to increase on as you learn affiliate marketing but it is not as hard as it sounds. When I started out with my home business I could barely send an email. Now I can build websites in a matter of hours if I am in a hurry. It is just like learning any new job except that no one is making you do anything. This does mean that you will need the personality to push yourself and make sure that you are meeting your goals.
If you are looking for a business opportunity from home then affiliate marketing has a lot of potential. I have tried other things such as selling on Ebay or taking paid surveys and made a little money but not much. With affiliate marketing I have done well enough that I actually quit my day job in less than two years after starting.
