Affiliate Marketing

Well I promised more expensive, long term, marketing strategies, and this is certainly one!

With affiliate marketing you are paying other people to market your site for you. If you aren't a big brand and are just starting out, then it's best to use an affiliate provider. There are plenty of these about, so pick the one that's most suited to you.

So what is affiliate marketing and what are the benefits? Basically, you the website owner get a team of marketeers who are working for you on a commission basis. If Joe Blogs generates £100 in sales, then he earns commission on that. If he just generates £1 then that's all you pay commission on.

Affiliates may market your site in many of the ways previously mentioned and many yet to come. A lot are experts in this field and earn substantial incomes.

The benefits for you - well commissions are only paid on confirmed sales, so your marketing costs are directly related to the sales generated. Affiliates can also give your brand some general advertising, so your brand awareness is increased.

Problems - well if you are using an affiliate scheme provider they might also charge fixed network costs. Also, if you are marketing your site using PPC etc, then you might find that your affiliates' adverts are also there and hindering your causes.