Affiliate marketing can be done easily from just about anywhere. Image: ThinkStock

Getting started in affiliate marketing can be easier than it sounds. In general, being an affiliate marketer means that you choose to market a product, service or company. In return, the company pays you for the results of that marketing. Affiliate marketing can be as simple as writing an article or sharing a link with your friends and family or as extensive as setting up your own website specifically to drive traffic to affiliate offers. Once you have your affiliate ID from Adworkz or another affiliate network, you have several options for getting started.

Article marketing

Article Marketing is one of the simplest ways to get started in affiliate marketing. You write an article that is targeted to a particular keyword and submit it to the website for the product you are marketing. A well-written article will get traffic. When your article gets traffic, you can get affiliate commissions. For some types of article marketing, traffic alone will lead to commissions. For most articles, a “conversion” — when people click a link, purchase a product or take a specific action — will earn you commissions. Adworkz manages the article marketing affiliate tracking for Personal Money Store, from which some article marketers have made thousands of dollars from well-written articles.

Affiliate links

An affiliate link can earn you commission in several ways. Some affiliate links earn you commissions based on a percentage of the sales that come from that link. For example, the Macy’s offer available through Adworkz pays 2.5 percent of  any sale that comes from your link. If a visitor to your website purchases $100 worth of Macy’s products after clicking the link on your site, you would earn $2.50.

Other affiliate links pay you commissions based on each “conversion” from your link – when the visitor purchases a service or takes an action. The Adworkz affiliate partner Green Dot, for example, pays you, the affiliate, $6 each time someone signs up for its service through you.

Each affiliate link offer is slightly different, so it is important to read the terms and conditions of each offer. Depending on the requirements of each offer, you can post the links on your social networking profiles, in your own blog, on your website or even use e-mail marketing. However you choose to get affiliate links out there, they can develop into commissions for you.

Affiliate banners

If you have your own website or blog, you can post affiliate banner advertisements on your website. Much like affiliate links, you can earn commissions based on traffic or conversions. The advertiser will provide HTML code and images that you just need to copy and paste into your website. Affiliate banners can range from small, simple advertising images to full forms that can be filled out. Adworkz partner Car Deal Expert, for example, offers 16 different images you can embed in your website as a clickable link. Remember to read the terms and commissions of each offer to ensure that you stay within the rules.

Car Deal Expert - Large Banner

Getting paid

Of course, the best part of affiliate marketing is when you get paid. Each affiliate offer pays differently, so it is important to keep track of which offers you are taking part in. Most offers will only pay out once your balance reaches a certain amount. If you are using an affiliate management service like Adworkz, you should be able to track the performance of your affiliate offers and how much money you are making. Keep in mind that the performance of your affiliate marketing is determined by many factors. Don’t be afraid to try new things to increase your payout — just stay within the terms and conditions of the offers.