The affiliate program is based on encouraging other Websites to refer visitors to your site. In return you pay them a fee or commission for business generated from the referral.  Affiliate programs have become a central marketing strategy for e-commerce sites (eg Amazon).

The main advantage of affiliate programs as compared to other forms of advertising or promotion is you only pay for results. Generally the affiliate would tend to refer targeted consumers thereby increasing the chances of a sale.

Through Affiliate Marketing, you can place advertising banners and links on content sites worldwide and only pay a commission when those links generate a sale or qualified lead.

The other side of affiliate marketing is to become an affiliate for a merchant.  To find out more about being an affiliate download our Affiliate Ambition ebook