There are a variety of ways to make money online. You could become a social media influencer and make money off of adverts or you could become a freelance writer and earn commissions from advertisers. But, perhaps the most interesting way of making money online is through affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing?

Put simply, affiliate marketing is a type of marketing where you promote brands or products that offer commission or financial gain to you if someone clicks on a link or buys a product that you’ve promoted. (Wikipedia)

If you’ve ever shopped at Amazon, you may have noticed that when you click on a product or browse the website, you sometimes get redirected to a small affiliate company’s website that offers a commission if you make a purchase. For example, if you’re browsing for a tablet and click on the Amazon link for that product, you’ll be redirected to a website called “Amazing Deals” where you can find a wide range of discounts including discounts on tablets. If you make a purchase after being redirected to that site, the seller will pay that company a commission.

Why should you learn about affiliate marketing?

If you’ve ever shopped online, you may have noticed that when you click on a product or visit a website, you occasionally get redirected to an affiliate company’s website. If you make a purchase after being redirected, the affiliate company will pay that seller a commission.

Why should you learn about affiliate marketing? Simply put, through affiliate marketing, you can earn money online without having to build a giant audience or brand. In fact, you could even get started with a small audience and then gradually expand your reach.

Become A Social Media Influencer

If you’ve ever shopped at Amazon, you may have noticed that when you click on a product or browse the website, you sometimes get redirected to a small affiliate company’s website that offers a commission if you make a purchase. If you make a purchase after being redirected, the seller will pay that company a commission.

This type of affiliate marketing, where you’re paid for bringing in potential customers, is called a “commission based” model. While this type of affiliate marketing is still available, many websites and blogs have moved away from this model and focus more heavily on “revenue sharing” wherein the affiliate will be paid a commission for each sale directly made through their own efforts.

Why should you learn about commission based affiliate marketing? Simply put, through commission based affiliate marketing you can earn money online without having to build a giant audience or brand. Instead, you can rely on your existing social media following to attract potential customers to your website.

Become A Freelance Writer

As the world becomes more digital, online freelancing is a common way for people to earn money. You could set up a blog that focuses on your area of expertise, like tech or lifestyle, and then use affiliate marketing to promote various products and services relating to your niche.

Tech writers often write for various news websites or trade publications where they are often commissioned to write articles that promote a certain product or service. As a tech writer, you would then go on to write about those products or services for financial gain.

With so much interest in online freelancing, it’s important to establish yourself as an expert in your chosen niche. This will then make you more attractive to potential clients who are keen to work with an authoritative voice in the industry.

Start A Blog

You could set up a blog that focuses on your area of expertise, like tech or lifestyle, and then use affiliate marketing to promote various products and services relating to your niche. You can use a tool like Google Adsense to attract visitors to your site. When someone clicks on a Google Ad, they’ll be taken to a random website with ads on it. Just make sure you comply with Google’s Adsense policies:

• You must have a Google account
• You can only put ads on traditional media (e.g. blog posts, print media, and television)
• You can only put ads on content that is “clean,” meaning no explicit sexual content or drug use
• You cannot put ads on violent or disturbing content

Having a traditional media site with ads on it is a great way to earn money with little to no effort. However, it’s important to note that to be able to use this method, you need to have a large audience. Fortunately, you can use one of the many affiliate marketing platforms to get started with virtually no budget. To get paid, you would then put a link on your blog that reads something like “go to this site to learn how to make money online” with a small affiliate markup attached to it (e.g. “you can make $5 today if you click here”). If a reader chooses to follow the link and make a purchase after being redirected, you’ll earn a royalty.

Create YouTube Channels

Another great way to make money online is through YouTube. Like with a blog post, you can use a tool like Google Adsense to attract visitors to your channel. When someone clicks on a Google Ad, they’ll be taken to a random YouTube channel with ads on it. Just remember that the content on YouTube is mostly owned by the platform, which means that much of what you post may disappear after a while. However, given the right content strategy and proper use of copyrighted content, you can build a successful channel and make money online doing what you love.

Start An Online Store

If you’ve ever shopped at Amazon, you may have noticed that when you click on a product or browse the website, you sometimes get redirected to a small affiliate company’s website that offers a commission if you make a purchase. If you make a purchase after being redirected, the seller will pay that company a commission.

This type of affiliate marketing, where you’re paid for bringing in potential customers, is called a “commission based” model. While this type of affiliate marketing is still available, many websites and blogs have moved away from this model and focus more heavily on “revenue sharing” wherein the affiliate will be paid a commission for each sale directly made through their own efforts.

Why should you learn about commission based affiliate marketing? Simply put, through commission based affiliate marketing you can earn money online without having to build a giant audience or brand. Instead, you can rely on your existing social media following to attract potential customers to your website.