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ThePhoneHut.com - Article Archives, reprints by permission only - back to index
In the early days of the gold rush, prospectors headed in droves to the promised land of California, seeking their fortunes. And many found them. Unfortunately, those who came later often did not, and these later arrivals needed to shift gears and reevaluate their stake in this brave new world.
Furthermore, the settlers who had been lucky enough to find their fortunes early also found themselves needing to shift their focus in order to continue their prosperity. Some were able to do this, but many perished. The old ways of doing business were changing.
My teachers used to tell me (and I routinely chose to ignore it) that history repeats itself. Well, my bruised, bloodied, but eternally optimistic internet settlers, the lessons of 150 years ago seem very definitely to apply to the new world order we currently find ourselves competing in.
As much as it pains me to admit it, it certainly seems those teachers were right; that mad rush to riches a century and a half ago has just played out again. Some internet settlers made incredible fortunes overnight. Later settlers came up empty handed. And many early successes floundered, wilted, and were unable to create new business models that would propel them into the next stage of growth.
As primary sources of internet revenue (read advertising) continue to tumble faster than a gold medal gymnast at a floor exercise, only those businesses agile enough to shift their business models will continue to survive.
Affiliate marketing is a promising model being explored by many internet companies old and new. In essence, affiliate marketing allows a company to share a portion of its sales revenues with a large base of independent sales agents, or affiliates. In exchange, the company directly benefits from the reduced costs associated with traditional marketing. Amazon.com is one of the best known examples of this business model.
By recruiting a motivated team of affiliates who will promote the company's goods or services on a diverse number of personal or business web sites, the company can benefit from niche marketing they would never have received by spending their own cash on advertising.
Imagine, a Latino business owner's specialized site promoting sporting equipment is most likely going to reach a completely different audience than a Hungarian business person's similarly specialized site. This is the power of diversity, and niche marketing. And no other method of marketing allows you to exploit this as readily as affiliate marketing.
Using this model, you are no longer responsible for figuring out how best to reach any particular demographic; leave that to your affiliates, who stand best to profit from their efforts. It's a beautiful and mutually beneficial business relationship, provided that it is administered properly and fairly.
Just about every good or service than can be marketed on the internet is appropriate for affiliate marketing. From long distance, to running shoes, to origami class referrals, you'll find them all marketed this way.
While it's possible, at some expense, to create an affiliate program from scratch, there are several sites online which facilitate this kind of program and help a business get a program like this up and running for themselves.
As just one example, you can visit Commission Junction
to learn how you might be able to set your own business up with this kind of
a marketing approach. There are other services such as this online, too. An
online search for "affiliate programs," or the like, will provide a number of
leads.
Just as the gold rushers of yesteryear ultimately had to shift focus and find new ways of doing things to keep profitable, so do we, the new settlers of the wide open frontier.
Continued success in your online endeavors!
Contact: Chris Conlee