For thousands of years, people have been making money by convincing others to buy things. In fact, in Ancient Rome, this was such a popular and lucrative practice that there was even a deity for it: Mercury, the Roman god of commerce and communication\u2014some of whose devotees earned commissions for their sales. Affiliate marketing isn’t much different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commerce…communication…sounds a lot like marketing, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marketing is a practice that might seem modern, but in truth, we’ve been doing the same thing for millennia. We’ve just found better, more effective ways of doing things, and leverage new technologies to reach more people than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in many ways, the very modern practice of affiliate marketing isn’t far removed from a merchant in a Roman market trying to sell their wares. But instead of using their wit and charm to convince people to buy amphorae filled with olive oil, today’s affiliates use the internet to do their convincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is affiliate marketing? How does it work? What are its benefits and challenges? We’ll answer all of these questions and more, so that by the end of this article, you’ll have a good understanding of what affiliate marketing is, how it works, and whether or not it’s something you might want to pursue in order to increase your sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Internet is bursting with content creators, from bloggers and podcasters, to YouTube stars and Instagram influencers. There’s a good chance that at least some of these creators have a target audience that overlaps with your own buyer persona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you put two and two together, you’ve basically got the primary driving impetus behind any affiliate marketing effort. It turns content creators with an audience you want to reach into assets for your business, by offering them commissions for any new customers they earn for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n