Introductory guide to affiliate marketing
1. What an affiliate is
An affiliate is a person or company that promotes another business's product and receives a commission when a sale is made through their unique link. The producer creates and delivers the product; the affiliate helps it reach the right audience.
2. How commissions work
Each affiliate program sets its own commission percentage, cookie window and payment rules. Commissions are only paid on valid sales — refunds and chargebacks are usually deducted.
3. Tools of the trade
Most affiliates work with a landing page, a tracking tool to measure clicks and sales, and one or more traffic channels such as content, email or paid ads. Each channel has its own costs and rules.
4. Communicating responsibly
Describe products accurately, never promise income or results, disclose that you earn a commission and follow the advertising policies of every platform you use.
5. Getting started
Pick a niche you understand, study the products you will recommend, start small, measure everything and only scale what is working. Expect a learning curve.