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Affiliate marketing really isn't that hard to understand, in fact the concept and idea behind it is a very simple one. There
are 3 main pieces to the jigsaw;
* Network - a third party company that handles a merchants advertising account
(eg. AffiliateWindow)
* Merchant - an ecommerce website that has goods or services to sell online
(eg. Debenhams)
* Affiliate - A website or groups of websites that advertises merchant's goods
(eg. Your personal website)
Most affiliate programs, or affiliate networks, pay on a monthly basis once you have reached a certain threshold level, usually
£25. If you have not reached this level within any given month, then your affiliate commissions are simply rolled over and
added to your next months commissions to ensure you never lose any money owed to you.
Some affiliate programs operate what is known as residual income. When you refer a visitor or customer to a merchant's
website, should the person ever go back in the future and purchase again and again, then you will continue to receive commissions
for the lifetime of that customer. These affiliate programs are obviously very popular with affiliate websites, as you continue
to make money with very little effort, but are a little slow in the uptake by merchants.
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Another bonus of course, is if you buy something yourself, you will also earn a commission on it - thereby acting as a sort
of discount on your purchase. Not all of the affiliate networks like you to do this, so do check first.
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