One of the things that seems to confuse and maybe even frighten VAs when they first hear about it is affiliate marketing.
You’ve all heard about the MLM and multi-level marketing schemes that have gotten such a bad reputation in the business world.
When we talk about affiliate marketing, it’s not like that. Well, it is, kind of, but not really.
Affiliate marketing is basically the earning of commission to promote a product or service.
When you are an affiliate, you promote someone else’s product or service and you earn a commission when someone purchases that you have referred.
When you have an affiliate, someone else promotes your stuff, and you pay them a commission when someone they refer buys.
It’s really that simple. And it’s important for you to have in your business!
There’s nothing sleazy about the process.
For the person who is doing the promotion, it’s an effective way for them to share products and services that they believe in with their audience.
For the person who is paying out the commission, it’s a great way for them to expand their audience and their customer base.
Think about the people that you know who offer products and services that you believe in and would like to share with others.
Consider becoming an affiliate of that person’s and do some promotion (not too much!) to your social networks and even your email list.
The key is not to overpromote. You want to make sure that you let people know about it, but you don’t want to inundate them with it because that’s when affiliate marketing backfires and people stop listening.
A few scheduled tweets or a newsletter mention, and you could be earning revenue that really is passive!