There are a lot of misconceptions and false notions about affiliate marketing or online marketing ventures. And if you are one of those who are fascinated by the prospects of turning in millions of dollars overnight as what is being claimed by a lot of affiliate marketing gurus, then you must restrain yourself and consider the fact that for every one affiliate marketer that hits the pot of gold, there are almost 98 individuals who are pushed by the wayside and end up in total failure.

Affiliate Marketing – A Great Way to Earn Passive Income

Affiliate marketing remains to be the best option for a lot of people who want to start earning extra dollars online. With the right plan of action, an aspiring affiliate marketer will be able to put things in motion and start earning income within a short period of time. However, there are several caveats that you need to take into account, lest you want to suffer the same fate as that of the 98 percent who fail even before they get things started with their online marketing venture.

Affiliate marketing is not just about finding the “right” product that you can “sell” online. Beyond the search for the product or service that you will “sell” online, you have to channel all available resources to promote the said products or services to the right segment of the market or target audience on the Web. A common mistake of affiliate marketers is their perception that most people browse the Web looking for products or services. The truth of the matter is that we search the Web for information and solutions to a wide range of concerns and needs. Most people are not concerned about the product or service that you are “selling” and what they want are solutions and answers to their concerns and problems.

Thus, you may not be able to obtain the desired response if you appear to be a hard sell and end up with a Website that looks more of a smorgasbord of adverts than a useful reference or source of important information and data.

Sell the Idea or Solution

It is not enough that you are driving more traffic to your Website or blog. Of course, in learning the ropes of the trade, you will discover one important performance metrics of affiliate marketing and this is conversion rate. While most experts suggest that we must work to increase traffic and improve our clickthrough rates, we have to remember that we need to obtain actual orders to generate income from our affiliate marketing.

Instead of selling the product or service, you have to find ways to make an effective pitch for the solution or idea that you are advocating. Try your best to provide the information and data that can help you convince your readers to consider the answers and solutions that you are presenting to them. Once they “buy” the idea or solution, then you will most likely get them to buy the product or service that you are promoting.