Earning extra money is a great way to get some economic breathing room, but a second job can add stress to an already busy life. There is an easy and no-cost, home-based solution for non-techies.
Our tough economic times mean that most of us are worried about our finances. Will we be able to maintain our lifestyles? Will we be able to provide our kids with the extras that they crave and we love to give them?
Earning extra money is a great way to get some economic breathing room, but a second job can add stress to an already busy life. There is an easy and no-cost, home-based solution for non-techies: Become an affiliate—recommend quality products and services to your friends, family and acquaintances and earn commissions while you do it.
“It’s simple,” says Vipin Goyal, Affiliate Marketing Manager at online retailer Rugman. “People interested in becoming a Persian rug affiliate can sign up on our website. We’ll send each one a set of exclusive coupon codes to pass on when referring our products. When a customer uses an affiliate code, we’ll know who recommended us and the affiliate will have earned a commission. It’s easy to make a few hundred dollars from the sale of a single Persian rug.”
Most people think that affiliates need to have websites of their own featuring the products that they’re recommending. If you’re trying to get the word out to thousands of people, this is a great way to go. Don’t be afraid to start small though. How about mentioning a particular product to your friends and following up with a nicely worded email? Include one of your online coupons and a link to the company’s website so that the customer can shop right away. They’ll get a valuable discount and you’ll get credit for any sales that you’ve generated.
It’s best to keep your emails low key and avoid being pushy. After all, you’re referring a company’s products or services to someone that you know and see regularly! Most affiliate programs offer sales assistance and will recommend techniques that they’ve found useful in the past. They usually offer technical assistance too.
Most important of all—never spam anyone. Merchants and internet service providers all forbid it and will ban anyone caught using the practice. It’s not worth losing out on your commissions!
Using this low key approach, you can promote any products that you feel comfortable with. Big ticket items, such as Persian rugs or Oriental rugs might be the best to start with since the commissions will be quite large. Searching an affiliate directory will help you find the companies offering affiliate sales programs. There are thousands for big ticket items alone.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you can decide if you’d like to move to the next level and expand your word-of-mouth referral business or create a website of your own.
