The marketing and selling of goods and services using internet as a medium for sales and distribution is called Internet marketing. Internet has converted the world into a small village and people from any part of the world can buy or sell products or services.
Internet marketing allows people above certain age limit who have internet connection to a computer can start a business with negligible or no initial costs. This business is done two different ways. One involves selling your products and services as a merchant or work as middle men known as affiliates. These affiliates earn commission by providing a link of the merchants in their website and earn money as and when a customer clicks those links and goes to the website of the merchant. It is important for this website to bring prospects. This is done in three ways:
* Advertising: This is done on third party websites.
* Word of mouth referrals: This is done if someone directly tells you about a website or if someone writes about a website in their own website.
* Passing Traffic: This is nothing but search engine marketing.
Internet marketing has become so popular and the reasons for that are summarized below:
- Internet marketing involves very less risk as you can try and then buy and most of the internet marketers started during their spare time and if successful took it as the main stream.
- It takes lots of investment to start a normal business venture but in the case of Internet marketing the investment is very low or nil. All you need is a well-designed website.
- In normal business you are confined to your area but it is not the case with internet marketing. Anyone from any part of the world can be your customer.
- You can track any advertising efforts made through internet marketing and can discard if it doesn't work.
- This business runs round the clock without any involvement of humans. You can use this free time for developing yet another website which can generate good income.
Affiliate Marketing
This is not direct marketing of a product but getting commission by promoting another business. You need to provide a link of another business in your website for which you will be paid and for every click of the customer who goes into that business site you will be paid.
Benefits of Affiliate marketing:
- The market that they reach has become wider.
- This involves very less cost.
- The affiliate is paid only for the results.
- Cost of failed advertising is no more.
- Can start earning even by not having a product of your own.
- There are a number of merchants and products and hence an affiliate marketer will never face a situation of not having promotional links.
- It is a hands free process once a website is set up.
- A number of products can be promoted without increasing your work stress.
- It involves less risk as you can change a non-paying product anytime.
