Affiliate money is the compensation that you receive from making sales of other people's products. This money is paid out to the affiliate at intervals as described within the affiliate program itself. When a company or business has a product that they would like to sell, they will often pay commissions to people who make sales for them. The people who are advertising these products for the company are known as affiliates.

Affiliate money is received in the form of checks, direct deposit to your bank account, or to your PayPal account. In order to be paid by PayPal, you only need to have a Premier or a Business account. Payment is generally made between 15 and 45 days following the month of the sale. Some have shorter periods of time, and a few are immediate. Some affiliate programs also have a minimum payout amount which you must achieve before payment is made. This payout threshold could vary between $25 and $100 minimum. At the end of the month of the sale, if you have not met the threshold, your commissions will carry over to the following month.

Some of the affiliate programs that pay out instantly have awesome products that the marketer can promote. They range from healthcare related products, to items that focus on children. Some are downloadable, while others are large physical products. Instant pay affiliate programs however, do not have a payment threshold or a delay in payment. They pay immediately to your PayPal account for any sales made. This is the easiest way to earn affiliate money.

Affiliate marketing is really all about helping other people. You need to understand that in order to get rich you must have an idea that will really help other people and therefore get them to buy whatever product it is whether it is yours or someone elses. Lucky for us affiliate marketing can be done on the internet where millions of people buy online now. There is a lot of benefits in affiliate marketing like you are your boss. You work from your computer and you set the schedule.

But it takes a lot of work especially in the beginning when you do not have a clue as to how it works. Generally beginners start out signing up to a great affiliate network that makes the whole process fast and painless. One of the best affiliate networks out there is Clickbank.com. You have most likely at least heard about this site since it is hailed by many successful affiliates as the best program to join. You can get started immediately and their customer service is unmatched.

So how the heck can you start promoting products that are not yours? You do not have to be a salesman or have any business experience although it might help. The main point to get across about affiliate marketing is that you need to help people. On the internet everybody is looking for information whether it is on a certain topic like dog training or a webpage about a certain TV that the visitors are thinking of buying.

The process of affiliate marketing starts with research. Do research to have a better idea of what to get into. You should know what topic or market you want to get into. Preferably you will want to start off in something you know about or are interested in. Like if you are a personal trainer then promoting diet programs and workout routines would be an excellent idea. There is some other research of course like product research. You should have a good idea about what the product is that you are promoting. There is also keyword research for those of you who want to get search engine traffic.

You should learn everything you can about topics like SEO, link building, generating traffic to your site, and building sites for maximum profits. The more you learn about affiliate marketing in detail, the clearer everything will be and you will be able to make plenty of money as long as you apply what you know.