Anyone  in business  knows it can be expensive and risky. Traditional business ventures usually require the purchase of inventory, business phones, office space and employees. The cost is high and if things don’t work as planned you could be responsible for long term contracts and leases.All this risk and if you end up with a profit of 20% to 30% after everything is paid you are doing good.

Another business option would be selling a product that does not require you to purchase it. If the buyer is not happy with it all you risk is the commission from the sale and not the original cost of the product. The perfect business is when someone else will pay you a percentage of every sale made without the risk of returns or inventory control. This business is what many call affiliate sales or marketing.

Affiliate marketing is when you agree to  advertise a product  or service in exchange for a percentage of the sale. It can also mean being paid a flat fee for sending clients to a web site even if no purchase is made. What I have done is find several companies offering affiliate commissions that fit the product I am selling. For example I have a site showing special marketing ideas for photographers. I wanted to offer my clients a product I used that I found useful for my  portrait photography studio.

I have a  article about  backing up image files and recommend a online service that I use. It pays about $10.00 per sign up. Another $10.00 commission is from a low cost Logo Design company. They charge $25.00 for a logo which every photographer should have and at that price you can’t go wrong. I even recommend my web host because they give me great service. i have 15 sites all with independent IP address so each is totally independent . I paid under $85.00 for a year of service and have been paid more than that in commission when a referral signs up. I also have clients who want low cost printing and I found the printer I used  for several months had an affiliate program. Now I earn repeat commissions of 10% every time a client places an order for business cards or promotional material I did photos for. If you want to see who I recommend follow this link to my Photography Marketing web site.

I have another business selling platinum wedding bands. I placed a link on the main page aimed at engaged couples who may be looking for discounted honeymoon travel. If they click the link they stay on my site but still get introduced to the travel site giving them several awesome deals. Depending on the travel dates they could fly to Europe and stay in a private condo  for less than a 3 day stay in Vegas.It is all about introducing existing clients to other web sites that have products they can use.