Affiliate marketing, also known as referral marketing, is a revenue sharing venture between an online retailer and a web publisher, better known as an affiliate. Online retailers pay a predetermined percentage or dollar amount when an affiliate refers a visitor to the merchant’s site and that visitor makes a purchase.

The best part about affiliate marketing is, you don’t have to store any products or handle transactions. You simply refer customers to the merchant’s site through your affiliate link and receive a commission when they make a purchase. Affiliates are paid by checks, PayPal, and direct deposit. Most merchants require that affiliates meet a certain commission threshold before payment is processed. That threshold generally is between $25 – $100.

There’s also an elite group of affiliates called super affiliates. These are the gurus of affiliate marketing. A super affiliate’s earnings can reach well over $100,000 per month. Before you get discouraged, keep in mind that most super affiliates started out not earning a dime. The difference between these elite group of affiliates is that they never gave up. They learned by studying and following other successful affiliate marketers in the same niche.