Affiliate marketing is sweeping the World Wide Web, and it is changing how businesses advertise online. But what is it exactly? And why should you care about it? Read on and learn about this relatively new way to get your name out to the masses. Affiliate Marketing is about hiring other people, ergo affiliates, to do Internet marketing for you. This is not traditional marketing, where you would develop your own market image or hire some marketing firm to do it for you. For this, you are trying to look for individuals to spread the word about you, your products, or your services. That means having individuals on the “ground level†talking about you and directing interested parties to your website. As a company looking to advertise, this provides a significant advantage over traditional marketing. For one thing, with affiliate marketing it is possible to inject your presence into circles otherwise inaccessible to you. For example, you can’t elbow your way into social networking sites, but your affiliate individuals can do it as “ordinary†members. It is like having people “on the inside†and amidst the targets if you catch the drift. Another important advantage to affiliate marketing for companies is the difference of the appeal with standard, traditional marketing. Whereas people find most ordinary advertising methods crass, boring, or just plain untrustworthy, word-of-mouth is far more believable. Not testimonials, though those can help. If the recommendation comes from someone that people like and believe, then the suggestion becomes much more compelling. If you can tap into these “popular†individuals, then you can make use of the belief people put in their words and beliefs for your own gain. Growth is another reason to turn to this model of advertising. Whereas it is difficult to scale traditional ad campaigns, with affiliate marketing you can just scout for more affiliates and have them do the work. Because you can hire different sorts of people, you can get different, personal “flavors†to your marketing which will appeal to different niches of people. As an individual, the main reason to scrutinize this is for the reason that you can make a fair bit of money from it. There are a few people who are so good at it that they no longer have mundane jobs, and work for only an hour or two a day, just managing their websites and marketing posts. Individuals use their charm and personal appeal to make affiliate marketing work. Without these social graces, you will not be able to get lots of people to click your traceable affiliate link, and you won’t make money. On the other side of the coin, if you are popular and considered trustworthy, they’ll take your word for it and click your link. Whether for individuals or companies, image and branding are important. These are what the appeal of your service or products come from. Affiliate marketing runs on the perceptions and desires of the people, so learn what they like and get to putting that knowledge to use.