What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when you refer a customer to another business and take a commission if the customer makes a purchase. In effect, your website acts like a marketing and referral engine and you don’t actually sell any product. In addition, you don’t directly collect any money either. Once a sale has been made, the affiliate business is responsible for paying you your commission which usually occurs on a monthly basis. How does the affiliate business know that it was you who referred the customer? A tracking cookie is placed on the customer’s computer whenever they click on a link on your site that takes you to their business. If the customer makes a purchase and has the cookie installed on their computer, then you get credit for the sale.