To make money online, you don’t need to create, own, or store your own product. You can direct potential customers to websites that already sell products that have been created by other people and if someone buys the product after your referral to that website, the product owner will pay you a commission.

The product owner also arranges for the payment, delivery and fulfillment of the product by the customer. This is called affiliate marketing and it is your job as an affiliate to connect potential customers with the products or services they are looking to buy.

So how do you get started?

Choose your audience

Before you start looking for products that you can sell, you need to determine your target audience or niche. What problems does your chosen niche audience want to solve? The affiliate products you promote must offer the solutions they are looking for. You can find a host of products to sell from affiliate marketing companies such as Amazon, CJAffiliate, ClickBank, and JVZoo.

Start small

You won’t earn hundreds of thousands in a single day. Start small and continue to improve your online reputation. Develop and provide high-value content on your website and social media. There are affiliate programs that don’t require a website, but your own website allows you to focus on being authentic so that you appear trustworthy and professional.

Create an email list

Focus on developing an email list of prospects for your website and social media accounts. You can send emails to your list whenever you want. This is the most effective way to get people to buy the products and services that you recommend.

Treat it like a business

Even if you only work part-time, you should treat it like a real business and not something to play with. It’s okay to play at the beginning to see if it is right for you and is a good way to learn. But eventually, if you want to create a real online business, you will have to treat it that way.

Think ‘say’, not ‘sell’

Be helpful, polite, and worry about the things you promote. Consider it more about “counting” than “selling.” When you put it into the perspective of helping people find what they need or want, you free yourself from the stress to continually sell. This will allow your efforts to flow from authenticity rather than looking too eager to try to make money.