August
28, 2003
Internet
Not Just for Techies - Mother of Four Stays Home and Prospers on the Net
By Arlene Martell
If
you thought the Internet was just for techies, Arlene Martell, a mother
of four, who runs two profitable websites from her beautiful White Rock
home, would like to talk to you.
In discussing her success as an affiliated publisher for several major
U.S. companies, the White Rock housewife is boldly predicting that e-commerce
from home will become a major new trend as many more companies will
begin seeking remote workers wishing to make extra money with their
computers.
Arlene's husband, James, who recently authored a training manual for
website owners, taught her the basic skills she needed to launch her
first site for babies. This site, which was launched only a few months
ago, now brings in an extra $1,000 U.S. into the family budget from
sales made on behalf of relevant merchant links she places on her sites
so that visitors can easily find them.
Arlene says, "these links are not banner ads, but simple text links
that drive qualified traffic to my affiliated merchants who pay me a
commission for every sale."
She goes on to say, "many are not aware that large companies, such as
The Disney Store, A&E Television and even the Denver Broncos now pay
lucrative commissions for website referrals in a new industry called
pay-for-performance advertising, also known as affiliate programs."
Industry experts agree that this pay-for-performance concept started
with Amazon.Com, who in 1997 began compensating webmasters around the
world for book sales by setting a cookie on each visitor's browser that
identified the associated publisher so that a commission could be paid
if a sale were made.
This unique business relationship neatly solves the problem of driving
eyeballs to websites' of merchandiser's, because of the vast number
of independent publishers and webmasters worldwide, like Arlene, who
will generate targeted traffic on a pay-for-performance basis, thereby
eliminating the high cost of advertising.
Arlene says, "When I first got started I had a pretty good idea of how
well I could do because I had watched my husband, James, become very
successful as an affiliate for some major U.S. companies, such as American
Express, DIRECTV and Capital One Visa, but I was surprised at how quickly
my site has taken off and at how large some of my sales have been."
She goes on to say. "The other day I had a $545 sale for a baby crib.
And the best thing is that all I did was provide a link through to the
merchant who handled everything from there."
Many experts agree that as a consequence of converging factors such
as, growing consumer confidence in making online purchases, the need
for many companies to downsize brick and mortar operations and the emergence
of commission networks who act as go-betweens for merchants and affiliates,
it has never been easier or more profitable to retail online, or for
work at home moms with basic computer skills to start a lucrative, web-based
enterprise by representing some very well established companies.
"My first attempt with affiliate programs was made easy because of Commission
Junction, www.cj.com out of Carlsbad, CA, an industry leader in providing
third party functionality for affiliates and merchants by acting as
a trusted third party in managing the network, tracking and reporting
on activity and handling monthly commission payments," Mrs. Martell
says.
Arlene says, "I've joined several baby and pet oriented affiliate programs
through the Commission Junction network of advertisers and their online
reporting and tracking functionality is second to none."
"Commission Junction has exceeded our expectations as a cost-effective
marketing channel," states Kari King, Affiliate Program Manager at eBay.com,"
We chose Commission Junction not only because they have an established
network of quality publishers, but because their service and technology
are scalable as our program grows."
Mrs. Martell adds, "there is tremendous confidence in dealing with CJ
merchants, because CJ has demonstrated great efficiency in handling
all of the collection and processing required to ensure fair and timely
commission payments. And I can go online any time of the day to check
my stats. I love that nearly as much as getting checks in the mail,
which come in almost every day for either my husband, who has thirty
commercial sites, or myself.
Arlene adds, "I love bringing in extra money so I can shop for the little
extras we need as a family and it really is great to be around my four
kids, Adam, Shelby, Justin and Victoria."
"Plus, since James is also working from his office down the hall, we
can easily schedule impromptu family activities. For example, the other
day, our youngest, Victoria, arrived home to announce, we are going
to the beach. And, you know what, that's what we did." she said.
"After getting a taste of financial freedom with affiliate programs
from the comfort of my own home on my personal computer, and avoiding
the stresses of long commutes and stifling work environments, I would
never work in a typical office again, " she said.
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