Cash-In on E-Retailing Boom!

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by Patrick Tan

Electronic retailing, the business-to-consumer segment of e- commerce, is set to grow exponentially in the next few years, thanks to the phenomenal success and growth of affiliate programs. According to Jupiter Communications Inc., affiliate programs will account for 11 per cent of the $5.8 billion of online consumer transactions this year. This figure is expected to shoot up to 24 per cent of $37.5 billion in total sales by 2002.

>From these figures, it is not difficult to conclude that affiliate programs will set the wave for the future. Sales concluded by affiliates will grow more than 13 times over the next 3 years, much faster than the 5.5 times growth anticipated for total online sales. What this means is that small home business operators like you and I will have a very significant role to play in e-retailing.

We may not have the financial resources, business know-how and technical competency to set up an online business ourselves. But we can definitely profit from the boom in e-retailing by acting as an affiliate of established online merchants and selling their products from our Web sites in return for 5-20 % in sales commission. This is not a bad deal at all.

Our only investment in this venture is our time and effort, unlike the merchants who have to incur heavy investments in equipment, human resources, warehousing and delivery facilities, inventories and others. (See my free report @ Home Business Guide for a better idea on what it takes to set up an online business.)

As you can see, your business risk is kept to the minimum with the affiliate programs. Cash-in on the impending e-retailing boom and grab a piece of the action now. Here is how you can get started right away...

The easiest way to participate in affiliate programs is to join the largest provider of affiliate programs on the Web - LinkShare Network. LinkShare manages more than 200 affiliate programs, many of them operated by well-known merchants such as Avon, JCPenney, Disney Store, The Sharper Image and Borders.

Join LinkShare Network (http://www.LinkShare.com) now!

Once you join LinkShare as an affiliate, you can apply to join as many affiliate programs as you like easily by clicking on a few buttons. However, your application will be subject to the approval of the respective merchants. The requirement is that you must have a well-designed Web site complete with appropriate web contents before you can represent the merchants.

In other words, your Web site and the affiliate programs you represent must reach out to the same target consumers. For example: If you operate an online community for music lovers, the appropriate programs that come to mind would be those offered by online music retailers such as CD Universe, K-Tel and EveryCD.

However, this option is good only for narrowly focused Web site It may not be suitable for general-purpose portal Web site that reaches out to a wider population. In this case, it makes good business sense to operate a cyber-mall that offers a one-stop shopping gateway to a wide range of online merchants' Web sites. One good example is Fort Street Mall

All the merchants featured in the Mall use the LinkShare Network to manage and track their affiliate programs. You can create your own Fort Street Mall if you have your own Web site, appropriate web contents, some basic knowledge in web design and programming as well as a commitment to spend many hours, days and months maintaining and updating the contents of the Web site

As you may have guessed, creating a cyber-mall involves a lot of hard works. It can be intimidating to the novices who know next to nothing about web design, programming or Internet marketing. If you fall into this group, do not despair! We have the perfect solution for you to cash-in on the e-retailing boom - Fort Street Mall's affiliate program. It takes all the hard works involved in creating and maintaining a cyber-mall away from you, while allowing you to keep all the commissions earned just like you were running your own cyber-mall Yes, you don't have to share a single cent with your sponsor or web host.

Everyone can participate in this program. Unlike other affiliate programs, you need not have your own Web site to participate in this program. Novices in Internet marketing are also welcome as we provide ongoing training and support to help you earn money as you learn on the job. On your part, you just focus your effort on directing shoppers to Fort Street Mall using a link that contains your unique ID. Our automated dealer tracking system will track down your ID and credit your accounts for any sales transactions made at the Mall.

How much do you think you should pay for a program that gives you a ready-made online shopping mall? $100 or $200? No, just a one-time fee of $49 to cover our administrative costs! At this price, even the experienced webmasters would find it worthwhile to join our program instead of spending many days or even months to re-create a similar cyber-mall And that is not all. As an affiliate, you can earn 30 % commission just by referring others to this business opportunity.

Unbelievable! You bet! Well, the Fort Street Mall's affiliate program is not meant to be a revenue-generating machine, but a vehicle to build up traffics to our Web site Otherwise, we would have taken a percentage cut on your sales commissions. So, what are you waiting for? Check out the details and start cashing-in on the e-retailing boom!