At its core, affiliate marketing is all about getting attention for a good or service by
utilizing online resources that are managed by partners or affiliates. The most simplistic
of all these methods is allowing advertising to be displayed on a web site that is the
domain of the affiliate.
Typically, the advertisement will allow the prospective customer to click on and be
redirected to a page or site where there is more information and the chance to order the
good or service in question. In return for providing a doorway for that customer to
discover the product of service, the affiliate is rewarded with compensation, usually via
electronic transfer or check.
The concept of affiliate marketing is a natural outgrowth of the online marketing that
sprang up in the early years of widespread Internet use. At first, online marketing was
more of a business to business approach, since companies were the first to jump on the
Internet bandwagon. Putting up a web site and sending emails out to solicit business
was a cost-effective way to gather new business clients.
As Internet use began to



