The Resurgence and Rebranding of Affiliate Marketing

So far this year, we’ve discussed the irony of the advertorial being rebranded as native advertising.

Now it seems that a huge segment of the online industry that had been previously vilified by “respectable” online “journalists” (use of quotation marks intentional and appropriate) is also finally being seen as another savior of online content.

Some are even trying to call it “commerce journalism.”

It’s actually called affiliate marketing. And it’s been around online at least since Amazon launched in the late 1990s, but never given proper credit as a “respectable” monetization avenue.

Until now.

In this 25-minute discussion, Robert Bruce and I discuss:

• What is affiliate marketing?
• The ancient origins of affiliate marketing
• The Great Internet Marketing Conversion of 2013
• Why affiliate marketing can make a great baseline revenue model
• The difference between native advertising and affiliate marketing
• The basics of affiliate disclosure
• The simple Copyblogger business model

Click here to subscribe in iTunes.

Click here to download the mp3.

Or, listen on the player below …

The Show Notes:

• Why Advertising Doesn’t Work for Bloggers
• How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point
• The Wirecutter
• Former Gizmodo Brian Lam Sees the Light
• Gawker Media’s Revenue Future is Affiliate Links and Commerce Journalism
• Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings
• The Brainpickings Brouhaha and the Problem with Affiliate Links
• How a Passion for Fitness, Health, and Happiness Sparked a Vibrant New Media Startup
• Copyblogger’s Affiliate Programs

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