Despite many industries laying off thousands of workers or even outright shutting their doors in today's tough economic climate, there is one industry that is thriving and helping thousands of regular people make money. Some hard workers are even replacing the income they earned at their regular jobs, allowing them to walk away from the 9-5 work day for good and work from home on a full-time basis.

What is this industry? Affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is not a complicated process their method of compensation usually rewards marketers that promote their programs and products on the worldwide web. Affiliates are paid commissions connected with their performance. Basically, affiliates get paid each time they refer new customers to the website of the company they are promoting.

Becoming an affiliate can be one of the most lucrative on-line money-making opportunities out there, and the diversity of products that are offered for promotion as an affiliate is unbelievable. Affiliate marketing provides a cost effective option for both the small business owner and the large corporation to make their products available to a much wider audience of potential buyers. Affiliates are not limited to just a single Company website. These companies regardless of their size can offer an affiliate program and have their products promoted in mass on hundreds or even thousands of different sites, and there will be no advance fees to them.

The affiliate marketing industry can be a virtually unlimited income source for those who aggressively promote product and services. Affiliates have been continually reaping the rewards of larger profits as the affiliate marketing industry continues to grow in popularity. Affiliates have been constantly reaping the benefits of a larger piece of the profits. The affiliate marketing industry become a viable income source for many.

Affiliates can easily earn anywhere from 25-85% or more of the profits from every sale that comes from customers that purchase products using their unique affiliate code. Refer, Some affiliate programs offer recurring monthly payouts for their products which in turn can mean larger earning for the affiliate.

CPA marketing, is a system that allows affiliates to earn money by referring traffic and have visitors fill out a short form, spending money on a product is not required. This is one of the latest hot trend in affiliate marketing. This trend will ignite the excitement and profitability of affiliate marketing for quit sometime.

There are no specific criteria for becoming an affiliate, except a commitment to work hard plus acquiring some knowledge of Internet marketing. Furthermore, how to research and promote the offers that bring the maximum amount of profit.