Many people create affiliate websites in a bid to make money selling products or services without having to organise shipping. The sale from the website simply gets sent to another site (the retailer) where the order is completed.

So how does it work? Well if the product sells via your website, you get a percentage of the items value. This means that creating a website with expensive products will get you a larger cut of the sale. That said, if you’re selling a highly expensive item people are unlikely to pay for it on impulse and they may do their research a bit more first, perhaps finding the item on another website. Going somewhere in the middle can be a good shout because you get a decent cut from each sale and you’re likely to receive more orders than you would with high value items.

That’s great but how do I make the website?

Well there are many great third party platforms out there that allow you to set up online shops with affiliate items. WordPress is one of the most popular and you can use the Woocommerce plugin to connect with the retailer selling the item. Creating a site on WordPress isn’t too difficult if you practice building pages, and you an download a theme which essentially dresses up your website, leaving you to fill in the blanks.

Amazon have an affiliate marketing scheme that can be connected to WordPress websites, so you’re able to pick and choose from their huge range of products. You can obviously choose other suppliers too, and more retailers are seeing the benefit of allowing people to sell their products for a small percentage. Just remember, the website is just the starting point; you need to create a brand and market that website to maximise sales.