How the heck are you supposed to make your first million (or $3) with affiliate marketing when you can’t even understand the terminology?  Like any business industry, if you want to succeed with affiliate marketing online you need to develop a relationship with the many terms, acronyms and slang you will be exposed to on a daily basis.

To start things off, there are three primary players involved in every affiliate marketing transaction:

• The Merchant – Typically a website owner, the merchant is the person who has the product or service and is interested in gaining more exposure and sales via performance based marketing.  The merchant ultimately calls the shots i.e. they decide on how much affiliates will be paid, as well as payment frequency.
• The Network – The third party within most affiliate transactions is the network i.e. Clickbank.  The merchant agrees to distribute their product via the network for a price The affiliate network  agrees to deliver qualified affiliates as well as provide the technology needed to make the transaction run smooth.
• The Affiliate – Also known as the publisher, the affiliate is you and I.  We are the people who join the networks and promote the products.  We get paid in commission based on our performance and the amount of sales we bring to the merchant via the network tools provided.

Here are some common affiliate and internet marketing acronyms:

• CPA – Cost Per Action
• CPC – Cost Per Click
• CPS – Cost Per Sale
• CTR – Click-Through Rate
• PFI – Pay For Inclusion
• PFP – Pay For Performance
• PPC – Pay Per Click
• PPCSE – Pay Per Click Search Engine
• PPL – Pay Per Lead
• PPS – Pay Per Sale
• PV – Page View
• SEO – Search Engine Optimization
• SEP – Search Engine Positioning

Understanding affiliate marketing terms is one thing – keep up with new terms is a whole other challenge!  Regardless, the more time you spend amongst the industry and it’s players, the more up to date you will be with the latest and greatest happenings.

It seems that everyone and their mother is dabbling in affiliate marketing these days.  With computers and the internet readily accessible, what effect does this have on the affiliate marketing industry and the much anticipated affiliate marketing future?  Are we in trouble?  With all these people online is there still legitimate opportunity to make money online as an affiliate?  Well to understand where we’re going, let’s take a look back to where affiliate marketing began.

Now you will find many online publications, blogs and gurus debating this very topic.  A popular pioneer of the affiliate marketing model is Amazon.com and CEO Jeff Bezos.  It is said that in July of 1996 Amazon.com launched their associates program, allowing website and product owners to generate commissions through selling on – and promoting – the Amazon marketplace.  While this sounds correct, many people are still debating the authenticity of this claim.

It’s actually speculated by many high profile internet entrepreneurs that the first affiliate marketing programs started within the adult entertainment industry.  Believe it or not, many terms we use today were first coined from the adult side of e-business.  That segment of the industry is also directly responsible for breakthroughs in streaming audio/video technology – which is crucial to the Web 2.0 world we all live in today.

The future of affiliate marketing is definitely a bright one.  When you consider how far the industry has come and how many people have acheived financial prosperity from the comforts of their home – it’s very engaging.  Though the opportunities are plentiful, do realize that even though affiliate marketing is available to anyone with a dream, one thing that will not change is this:  there are no magic buttons.

Affiliate marketing requires a fundamental understanding of how consumers think, how the internet functions and how you can place yourself and product between the customer and their destination.  These factors will always remain.