. Affiliate marketing allows you to earn cash by promoting a third party's product or services. Any time someone clicks on your link to that third party's website, you earn a percentage of the sale (think of it as a commission) if that visitor makes a purchase.  You must own your own website or blog. Your website/blog should have a lot of web traffic. Your success as an affiliate marketer depends on having a lot of visitors click on your link to purchase the third party's product. Affiliate marketing does require work on your part. You'll need to drive traffic to your site, make a compelling pitch for the product (some affiliate marketers do this through product reviews), and get readers to click the link. You'll also need to update your blog or website with new content on a regular basis. That content should (ideally) drive even more traffic to the third party's website. In order to get started as an affiliate marketer, you'll need your own means of advertising those third party products: either a blog or a website. Because creating and maintaining a website takes more skills and time, it may be easiest to get started with a blog.  Choose a blogging platform. There are many free and easy options, including WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr. Alternately, you may want your own unique web address that doesn't include "wordpress.com" or "blogspot.com". This can make it easier to access your website directly, but it will most likely cost money to create a self-hosting blog. Once you've created a blog, you'll need to design it and make it your own. As you put it together, think about the color/style of font, the background color, the arrangement of content, and the overall appearance of your page.  As you design your blog/website, think about what kind of audience you might draw and what types of products that audience is most interested in. Keep your audience in mind as you design the layout, visual presentation, and content of your blog. Try to separate your blog into well-defined sections. For example, you might have a section for recent posts, a section for most popular/most read posts, and a section for archived posts that are organized by month and year. Include a personal bio that explains your blog and lists your email address or other form of contact information. This will allow visitors/readers to address your posts, and it will also make it easy for marketing representatives from the merchants you represent to reach you. Deciding whom you will partner with is one of the biggest decisions you'll make as an affiliate marketer. You can reach out to individual merchants/retailers online by email, or seek out an affiliate partnership program in which third parties help you find someone to partner your blog with.  The best way to earn money as an affiliate marketer is to work within a popular and lucrative specialized field. It's not necessarily a requirement that you have a working relationship with the merchants/retailers you decide to work with, but it certainly helps you start a conversation with that merchant. If you advertise products you're familiar with, you can post thorough and in-depth product reviews, personal testimonials, and build trust from your readers on your authority and experience. Find out how much you can expect from your commissions. For most start up blogs, anywhere between 15% to 20% of each sale is a good commission. Once you've got your blog set up and your merchant/retailer/affiliate connection is established, you'll need to produce content for your blog. You should update your blog on a regular basis in order to keep readers interested and returning to your site. Some bloggers are comfortable with making new posts every day, while others make blog posts one to three times a week. Find a schedule that works best for you and go from there.  Check up on which of your posts are most popular with readers. Then try to tailor your future posts to find other aspects to those popular topics. Embed your links within organic content. If you just post spammy ads, no one will want to visit your site.
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One-sentence summary -- Learn how affiliate marketing works Set up a blog/website. Design your blog. Find a merchant/retailer or affiliate. Produce interesting content.


Untie and unthread the laces from the lace holes in the shoe. Removing the laces will allow you to thoroughly scrub the tongue area of the shoe while cleaning. You could also clean the shoelaces later on, or just replace them. Smack the shoes together over a garbage can to knock off dirt and dust from the bottoms of the shoes. Then use a soft bristled brush to brush off any loose dirt particles and impurities on the canvas areas of the shoes. An old toothbrush works great for removing dirt, especially for reaching into tiny crevices. Any mild detergent mixed with water will work as a cleaning solution. Gentle body soap, dishwashing soap, or a small amount of laundry detergent, are all viable options. For about a cup of water, consider using about ½ a teaspoon of mild detergent. Use your old toothbrush to mix up the water and soap until some bubbles start to form. You could also use a small amount of bleach if your shoes are white, but be aware that bleach can potentially yellow the canvas fabric. A mild detergent is the safer bet. If you’re planning on cleaning the laces rather than replacing them,  drop the laces into the the cleaning solution. Allow them to soak in the solution for about 15 minutes. While you wait for the laces to soak, you can clean the actual shoe. Dip your old toothbrush into the soapy water mixture, and start scrubbing at the dirty areas of the shoe. Move the toothbrush in circles to thoroughly loosen the dirt and remove the stains.  Continue dipping the toothbrush into the soapy water mixtures as you focus on other areas of the shoe. It's okay to saturate the canvas with the soapy water solution, but try your best to keep from getting the foot bedding of the shoe wet. If you get the foot bedding wet, it won’t ruin your shoe, but it could cause damage after repeated saturation. You can rinse the canvas of the shoe by running it under a small stream of cool water from a faucet. A small stream will ensure you gently rinse off the soapy solution from the shoe without getting water into the inside of the shoe. After the laces have had time to soak, remove them from the soapy water solution. Use your old toothbrush to scrub away at the stains. Once you have scrubbed all the stained areas of the laces, rinse them in cool water. It may help to hold down the laces with your fingers on one hand, and focus on scrubbing a stained area with your other hand. Once the shoes and laces are cleaned, dab them dry with a paper towel to soak up any remaining water. Then allow the shoes and laces to dry naturally, outside in the sun. Drying shoes in the dryer can damage the adhesive on the shoe and shrink the canvas material.
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One-sentence summary --
Remove the shoelaces. Remove surface dirt. Mix your cleaning solution. Soak the laces. Scrub the shoe. Rinse the shoe. Scrub the laces. Dry the shoes and laces.