Well, I’ve discovered this really cool technique that can come in handy if you want to save that kind of money. And it’s not rocket science. In fact, it’s pretty simple, and a lot of people already know about it. I just thought I’d document it.

 Clickbank offers the Internet public a LOT of e-books and software developed by people that don’t have an effective way to sell them on their own. Clickbank charges the author for posting his or her product to Clickbank, and they charge a certain small percentage per sale. In return, Clickbank takes care of all the payment processing, product delivery, returns, etc. It’s actually a pretty good deal.

To help sell their ebook and software products, Clickbank also has an affiliate program. An affiliate can sign up for free with Clickbank, then help market their products. An affiliate can earn from 50% to 75% commission on each product sold, using their affiliate code or hoplink. Here’s where the savings come in.

Let’s say you’re searching Clickbank, and you find this really cool ebook you’ve just got to have, and it’s selling for $49. Well, become an affiliate of Clickbank (which is free), go to the Marketplace tab, find your ebook, and create an affiliate link for that ebook.

Your hoplink affiliate URL might look something like this:

http://shagmiser.gymjunkies.hop.clickbank.net/

where ‘shagmiser’ is the name of your affiliate ID you registered with Clickbank. BTW, that's my affiliate ID. You must replace it with your own.

Open a second browser, copy/paste your affiliate URL that Clickbank created for you into the address bar, then just go to the sales page for that e-book. When you find the “Click Here to Order” button, click on it, and you’ll be transferred to the Clickbank order page.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and make sure your affiliate name [affiliate = your clickbank affiliate name] is displayed. You get credit for the sale, and the commission. So, if the stated commission was 50%, in effect, you just saved 50% off of the sales price of the $49 ebook.

Remember, it’s not a deduction off the sale price, it’s a net effect of the sale. Clickbank will eventually send you a commission check for that sale.

Clickbank usually sends commission checks once you’ve earned over a specific amount, called a payment threshold, which you can set, about twice monthly, but don’t worry, I’ve always received my commission checks.

Now, if you can get some others to buy the same book, or even some other products, then you’re on your way making commissions using Clickbank. Is that not easy, or what?

I’ve used Clickbank as an affiliate example, but the same holds true for just about any affiliate program. If you buy online regularly from an online merchant, and they have an affiliate program, join that program, and then buy through your own affiliate link. Your savings then become your affiliate sales commission.

And make sure your friends and family know what you’re doing so they also can use your affiliate link. But cloak it so nobody can “snipe” or override your affiliate code with their own affiliate code.

Cloaking? That’s a whole separate subject. And we've written a separate article specifically about that. Click on my Cloaking Article for more information.

Ad tracking? That’s another subject if you ever want to get actively involved in marketing and affiliate sales. I’ll try and cover those in some future articles.

Head on over to Clickbank right now, and get started.