How Web Sites Make Money By Giving Things Away

How Web Sites Make Money
By Giving Things Away

By Brett McCarron, webmaster
Blamepro.com

Our webmaster, circa 1996, back when he had some hair! Ever wonder about those sites that give things away? How do they stay in business? The topic of this article is to tell you exactly how you can turn an average web site into one that generates cash for you, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I'll also provide sources of freebie offers that will draw even more people to your site.

Every business needs more customers. These firms know that the web is hot. Tens of thousands of potential customers are signing up for Internet access each day. Since businesses want to tap into the huge pool of online customers, they are targeting Internet audiences around the world.

One popular way to attract potential clients is by giving away free product samples via the web. Did you know that some companies not only offer free samples, but may actually pay website owners to help them reach a wider audience through affiliate programs?

2 FREE books and a FREE gift at eHarlequin.com! Example: This ad offers two free books. The books are free. The web site offering the ad is paid a small fee for each visitor that requests the free books.

(Source: Commission Junction Network)

There are a variety of affiliate programs available for webmasters. Some pay a commission when a customer signs up for a product or service. Others pay the webmaster for each person that clicks on a sponsor's banner ad. The latter type of sponsorship is called click-through advertising.

Other programs allow a website to publish links to specific products. A percentage of each sale that is "driven" to the sponsor's site is paid back to the site hosting the link. Amazon.com is one example that provides this type of relationship. It is common for referral programs to define exactly what sales qualify for commissions. Affiliates are usually excluded from receiving a commission on sales they make for their own personal use. It is also becoming standard practice to pay referal fees only for new customers that are driven to the sponsor's site.

If your site has a steady flow of visitors, and if you meet the qualifications established by the various advertisers and sponsors, then by all means you should take advantage of the money that is awaiting you. A small web site may receive $200 a month, while larger sites with established client bases can easily earn thousands of dollars per week in advertising revenues. Now you know why virtually every commercial site and search engine places those small advertising banners on their pages!

Many webmasters are discovering that a web page devoted exclusively to free sample offers from other companies will attract new viewers to their site. Combine this with a banner ad or two on each page, and you will be literally offering free items (from other companies) and getting paid (from sponsors) to offer them.

There should be no fee to obtain information about an affiliate program, nor should there be any application fee to sign up your web site. If there is a fee, be aware that there are several free programs available that will cost you nothing. In fact, many will pay you a small bonus for signing up a new webmaster!

It makes good business sense to obtain sponsorship for any web site that does not currently feature advertising. Whether it's a page that details how-to information, a hobby page, or a collection of links on a topic that you've found of value, adding a sponsor will prove profitable. There are hundreds of sponsors literally waiting in line to promote their product to a web-savvy audience. I recommend that you take full advantage of them.

For your convenience, we have assembled a list of our favorite online affiliate and click-through programs, including many that have free offers to include on your own web pages.

You should also consider linking to Freebies2Go, which will increase traffic to your site because everyone likes receiving free items in the mail.

For more inside secrets of webmasters, be sure to see the Webmaster Secrets site.