If you’ve ever looked into creating a business online, you may have come across affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is defined by Wikipedia as “performance-based marketing that rewards an affiliate for each visitor or customer brought in by the affiliate's own marketing efforts.”

My definition? A simple way to start your own online business.

Affiliate marketing can be an opportunity for anyone to make some money online. By creating a website, driving traffic to that website and contributing useful content, anyone can start a career online for a very little investment.

So, why try affiliate marketing?

No need to carry a product. Products and service you promote are carried by the merchants, so once the sale goes through, the merchant handles everything else. This advantage alone can save you tens of thousands of dollars over starting a traditional, bricks and mortar business.

Write about anything you want. Whatever you’re interested in, there’s, something you can promote to earn a commission that relates to it. Enjoy music? Start a music review site. Enjoy running? Promote a running shoe. There really is no limit. Let the creativity go and the possibilities are endless!

Work at your own pace. I couldn’t afford to throw myself into internet marketing and expect to make enough to support myself while learning about the business. By developing my own site, I’m able to put the time in when I can afford to.

Work from anywhere. All you really need to open your business is a computer and an internet connection. With laptops and the abundance in available wifi, the opportunity to work virtually anywhere was quite enticing for me. But the best place I can think of working from is home.

Work any time. I’m able to work on my site whenever I want. Working full time, time to work on something else is limited. Since my business is online, I can access it whenever I have the opportunity.

Thinking about retirement. I’m not just thinking about what I can make right now. For me, the exciting part of affiliate marketing is the ability to continue to do this right into retirement. Starting my business 20 years before the average retirement age, I'm looking forward to building a residual income and continue to earn while sharing things I love.

Affiliate marketing has some unique advantages over your traditional business, which is the very reason I chose internet marketing. With some help from the right internet marketing training course, I’m building a business with minimal investment and unlimited opportunity.