Who knows anything about affiliate marketing or dropshipping?

[PTFsWife]

Today I had a brainwave for a business I want to set up. It will be a website that is packed with ideas and resources around a specific subject. But obviously it needs to make money. I want to be able to sell products related to this subject as well as link to relevant companies/organisations that are related to this subject. I imagine this would be via affliate marketing as the site would drive traffic to their sites too.

I am a complete novice in this area (perhaps not wise then to go down this path but I really think it has merit so don't want to give up on it just because I don't have direct experience of this).

Can anyone give me any pointers when it comes to dropshipping and/or affiliate marketing? Is it something you can set up yourself or do you need to go through an agency of some kind? Can anyone think of any other websites out there that operate this kind of business model that I could take a look at?

By the way, if there are any mumsnetters out there who are mega experienced in this field and fancy teaming up, please let me know!
Thanks

I use Affiliate Window for affiliate marketing. Many merchants won't accept you onto their affiliate programme until you have a website up and running, so be prepared for that.

The PerformanceIN forum (used to be Affiliates4U) can be useful for researching new affiliate programmes to try, or just getting the lowdown on programmes you are considering.

RE dropshipping, I did a bit of this a few years ago but am by no means an expert. I personally wasn't comfortable with relying on other companies for the service part (i.e. the shipping) when it was MY reputation on the line as the customer's point of contact.

The dropshipping arrangements I had were with the wholesalers themselves. Am happy to pass on the details if it's relevant to your niche (baby products), so PM me if so.

You could also create revenue through PPC advertising such as Google Adsense.

Thanks monkey nuts. My niche won't be baby products but will be for older children.

Have you looked on the website, Quora? Lots of good advice and info / lessons learned on there. Good luck!

Affiliate marketing is getting into promotion of the business through internet. This is done with techniques as e-mail,SEO,E-commerce.