Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular methods of making money on the internet today because it is so easy to do and takes very little time to set up.
There are, however, a few steps you will need to follow in order to make sure you get the most money from your time.
1) Check out Clickbank
Clickbank is one of the most frequently used affiliate directories and thousands of merchants choose to advertise products there because of the number of potential affiliates that visit.
Simply go to clickbank.com, open a free account and then click on the marketplace link and look for products in your particular niche.
2) Make Sure The Product Converts
It's essential to make sure that the sales page for the product you are promoting is actually converting traffic into sales.
You can only do so much in the preselling stage and guide visitors in the right direction but if, when they get there, the sales page is written poorly they will not be convinced to buy the product and navigate away somewhere else.
Thoroughly read the sales page yourself before signing up to the affiliate program and decide whether or not YOU would actually buy the product. Also check the popularity stats in Clickbank.
3) Make Sure The Program Has A Good Back Office
Before signing up you need to see what sort of additional tools the merchant is offering.
Do they provide you with banners, html links, promotional articles, blogs or an autoresponder course?
The more that is available to you the quicker and easier it is going to be to get started earning money.
4) Know Your Product Before Promoting
Once you have found a product you like why not contact the site owner and ask for a free copy to review.
The worst thing they can say is no and, if that’s the case and you still believe the product would be beneficial for your target audience, simply buy yourself a copy and take it for a test drive.
There’s nothing better than an honest opinion from someone that has actually had some success from what they are promoting.
5) Have A Website
If you have your own website, great, you can start promoting straight away! If not, then it’s a good idea to sign up to an affiliate program that provides one for free.
Obviously with a free site you will have exactly the same template as many other affiliates which makes the selling process slightly more difficult but if you make sure you use the full range of promotional tools available instead of just the odd one or two you will find yourself ahead of 95% of the other affiliates.
6) Check and Double Check Your Links
If you are promoting on other sites such as classified ads, article submission sites etc make completely sure the links back to your site are posted properly. Sounds obvious I know but one small spelling error and you will be getting no commission checks at all.
If you do your research before deciding on a product to promote and concentrate on these six tips you will find yourself well on your way to earning some good money with affiliate marketing.
Lee Scutchings is a full time internet marketer making a living from working online. His website Financial-Freedom-Advice.com is aimed at teaching newbies who want to learn about some of the more popular income streams and who are serious about attaining true financial freedom using the internet as a tool.