Lessons Learned by an Affiliate Newbie

Affiliate programs allow anybody to sell products or promote services provided by other people. Every time you make a sell, you get paid a commission. The good thing about it is you don't really need to have your own website or product to sell. All you have to do is to advertise the affiliate link given to you. When someone clicks on your unique link and takes advantage of the product or service by purchasing, then you get a commission for that sale.

What's the difference between affiliate programs and other online marketing programs?

1. You don't need to have your own webiste running.
2. You don't need to have your own product or service.
3. You don't need to do any inventory.
4. You don't need to ship anything.
5. You don't need to deal with costumers directly.

The owners of the product or services you are promoting will handle all of the above. All you have to do is to use your affiliate link and drive costumers to the owner's websites... and of course, get your commission once a purchase is made. Really simple, or is it?

Affiliate marketing is NOT a "get rich quick scheme". Though it is one of the easiest and fastest way to make money on the Internet, like any other business you have to work for your first sale or commission. Some newbies earn their first sale in just a matter of hours, some in a few days... I earned mine after 3 months and that's because I lost heart after just one,two, three tries. My first $41 commission was a wake up call. It REALLY is possible to make money as an affiliate. And so, I started learning more about how to do it right.

There are literally hundreds to thousands of affiliate programs that you can take advantage of. The list just goes on an on; there is an affiliate program for almost anything that you can think of. Most or all of them are free to join with no contract or legal binding whatsoever attached.

I chose an affiliate network.

Clickbank is a good example of an affiliate network where there are thousands of products and services that are being sold or promoted. Markethealth, Commission Junction, and many more networks offer you a "Marketplace" where you can search for virtually almost any product you can promote. These come in the form digital products ranging from different niches like health and beauty, family and relationships, pets, and many more.

The good thing about signing up with an affiliate network, instead of signing up for numerous solo affiliate programs, is that you only need ONE account. With this account, you can already access more than 10,000 products and services; all in one website.

For every product you promote, you would be given a unique link containing your affiliate ID which you should advertise. Once a costumer clicks on your link and a purchase is made, your account would be credited.You will earn generous commissions of up to 75% of the sale generated. You can earn up to $100 for just one product.

To start with, registering as an affiliate will only take you 5 minutes. That's how easy it is to start.

This is one of the most important decisions that you have to make as an affiliate. There are thousands of products out there and not to forget that there are as much number of affiliates to compete with. finding a gem of a product that not many people are selling or promoting will be your best bet to success. The question is, how do you know if the product is worth selling and will make you a ton of money?

Tap the Untapped

Most affiliates go for programs that pay really huge commissions. If you browse the Internet, you would most probably see a lot of advertisements on dieting pills, credit cards, loans, online games such as casinos and poker. Though these products do pay HUGE commissions, almost everybody from grandmas to grandchildren are trying to tap into these niches. The competition is FIERCE and if ever you decide to join in, it would cost you a lot of money, time and effort. If you are determined and have the means, go for them. But for newbies like me, I would encourage you to "Tap the Untapped".

There is a better chance for you to make money with niche products that only a handful of affiliates are marketing. Not only is there less competition, you will spend less in promoting it as well. Just think of the fact that though there are millions out there wanting to know how to lose weight or how to get a loan, there are thousands too who are wanting to learn how to cook, how to take care of their pets, how to grow their own gardens, how to knit, how to make candles, how to do home repairs, etc...

So the first step would be to be on the look out for these great niche areas.

When there is a need, there will be a great chance to get a sale.

Otherwise known as the "Landing Page", the sales page is the page that customers land on. A sales page, as its name implies must be able to CONVINCE surfers to buy the product or service being promoted. The sales page is an EXTREMELY important thing to consider when you are choosing an affiliate product to sell.

Does it grab your attention?

A good sales page should be able to grab your attention right away. If it does not appeal to you, then most likely it won't to others as well. If it grabs your attention and keeps it to the point that you would scan throughout the page further, then you know it is a nicely made sales page.

Does it get you excited about the product?

A sales page that makes you want to know more about the product is excellent. It should be appealing to the eye and should give as much information as it can about the product: how it works, why it works, what other people say about it, and more.

Does it offer a Money back Guarantee?

Products that offer money back guarantees mean that the creators or are 100% sure that it works. This gives surfers or buyers confidence about the credibility of the product. If it gives bonuses aside from a money back guarantee, the more surfers would make a purchase.

These are just a few traits that you can check. The more traits a sales page has, the more purchases it gets and of course, more commission for you.

There are millions of net citizens out there who tried to venture into affiliate marketing but not all of them become successful and found a profitable investment online. There are various reasons why not everyone has the chance to make it big by becoming an affiliate. One of the most prominent factors that determine the productivity of your affiliate marketing career is the kind of product you promote and its ability to pay you higher commissions. Thus, there is a pressing need for affiliates to find a product that is reputable and certainly pays well.

The very basic thing to do is to find and select a reputable affiliate program to join and manage your career. This is one sure-hit way where you do not need to worry about getting paid for your ads and promotions by the affiliate company because you are sure that you will get a high level of commission. Reputable affiliate companies offer quality products which are sure to generate income for you.

So what are the features or qualities of a good product to promote that surely guarantees your income? You basically need to choose a product based on its level of demand among a greater percentage of consumers or clients. You are only sure that the product pays when it is a hit in the market, high chances of purchase and consequentially, gives you greater chances of being paid with the commission generated through its sale.

Next, a reputable product to market is coming from a creator or merchant who generally ensures its affiliate the different kinds of tools that will surely help for its promotion and advertisement creation. Choose product merchants who are more than willing to help in the promotion of their products by providing tools such as banners, reviews and more effective promotional materials. This will not only facilitate your job but it is a booster of the product sales.

Finally, do your own research and look for a reputable product that has a good sales page to generate more traffic to your site and eventually guarantees purchase. It must contain everything the client needs to know about the product and persuades them that this is something they must primarily try.

There are certainly hundreds of products out there in the market that needs affiliates to promote and endorse them. In your part as an affiliate, the right choice on what product to advertise is a determinant that could either make or break your ventures.

Becoming an affiliate is one of the benefits you can get when you have access on the internet. This is a great way of income generation even if you do not go out of your house and just stay with your family and loved ones. Affiliate marketing has been a popular and useful trend in the contemporary days thus more and more people are trying to discover the secrets on how to market products as an affiliate and do it with utmost success.

There are basic things to learn, understand and master in affiliate marketing that will truly pave way to your online success. The first thing to do is to research thoroughly and carefully. Look for a product that you are going to promote and be extra careful in your choices. Learn about that particular product, try to use it yourself if possible to know exactly what to put in your ads in convincing potential customers. Once you have tested the product, determine its salesmanship by gauging if it is in-demand or not. If more people want or need this product, then you have greater chances of promoting and generating sales.

Once you are certain that the product is worth your time, money and effort, then you can start with the next time of promoting it. Set up a webhost and domain so that you can start marketing the product, or go for free Web 2.0 sites. There are various online sources which can readily and profoundly assist you in creating your website or blog. The former of course means you got to spend a little, the latter is totally FREE.

The next thing to do is to start with your tools or resources to boost the sales of the product like writing articles which are succinct and compelling that eventually calls for action. You can submit your articles in various places such as buzzle, articlealley and go articles among others. You just have to keep promoting your site until you are satisfied with the traffic you are getting for your site. Evaluate and assess your progress everyday by monitoring your results and tracking every keyword for testing.

These are just tools you can freely utilize to in order to create your ads, promote, boost sale and eventually generate your own income as an affiliate. The success of your venture depends on how much you actually invest with your time and creativity.

Here, I would list a few. These are things I have personally learned from eBooks I actually bought but now sharing it for free... the spirit of Christmas is in the air anyway... lol...

Affiliate marketing and promoting affiliate links are easy, convenient ways to haul some cash online. In fact, you just have to direct traffic to your website and you will get paid considerable commissions quick. But this type of Internet business has led into cutthroat competition among website owners, bloggers, and even those with profiles on social networking sites. Social media is big these days and more people are registering as affiliates now.

Multitudes of affiliates are now promoting similar affiliate programs, pursuing the same customers to purchase the advertised products. No wonder many Internet marketers have routed their way into using different types of social media, tools, and other online programs to set them apart from other affiliates. Even if you are new in the affiliate marketing business or if you are a seasoned expert in the field, you can actually gain an edge over other affiliates by using Web 2.0 sites. Indeed, these sites can enable you to reap a grand amount of money every month.

Actually, Web 2.0 is the new hype among within the blogosphere and those who are using social media sites nowadays. Web 2.0 is an excellent way to promote affiliate links since it assists in sharing interactive information as well as uses user-centered design which can be found in the World Wide Web.

Web 2.0 sites include social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace which are pretty common among Internet users, video-sharing sites like YouTube, web applications, web-based communities, folksonomies, hosted services, blogs, and wikis among others. These sites provide interaction among different users and management of website content.

Another reason why Web 2.0 sites are great for promoting affiliates is that as a user, these sites allow you to do more than just retrieve and score information from the Internet. They can develop interactive facilities so that you can run application programs through a browser. As a user, you can own and control the data that is on a Web 2.0 site.

Web 2.0 sites pulls in the nifty capabilities and uses of network protocols, client and server software, and content syndication. In addition, these sites present information storage and creation for all Internet users who are using them. Usually, Web 2.0 sites contain features such as search, tags, links, and techniques pertaining to syndication technology usage.

Essential to a Web 2.0 service are small contributions which will lead to a website's higher significance. These contributions such as relevant web content will assist you in promoting your affiliate links successfully.

Social networking sites are all the rage these days, from tweaking profiles and adding people on their friends' list, more and more users are signing up on them. MySpace is one social networking site that is fast being hemmed by small and large companies and utilizes their accounts for their marketing plans.

In fact, MySpace.com is presently a top ranking site which attracts Internet users from all over the world. It is being projected that the network of users will only get larger by the year. From pimping user profiles and designing them in HTML or CSS, to disclosing specific personal information such as occupation and status, it has cast in numerous Internet users signing up on the social networking site.

Now, many companies, especially those in the music business, real estate, and other product endorsements are using MySpace to promote their products and various wares. For those in the affiliate marketing business, MySpace is a great tool to amass traffic to an affiliate website. Just adding "friends" can make you score great connections, tweaking your profile to make it attractive can be an affiliate site in itself, posting blogs can enable other users to read about your affiliate marketing business and what you endorse, and posting comments to other users with links can allow users to check it out at least.

There are so many advantages of using MySpace. There are technical advantages such as HTML coding, external marketing capabilities, and demographic targeting. You can update your profile and change the design quickly so that you can showcase it to the public your newly pimped profile. There are also additions which can be added right away such as income levels and zip codes.

When it comes to technical advantages, your MySpace page can be programmed akin to other websites and you can actually adjust several types of marketing mediums such as photos, videos, and audio. They can all be displayed in your MySpace profile. What is more, you can also update your blogs so that users will know what you are currently up to in your affiliate marketing business.

For your external marketing needs, MySpace allows you to post messages on bulletin boards, communicate with prospective clients, and send e-mails. Most people use the social networking site to give their presence a boost in the world of Internet marketing with promotional offerings just a click away. Being quickly adopted, MySpace is churning success stories regarding affiliate link promotion.

One trend nowadays in Internet marketing is the use of Squidoo. It is a social networking site that enables loads of users to produce and make pages for free on any topic they want. Squidoo has been viewed as an important tool in promoting your affiliate website.

Indeed, Squidoo is one site which can be helpful in your market affiliate services and products. Squidoo has a unique feature and that is allowing affiliate links unlike most websites. For this feature, Squidoo became increasingly popular especially those who are in the affiliate marketing business.

Squidoo is also recognized as a tool that can haul in traffic to your site. As soon as you have managed your Squidoo page, you have to optimize it so that you can score maximum benefits. Optimizing in SEO circles means that you have to squeeze in keywords to up your page rank and brining in interesting content can make you gain an edge over others.

Once you start receiving some website traffic from your Squidoo page, you can actually promote this traffic to your other sites or blogs. They will be quickly found by users from search engines and from Squidoo itself. This is why expert Internet marketers use Squidoo greatly.

Squidoo is definitely one of the most effective sites about social networking that can successfully make you gain excellent results in no time with your affiliate links. Squidoo reaches out to millions of users each day and ranks well on many search engines such as Google and MSN. Website owners have used Squidoo for its proven efficiency in generating attention to the services and products that they have endorsed.

In addition, Squidoo enables users to build free web pages so that they can use them to promote their sites or services. Squidoo also lets users sell and deal affiliate products, unlike some social media sites. Of course, the Internet is packed with social networking sites and business organizations have already benefited from them.

Squidoo is a successful social networking site because it is rich in content and has high rankings among major search engines. With the Squidoo lenses, it can accomplish a positive search engine ranking quickly. That is why most affiliate marketers need to have their Squidoo content optimized so that their pages will be visible to a wider audience. An excellent tool for promoting affiliate links, Squidoo provides businesses with powerful applications to put forth services in targeting potential customers.

Everyone who is keen in using social networking sites has probably heard of Facebook. Millions of users have signed up on the site and businesses have adopted the Facebook platform in their Internet marketing venture. The Facebook pages are great applications to use for your online business.

In fact, the Facebook pages enable businesses, films, music artists, restaurants, and celebrities to increase their online presence. Facebook has complied with user demands to have a more powerful and effective tool to create a user base, run promotions, share information, sell product and merchandise, schedule appointments, and interact with new clients.

Facebook can positively help you in promoting your affiliate links. Besides, you can build a long-term relationship with other users on your friends' list and they might be your long-time customers at the end. Furthermore, users can view your page even if they do not use Facebook. They can just search your name or name of your business on any search engine and the page will just instantly crop up.

Facebook also has these user-friendly applications which are simple and easy to use. You do not have to code in anything and learn about other programming languages to manage your profile. You can pull in customer involvement with these applications and you will be on your way to affiliate marketing success.

You can run promotions on your Facebook page as well as upload images of your products, video links, and even links to your affiliate website. What is more, Facebook has this unique analytic feature so you can see how your page is doing. While you are at it, you can also create Facebook ads to advertise your page and invite other users for your business events. Add extra applications or maybe create one on your Facebook page so that users will be fully enticed by your online business.

To get some feedback from users, they can write on your wall. They can issue out their opinions about your products and give positive testimonials to help you gain fresh strategies about your business. You can also create a group profile for active discussion. This way, you can attract attention in promoting your affiliate links.

In Facebook, affiliate marketers have attested to the fact that your business will have a quick growth. Thanks to the invitation feature, users can spread the word about your services and products. Facebook is indeed, a handy way to score a following and will make your online marketing business easier and more profitable.

There are various forums you can find in the Internet and many have specified topics of choice. There are forums dedicated to just about anything under the sun and even beyond. But for those who are seeking to promote their affiliate links are looking into forums to advertise their websites and products.

Indeed, with a basic understanding of forums, you can achieve positive results in your Internet marketing venture in a snap. In fact, forums are beneficial in introducing your products that are advertised in your site and you can post a link back to your website so other Internet users can click on it and move some traffic to your site.

Affiliate marketing is just like advertising and when you expose your website to forums, people will actually be curious and interested about your site. They can link back to your site and even ask for link exchanges if you are up to it to increase your search engine rankings.

Posting in forums also enable you to receive some assistance from other users. The information that you have gathered about your Internet marketing business can help you gain new perspectives and strategies so that you can have a successful website in the process. Such forums also offer topics for your website content in addition to feedback from other users as well.

Forum viewers will take a glimpse on your profile occasionally so better make it eye-catching. Be sincere and personable as much as possible. Note that each forum has its own way of operation meaning that they have distinctive rules before you actually post something in it. To advertise you affiliate website, never belittle or degrade your other competition as they may likely be in that kind of forum as well.
Learn the rules first so that your posts will be accepted and be well-received. If you have come across forum moderators, they have control on what posts to delete and they can also remark about your posts. In fact, you can even ask for help such as posting a question and users are keen on handing out their knowledge about the topic in regards to promoting your affiliate links.

Of course, some forums do not support backlinks to your webpage. So it is better to also search for forums that provide backlinks so other users may know about your site. Furthermore, be careful about people scamming you in forums. Some information disclosed in forums can be far from the truth so you have to research about the discussion made in order for you to know the full picture about promoting your affiliate links.

Here is a list of Forums that you can use:

http://adminmania.com/
http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5staraffiliateprograms.comm/
http://affiliatemarketingforums.org/
http://club.3powers.com/
http://discussnames.com/index.php
http://forum.abestweb.com/index.php
http://forum.affiliatebot.com/
http://forum.affiliatedistrict.com/index.php
http://forum.authorityblogger.com/index.php
http://forum.ebizinsider.com/
http://forum.kahuki.com/
http://forum.siteground.com/index.php
http://forum.weblamp.net/
http://forum.weborum.com/index.php?act=idx
http://forums.build-reciprocal-links.com/
http://forums.digital-m.co.za/index.php
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/
http://forums.seo.com/index.php
http://forums.ukwebmasterworld.com/
http://forums.vmoptions.com/
http://forums.webicy.com/
http://forums.webzonetalk.com/
http://forums.x10hosting.com/
http://freewebspace.net/forums/index.php
http://netmarketingforum.com/forum/index.php
http://siteownersforums.com/
http://talk.iwebtool.com/
http://ukseoforums.com/index.php
http://webforumz.com/
http://webhostingforum.com/index.php
http://workathomenetwork.com/forum/
http://www.aardvarkbusiness.net/chat/index.php
http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/
http://www.affiliateforum.com.au/
http://www.affiliatelink.org/index.php
http://www.affiliatemarketingformula.com/forum/
http://www.affiliates4u.com/forums/
http://www.affiliateseeking.com/forums/
http://www.affiliate-talk.com/index.php
http://www.affspot.com/index.php
http://www.ahfb2000.com/webmaster_help_desk/index.php
http://www.askdamagex.com/
http://www.australianwebmaster.com/index.php
http://www.bloggerforum.com/modules/newbb/
http://www.bloggeries.com/forum/
http://www.browsehosts.com/forum/
http://www.bzimage.org/index.php
http://www.conqueryourniche.com/forum/index.php
http://www.ddboard.com/forum/
http://www.devhunters.com/
http://www.dnforum.com/
http://www.dnscoop.com/forums/index.php
http://www.domainforums.com/index.php
http://www.ewealth.com/index.php
http://www.forumforwebmasters.com/index.php
http://www.freehostforum.com/
http://www.freelancegossip.com/
http://www.geekpoint.net/forums/
http://www.geeksonsteroids.com/forum
http://www.geekvillage.com/forums/
http://www.helpingwebmasters.com/
http://www.im4newbies.com/forum/index.php
http://www.internetmarketingforums.net/
http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/
http://www.luckywebmasters.com/forums/index.php
http://www.mainstreamwebmasters.com/forums/
http://www.moo-directory.com/forum/index.php
http://www.multilingual-seo.com/
http://www.namepros.com/
http://www.netaffiliatetalk.com/
http://www.onlinewebmarket.net/forum.php
http://www.paidinsider.com/forum/
http://www.peerhut.com/index.php
http://www.powelly.com/forum.php
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/index.php
http://www.seo1.net/board.html
http://www.seo-forum.se/
http://www.seo-forums.com/
http://www.seo-guy.com/forum/
http://www.seoplace.com/
http://www.seorefugee.com/forums/index.php
http://www.siteownersforums.com/index.php
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/
http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/
http://www.small-business-forum.com/index.php
http://www.submitexpress.com/bbs/
http://www.talkfreelance.com/index.php
http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/index.php
http://www.theblogexperiment.com/blog-forum/index.php
http://www.thewebmasterforum.net/
http://www.top25web.com/bbs/index.php
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/index.php
http://www.v7n.com/forums/
http://www.vuju.com/
http://www.wahm.com/forum/default.asp
http://www.warriorforum.com/
http://www.webcosmoforums.com/
http://www.webdevforums.com/index.php?
http://www.webhostchat.co.uk/
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/
http://www.webmasterads.com/
http://www.webmaster-corner.com/index.php
http://www.webmasterdesk.org/
http://www.webmasterforums.com/
http://www.webmasterforums.net/
http://www.webmaster-forums.net/
http://www.webmasterforumsonline.com
http://www.webmasterize.com/index.php
http://www.webmastermalaysia.com/
http://www.webmasters.am/forums/index.php
http://www.webmasters.org/forum/
http://www.webmastershome.com/
http://www.webmasterstalks.com/index.php
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/
http://www.webmasterwelt.net/
http://www.webmasterwidget.com/
http://www.webmasteryouth.com/index.php
http://www.webproworld.com/
http://www.websitebabble.com/
http://www.webtalkforums.com/
http://www.webworkshop.net/seoforum/index.php
http://www.wtricks.com/forums
http://www.zoomcities.com/forum/index.php
http://www.zymic.com/forum/

In the field of affiliate marketing, new and aspiring affiliates have a lot of things to know and understand. The basic knowledge they learn are essentially important in order to come up with the right strategy and tools to help in the promotion of their ads. For instance, email marketing is one of the systems used which is time tested and extremely effective. The best way to utilize this marketing tool is through renting out your email lists in order to endorse your affiliate links.

It is a fundamental option that you have to be clear and careful about because in the contemporary email world, you need to avoid using spam messages. It is imperative that you have to avoid sending bulk messages because you are only wasting your precious time when all your messages are bound to be sent to the junk or spam folders of your potential customers.

You can then utilize the different methods in marketing through emails to increase your traffic and generate sales for your merchant's products or services. This is surely a great way of being productive and profitable. One method that you can use is through eBook downloading where incorporation of your affiliate links is very much possible. The eBook must contain salient information, details and other helpful tips in relation and about your product. You use your own creativity as to how to integrate your affiliate links, especially in the downloadable page of your email.

Next to use is through email courses which you can regularly send to those in your email list. This must also contain valuable information regarding your endorsed item or services as well as the affiliate link that will lead them to your site or your merchant's website. However, you need to remember that overloading your emails with affiliate links may be fatal to your strategy. Thus, for every email course you send, you may put one affiliate link to promote your ads. Both methods are actually very effective as long as you know how to utilize them properly and with care.

Email marketing as an essential part of affiliate marketing is an indispensable tool for promotion and marketing. Hence, to make the most out of your venture, find the important resources first and maximize it to bring your affiliate campaigns to a higher level. It therefore depends greatly on your discretion, creativity and willingness that will determine the kind of future you have in the cyber world of affiliate marketing.