What is Affiliate Marketing? Will it lift your business to the next level? Or, is the Gold Rush over?

A wise man once said that the majority of people take their project to the point where it looks impossible and then give up. That is NOT the time to give up, because two more steps could see success!

You get up each morning - rush to your computer - you didn't make any sales! Did you realise what a vast marketplace you were setting up your stall in and unless you tell them you're open for business they won't come?

Your web site looked great (if you had one) but did you, like me in my early days, advertise it in FFAs, Free lists and safe lists? If you did, you now realise these lists only contain others who want to sell what they've got and are not the slightest bit interested in your offer! Don't fall for the "We'll put your ad in front of 2,000,000 people". So, what has all this got to do with the Power of Affiliate Marketing?

Are you creating your own Gold Rush? You've got a great product be it a hard product, a service or a digital product and you have a few visitors, and perhaps you're making a few bob a month. If you add five or six Affiliate products allied to your own, to your site, what have you got? CHOICE. The number of visitors goes up because you've got links back to your site, which means the Search Engines favour you more.

Affiliate Programmes must be in line with your own product, but you'll have a larger range to offer visitors. Imagine the 'wants' of those whom you are trying to interest - NOT the needs. People invariably buy what they want, not what they need.

Even if you haven't got a product of your own, or even a website, you'll make money with Affiliate Programmes. Solve people's problems and you're on to a winner.

Some of the highest paid net-workers don't have a website or a product of their own, but they make a whole stack of money by offering the products of well known companies to a receptive audience. They've created their own Gold Rush via Affiliate Programmes.

What are you doing? Wondering "Where do I find such products?" Well, there are many sources of 'product finders', but you can do a lot worse than look at what Affiliate Programmes there are on Clickbank - some 10,600 products and sites!

But (and yes, I know you should never begin a sentence with a preposition) investigate thoroughly those programmes you think will make you money. Look for a programme that pays at least 50% commission and if you find one with a two-tier commission structure, well, that's great because it means that you'll get commission on sales made by affiliates that you introduce.

So, what are you looking for when you investigate? Look and see how many affiliates each company has. Don't be put off by the fact that there are a lot. Its good. It means the product/s sell well. How much commission is paid out to affiliates? If you've got a Google toolbar (and if you haven't, go to Google and download one - they're free) you can find out a lot about companies by entering their name in the search box., and this will throw up a lot of information including how many backward links there are to that company. Important? I should think so, because search engines like backward links for high ranking.

Proper investigation will take a little time, but you'll find out a lot about these companies. Can you see yourself making money with a product AFTER you've investigated the company. Is the product something people want - not need!

There is no doubt in my mind that Affiliate Programmes is the way to make considerable money on the net, multi income streams from 5/6 Affiliate Progs. Not just one cheque a month, but several.

Nevertheless, you can't just become an Affiliate and expect the money to roll in. If that's your thinking - get another job! But if you are prepared to put in the right effort and look to the future with confidence and determination, you'll win.
Thomas Edison said - "What you are will show in what you do"

Advertising your programmes is easy, but that's the subject of another article - "Don't Pay for Advertising". Finally, let me urge you here NOT to use FFAs, Safe lists and the like. They never worked for me and they won't for you.

Note what I've said. These thoughts and pointers will take you where you want to go.

Tony Bryan.