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There are certain ways of doing anything. When it comes to affiliate marketing in particular, you can choose to do it half-heartedly or you can go all-out and do it right. Work your affiliate programs by slamming a ton of banners on a page and waiting for the money to roll in is both a waste of your time and a disservice to the affiliate program owner you're working for. You may as well not even do it.

Work your affiliate programs like they actually mean something to you and your business; with all your knowledge and effort, and you're going to be on the road to collecting a good deal of commissions. Just like anything, there are ways of doing things that are going to prove to your web site or blog visitors that you are an expert at what you're taking about. Use your expertise about the product you're promoting and speak to them as a friend. After all, PRE-Selling a product is nothing more than being able to articulate how wonderful something is to someone else, as one trusted friend to another. It's not a hard thing to learn, but is a skill you must master that is not being taught as widely as it needs to be. People want to be able to trust others. Cynicism runs rampant in the Internet marketing world. There are far too many scammers out there making us good guys look bad. You primary job is to be that one voice crying out in the wilderness that changes that cynicism to trust. It's about being real and not a salesman. People can smell a salesman a mile away and they stink.

Here are 5 ways to work your affiliate marketing programs as an expert:

1. PRE-Sell - Find your own voice. Don't write like everyone else. You do not want to come off as just another carbon-copy salesman. You need to convey to your visitors that you care about them (it helps if you do). You need to have a passion to truly help other people. That can be understood in how you write. Sincerity is a trait sorely lacking in Internet marketing. You need to learn the mandatory skill of writing to PRE-Sell. Your job is to PRE-Sell the product and it is the job of the stores' landing pages to close the sale. Tell your visitors of your experiences and share stories. People appreciate being spoken to as an old friend sitting around the dining room table with a cup of coffee. Which lead to....

2. Have Product Experience - Whenever possible, own the product or work with the service you're promoting. This allows you to speak as that expert with first-hand experience. Your passion for that fantastic product will shine through. You want your readers to get as excited as your are about the product. You're not going to want to promote something that isn't any good, no matter how high the commissions, right? Um....right?? This can only come by owner the product yourself. Plus, you'll wind up with something really cool! ;)

3. Follow Your Niche - If you're web site or blog that has to do with cellular phones, don't join and promote an affiliate program for riding lawnmowers. You are not going to get your most wanted response that way, which is the click. Keep your subject matter and your affiliate programs in line with one another.

4. Deep Link - Let's use the cell phone scenario and say that you've got a page or a blog entry about the Apple iPhone and you have an affiliate association with a large on-line cell phone store. When you're figuring out which of their affiliate text links, banners or other creative to use, make sure you are able to deep link to the page or pages about Apple iPhones. You want to put your potential customer where they want to be. Don't just link to the cell phone stores home page. That is like leading them out into the woods and then dumping them. Don't make them search for that Apple iPhone information, lead them directly to it via your deep-linking affiliate link. That way will convert much better for you.

5. Work with The Affiliate Program Owners - They want to sell their products as much as you do. Even more. Don't be afraid to contact them and voice your concerns, opinions and needs. Any affiliate program that is worth promoting will welcome your input. They will want to work with you. You'll be able to tell who is worth working with and who is not. Do they have a large selection of creative to use? Do they offer attractive commission payouts (I tend not to take anything that pays out 2% of a sale or less) and long-term cookies? Do they allow deep linking with a bunch of pages to choose from? Is their affiliate program control center attractive and easy to use? Do they keep you informed via email about upcoming promotions and ways to help you make better conversions? If all that is being done, you should be working with them as best you can. They are obviously putting their best foot forward for you and their customers. If not, drop them and move on. They should always be there to help you in any way they can.

There you have it. Those are a few of the ways to work an affiliate program for all it's worth. If you want the money (a no-brainer), learn all you can, work hard, work smart and don't give up. Your failure or success is entirely dependent on you. Here's to your success!