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Affiliate programs are a simple way to generate revenue. This is a system of revenue sharing between one site (the affiliate merchant) which features an ad or content designed to drive traffic to another site (the advertiser). The affiliate will receive a fee based on the amount of traffic generated. Having an affiliate program is a great way for a merchant site to increase its traffic and revenue, but it is also a great way for an average person to make money.

Affiliates do not have to develop their won product, process orders, deal with shipping, etc. They simply find a reputable company that offers and affiliate program and sign up. Sounds easy, right? That is what a lot of people think, and it is also the reason why a lot of people try it and fail. In order to actually succeed and make a significant amount of money as an affiliate marketer, you have to work. Just like any other job, you need to put time and effort into it in order to see results. The first step is to find a great merchant. One mistake that a lot potential affiliates make is not researching the company thoroughly. Of course they all say that they are the best and most lucrative. It is up to the potential affiliate to do their diligence to make sure the company they choose has a good reputation and a good program to help its affiliates. Make sure the company offers a start-up manual at the very minimum.

The next step is to build a website. This is where a lot of beginners run into problems. This becomes a giant hurdle for those that do not know how to build a website using html. There are web-building services available, but they can be costly. Even those who can use it still can have make mistakes. Some of the most common mistakes are: hosting at a free Web hosting service, poor content, websites that do not look professional, and failure to master the Search Engines. Finally, in order to be successful, you need to get people to see your website. In order to do this, you need to find ways to drive traffic to it. Some of the most important things to do are to make the content of their Web pages "attractive" to Search Engines; track how each page performs on the major Search Engines; and develop more than one way to drive traffic.

Once you have done all of these things and are beginning to experience success as an affiliate marketer, you can just sit back and watch the money roll in, right? Wrong!!! You will always need to monitor your traffic and think of creative new ways to bring the traffic to your website. But, most importantly, if you ever want to be able to rely on affiliate marketing as a stable source of income, you need to diversify into other, complementary monetization models.

Copyright 2006 Timothy Rohrer