How to Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Programs

Courtesy of: Skip McGrath

Affiliate marketing is a great way for eBay sellers and web site owners to make extra money –or even a lot of money if you learn how to do it right. However all affiliate marketing programs are not created equal.

Here are my tips for selecting and using affiliate programs. After this are links to some of the best affiliate programs I have found:

1. Don't confuse affiliate programs with multi-level marketing programs. There are a couple of good affiliate programs that require you to spend money to join, but most do not. If you have to purchase product or recruit others to spend money to join the program, then this is not an affiliate program --it is a multi-level marketing program masquerading as one.
2. Pick an affiliate program that has something to do with your business. For example, if you sell ladies clothing on eBay you would not want to recommend products that would be of interest to women.
3. The best programs have two tiers. The first tier is where you get paid for sales that you refer people to. The second tier is where you get paid (a smaller amount) if someone signs up as an affiliate under you and they refer a sale. For example, in my program if you sell one of my books you earn 40%. If someone signs up as an affiliate under you and they refer the sale of one of my book, then you earn 10% of that sale.
4. Be wary of affiliate programs that have more than two tiers. There are a couple of good affiliate programs that have three tiers but they are rare. Whenever I see a program with three or more tiers I am very hesitant to join. Why? If they are paying out more than 50% commissions that means what the customer is getting can't be that good. As I said, there are exceptions to this but they are rare.
5. Look for affiliate programs that have lots of marketing tools such as pre-written emails, free articles, e-books you can give away and several banner designs. The more tools an affiliate program has, the more likely you will find one that will work in your market.
6. Always buy one of the products and evaluate it yourself before recommending it to others. Some affiliate programs out there are pretty crappy, while others are no more than information scams. When you recommend a product or a program, your reputation is on the line. You don't want people coming back to you complaining about something you recommend.
7. Always double check your affiliate links. I see broken affiliate links all the time. When this happens the customer is usually directed to the web site but you don't get your commission and the affiliate program owner usually has no way to determine who should get credit for the sale.

You can sign up with great Affiliate Networks at Affiliate MoneyMonster.com