Every year, millions of new websites are formed – and people are constantly figuring out new ways to make money with them.

If you don’t have a product or product idea, you may become discouraged about the whole idea of starting an Internet business. But the truth is, you CAN make a bundle online… without having a single product of your own.

I’m talking about joining an affiliate program and linking their offers to your website.

At Early to Rise, we sell our own products. But we also sell products for others – through affiliate and joint-venture partnerships – and we have been very successful doing both.

Selling products through an affiliate program eliminates the need to stock and manage them. It is also a lot easier to sell someone else’s existing product than to create one yourself.

But before you join an affiliate program, you need to consider the following:

1. Will this product appeal to my website’s visitors?

When selecting an affiliate program, make sure the products they offer are in the same (or a similar) niche as your website.

This might seem obvious – but you’d be surprised by the number of websites that sell things that have nothing to do with their niche. For instance, I recently saw a website dedicated to “Health” that had banner ads posted on every page for products that ranged from movies and music to electronics. There was hardly anything health-related!

2. How much can I make selling this product?

Most affiliate programs offer a 2 percent to 10 percent commission for sales generated by affiliates.

But a program with high payouts (15+ percent) gives you a chance to make the most money with the smallest amount of traffic and the least amount of effort. So go with the higher paying programs and make more money. It’s that simple.

3. Who is offering the product?

As you know, there are plenty of scams on the Web, so you have to be careful when choosing an affiliate program. Make sure the company you are dealing with is an established business with a good reputation – one that offers its customers a money-back guarantee and pays its affiliates on time.

4. Does this product sell well – or am I wasting my time and effort promoting it?

There are so many affiliate programs out there these days that it can be difficult to choose the right one. Make sure the program you choose sells a product that has a good conversion rate. If you are not making sales with a program, it might be time to look at a different one.

At ETR, our products convert at an extremely high rate – and we offer some of the highest payouts in the industry. This helps us ensure that our affiliates make plenty of money, and that they remain happy, loyal partners.

5. What kind of tracking system does the program use?

Look into the tracking software the program uses, and understand how it works. Most good affiliate programs track sales for 30 to 60 days, some even longer.

6. What kind of reporting do they offer?

Make sure the affiliate program provides you with all the tools you might need to accurately track your sales as well as the traffic you send to them. A good affiliate program will give you full metric reports to help you fine-tune your marketing efforts.

7. What sort of marketing support do they provide?

A really good affiliate program will also give you plenty of marketing materials and/or training to help you make the most of your partnership.

ETR’s affiliate program, for instance, offers its affiliates all of the sales materials they might need (from top-producing banner ads to proven sales copy). Plus, we offer lots of useful resources and training, including tutorials and access to a library of marketing articles.

8. Does it cost anything to join?

Sometimes it pays to join an affiliate program to check out their system before actually putting up any ads.

Joining should cost you NOTHING! If a (so-called) affiliate program charges for membership… it’s NOT an affiliate program.

There are many scams that prey on unsuspecting people looking to earn more money online. But why would any reputable company charge YOU for selling THEIR products?

Don’t EVER pay to join an affiliate program. Period.

Do your research. Take your time. Make sure you know the answers to the above eight questions – and then choose a good affiliate program that fits your needs.

[Ed. Note: You can start making money - today! - by joining ETR's Affiliate Marketing Program. It's 100% free to join, and we offer an extremely competitive commission on every ETR product you sell. Get all the details right here.]

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 5:10 am and is filed under Marketing/Internet .