To combine articles and affiliate programs, all you have to do is to create an autoresponder series then advertise it directly with ezines, etc.

Select 3 affiliate programs

To make this work and not be a one hit wonder, you will need to select 3 affiliate programs to join. The criteria to selecting these programs are a little different than going out and selecting the affiliate program with the biggest commission, even though this does play a role.

Of course, all affiliate programs you promote will have to be on the one subject. For instance, say your first affiliate program is an ebook on mini sites, then your second affiliate program you sell could be a members only site based on mini sites and your third affiliate program could be a service where someone creates a network of mini sites for your customers.

The first affiliate program you promote will be one which pays a larger than normal commission on the first sale. Do not accept anything less than 40% commission for your first affiliate program. The reason for this is because we want to make a profit on the first affiliate program. By selling any product that does not make you at least $20 per sale, you will not profit straight away. The main aim of this is to really build up your opt in mailing list.

If you break even, don’t be discouraged. Breaking even is an amazing result, and if you have build you own list up, then you will be profiting from years to come.

So for your first affiliate program, choose a product that sells for around $40 to $50 and where you still get at least 40% of the total profits.

Your second affiliate program you join will be in the category of what we call "Residual Income".

This is an affiliate program that pays you every month someone stays signed up for the product or service. For example, if you were to promote a web hosting company and they charge $25 a month, you would get around $10 per month for as long as that person stays signed up for web hosting.

These are great programs to promote because all they require is a little hard work up front and you are set for months, even years.

That’s why I recommend promoting this type of program once you have a large list of names to email to.

Of course you will still be promoting your free course to other people but this is a way to make backend sales from your current list. Don’t think if you have advertised to these people once, that’s all they are good for. It takes some folks several times to respond to a message, so keep reminding them of what you have to offer.

Now your third affiliate program will also be a program that you will promote to your current subscribers list. This program should pay you a large lump sum of money. This type of program will have a lower conversion rate, but you should be making $80 to $150 commission per sale.

I will be touching on how to create a free report series in Using Using Articles To Make Money Online From Affiliate Programs - Part 2