If you are new to online business, like I used to be, the

fastest way to start your Internet online business is by

becoming an affiliate to sell some one else's products because

it allows you to make money from your website visitors without

having to worry about shipping and payment processing.

The products from the affiliate owners are usually information

products such as electronic books (eBook) and software that can

be delivered as a file that is then downloaded directly to your

customers' computers. They could be repeatedly reproduced and

downloaded and sold at no cost. There’s no packing, shipping

and delivery cost.

The question you've to ask yourself is how can you determine

which of the thousands of affiliate programs available in the

Internet is suitable?

Many beginners encountered disappointment and frustration after

signing up with some affiliate programs only to find out later

that they eventually end up having brought in very little money

if any, after wasting a lot of time and effort.

Hence the choice of affiliate programs is of utmost importance.

The most important criteria you should look for are:

1. They must offer products that the market is asking for or

that are already in demand i.e. the low hanging fruit type of

products, rather than creating new ideas hoping that the

consumers would be convinced to buy.

2. The affiliate program must offer good commission to their

affiliates. Although different people define “good”

differently, generally if it could bring in about $500/month as

a start, it would be something worth looking into. As mentioned,

affiliate programs offer high commission for their information

products such as e-books and software. The owners of these

affiliate programs can afford to give large commissions (50% or

more) because of low cost of “production”.

3. It must be easy to set up with step by step easy to follow

instruction. And the website should be simple and yet

attractive.

4. They should provide you with banners, images, links, sample

ads and articles and emails to help you promote their products.

Besides, they should also have a good support system for helping

you with any problems you might have.

Do not be satisfied only by the above mentioned points. You

should conduct further research to check on the background of

the organisations behind the products, their quality,

reliability and reputation. Wherever applicable, testimonials

must be obtained and verified.

Study the affiliate agreement and assess the organisations

you’re dealing with. Check their quality of service by sending

them an email or calling them to see how quickly and how

effectively they respond - or if they ever respond at all.

Assess their affiliate products. If you yourself are not

convinced by the quality and effectiveness of the products,

drop it and move on to another program.

There are sites which review, compare and recommend some great

affiliate programs. You should be able to find some programs

with the right categories of products to sell.

Like most search engines, visitors love content of our

websites. Content is one of the most important aspects of

attracting potential prospects to your web sites and prompting

them to become customers based on the “AIDA” logic i.e.

Attention, Intention, Desire and Action.

As far as possible, choose affiliate programs which relate to

what you are already doing, and then promote those products.

Join relevant online discussion forums and seek information and

advice from those who are already successful being an affiliate.

Once you’ve decided, draft a simple business plan, set target

of your goals, budget your expenditure, follow the instructions

given, be fully committed and go for it!

See you in the Web. Start taking your first step tonight in

your pyjamas! Good luck!