I would assume you have noticed, if you have followed some of my other articles on Affiliate Marketing training, that quite often my primary message for your home based business is related to day to day operations and long term planning as opposed to instant profits or miracle cure alls. There is a reason for this.

Until I learned to get my feet on the ground and build my business, not try to buy my business, I was going NOWHERE! No amount of money could provide the skills that are necessary to be effective with my Affiliate Marketing online business ... I just ended up with pretty packages and didn't have a CLUE on what to do with the contents! :-(

So, what to do? Here is a summary of a conversation that I recently had with Christina Munoz, AKA "TheQuoteDiva". We were discussing a recent high profile affiliate marketing program launch and reviewing the marketing skills necessary to benefit from this particular program.

I thought that perhaps hearing my same old drivel echoed from another active, successful Internet Marketer just might ring your bell! :-)

It's very tough to stay focused when everyone is raving about the next giant product launch and offering thousands in bonuses just to buy through their link.

Lately there is a lot about a new program called "Mass Control". After reviewing it ... it is truly - genius marketing!

But, it assumes you already have a product, a list, and joint venture partners lined up. This is super-advanced stuff and for those who already have a full system in place it is pure Gold!

However, if you don't have the basics nailed, no amount of "advanced" training is going to help.

In order to capitalize on a system like this, what 'constitutes' a Basic System?

• Squeeze Page?

• Pre-Sell Page?

• Autoresponder?

• Lead Generator?

• Followup System?

• Front-end Product?

• Back-end Products?

• Viral Reports?

• Blog?

• Traffic???

Until you've got a system in place, there's no reason to keep buying stuff. It's not gonna help until YOU make a commitment to work the plan.

After all, why would you want to dish out another $1000 or $2000 when you won't be able to fully use what 'Mass Control' and other similar products can offer you?

Well, as usual, Christina's comments took this author back to the drawing board to once again evaluate the foundation and structural integrity of my own online business.

Lacking understanding of all 10 basic elements in no way suggests that one cannot make very good money focusing on just a few of the Basics. For example, just having a list, an understanding of productive advertising, and a quality affiliate product can certainly generate significant revenue.

However, acquiring the knowledge, understanding, and ability to implement all of the basics will allow you to take a product, any product, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, and plug its unique components into your system to maximize profits.

As your efforts continue to build the applications available in your affiliate marketing tool box, the closer you move towards reaching the epitome of your development ... putting your system on autopilot.

Plug and Play is an often used phrase to suggest the simplicity of marketing a particular system or product. Well, that's great, IF, you have something to plug into. :-)

Here's a great exercise to judge just how far along you are in developing your rock solid business plan.

Write down all 10 of the "Basic" components listed above. Now, honestly ask yourself if you could implement each particular component if you were planning a new campaign for a product or service.

If any of the areas are a resounding NO, you have just identified a specific target for research and development. Put that integral component on the top of your 'To Do' list, and get right on forming another piece of your puzzle. Do research, review past articles or reports describing the process, make a mental outline of where this component would fit into your campaign, then put your thoughts to paper and ... take action!

There is no doubt that if you polled 10 veteran affiliate marketers, each of their lists of the 10 Basics would differ slightly from each other. However, what they would have in common is a structured flow from the campaign conception through the sales offer and follow up.

Once again, I encourage you to focus on the basics in order to put yourself in a position to be able to jump onboard and prosper from a system such as "Mass Control". Once you have mastered those 10 essential components, you're WELL on your way to building your successful affiliate marketing business.