They're everywhere. Websites that promise they can make you rich enough to quit your job and sit at home in luxury - as long as you pay them some money first, of course!

They can be very tempting. After all, who wouldn't pay $49 if it meant learning how to make thousands a week? The majority tell you that without their help, you haven't got a hope of becoming a successful affiliate marketer. But is that true? Or is it possible to work out what to do on your own?

It can be argued that yes, it is possible. After all, what do these programs really tell you? That it's a good idea to build a website? How to drive traffic to your website? How to write a good sales pitch? Some people might say that these things are just common sense. Most people now realise you need a website to make money on the internet, and there are websites that tell you how to get traffic and write good copy for free.

So why do so many people keep spending money on affiliate programs?

One good reason is to save time. It is possible to become a successful affiliate marketer without help, but you'll make mistakes along the way. A good affiliate marketing program will tell you what to do and where to do it. The author will already know the most effective ways of generating sales, and they'll pass that information on. The money you spend on an affiliate marketing program could therefore be earned back in the first week, as you save the money you might have spent on ineffective marketing techniques.

A second reason is because setting out to become an affiliate marketer can be quite a daunting task. After all, where do you start? What product do you choose to promote? Is it best to try several products at once? Where do you find said products? The list of things you need to organise is long – a website, link tracking, autoresponders, affiliate links for the products you want to promote. You need to submit your site to search engines, find ways to drive traffic to your site, try to improve your page ranking…an affiliate program can be useful simply because it takes you though how to do these things step by step. For those of us who sometimes struggle with organisation, that alone can be worth paying for!

And finally, you might pay for an affiliate program because you need the information. You might not know much about the internet. You might only have heard the words ‘affiliate marketing' for the first time yesterday. You might not even really know what it is. If that's the case, an affiliate marketing program could be the best thing you ever buy. Many are aimed at people who have no idea what affiliate marketing is or how to get started. They simplify everything, making it simple to get started making money through the internet. You could find out all this information on your own, as it is out there – but how long would it take you? And what marketing tricks would you miss?

Of course, none of these reasons might apply to you. You might know what affiliate marketing is and have a good idea to get started. You might already know where to find the tools you need and how to use them. You might not mind the idea of making mistakes while you learn – or feel so confident that you think you won't make any!

If that's the case, then why should you buy an affiliate marketing program? It won't tell you anything you can't learn yourself through trial and error. But it's perhaps the second of those two words that is the most important – ‘error'.

You might not mind wasting time and money on mistakes. You might not mind losing sales through inexperience. It can be a good way to learn – and once you have made a costly error, it's not likely that you'll make it again. But most people want to become successful as smoothly as possible, without the set-backs a lack of know-how can cause.

Affiliate programs don't eliminate mistakes. They will not protect you from errors. But they do make the chances of you committing one unknowingly less likely – and for that, I say they are worth the money.