There are hundreds of affiliate programs available to any new or seasoned affiliate marketer. To decide which is the best is very difficult because this depends on the quality of the products being offered. Plus are there any bad reviews about that site. If an affiliate site earns a bad reputation then it won't last long. It is far better to stick to the long term tried and tested affiliate marketing sites rather than joining a new one with no previous history.

You have seen the advertisements make hundreds of thousands in a few days with a few banner ads.

This simply does not work, you have to be prepared to work and work hard to achieve those kind of results. It isn't impossible and it will happen if the time is taken to create a long term business.

This is what you are setting up, a Business in Affiliate Marketing.

Email Marketing can be a highly effective affiliate marketing instrument. Again this isn't something that is going to happen overnight, it takes time and it must be done correctly.

The major problem with Email Marketing is the constant threat of your Email being classed as Spam. To overcome this the majority of affiliate marketers use the the double opt-in method which asks the receiver of the email to confirm that they agree to receive it.

Email Marketing requires constant tweaking to ensure that you keep your readers interested, adding short summaries of forthcoming product releases is one good way. Be prepared to give away free guides with naturally some of your links in.

This type of marketing allows you to become more personal because you can talk about what you do during the day, your family, hobbies. This helps to create a bond between you and your list and makes them feel that there is actually a real person there and not just a computer generated message.

They always say that the "money is in the list" but keeping them can be a lot harder than getting them in the first place.

Don't be like every other affiliate marketer on the web throwing out rehashed garbage, be an individual, unique, create your own products.

All it takes is a bit of imagination to create that next bestseller!

The next major point to consider is what platform are you going to use for your promotions, free or hosted. Free sites are all well and good but you cannot compete with a fully hosted site. With a hosted site you have full control of the content and design of your site. Free platforms are good for networking and linking to your main site.

This is a tough business to be in, much harder than the normal nine to five jobs because you tend to work much longer hours for sometimes little success. Having complete control of your own destiny is by far the best feeling ever even with the long hours. Taking the time off whenever you want to is by far the best feeling.