So, you’ve seen the adverts and read the blogs telling you how much money there is to be made in affiliate marketing. What do you do now? The first, most important, thing you must do is research. Chances are slim that you will make any money if you join up with the first affiliation network that you find. There are literally hundreds of affiliate networks out there and you need to find the one that will suit you, and more importantly make money for you. That said you can pick more than one (that way you can see what works for you and your site) although if you’re new or inexperienced in the online market place then it’s advisable not to sign up with more than 5.

 
The best place to start when thinking about what affiliate network to use, is to look at yourself and (if you have one already) your website. Ideally the merchants you want to be advertising are going to be offering services and products that will sit seamlessly in your website or blog. If you have a website about child care, you don’t want an advert that links to penis enlargement!

 
If you don’t have a website or a blog, but want to get in on the affiliate marketplace, then the best advice would be is to start with something that you genuinely have an interest in. Look at other sites that are similar in look and subject matter to yours (or how you want your site to be) and see what works, as chances are they are going to be your competition. Then you can find an affiliate network with merchants that are offering something that are right for the subject of your site.

 
Once you have researched the marketplace to find a companies that provides an affiliate network that will cater for your niche, you will probably find that you still have a lot of choice. Again research is the key. You now possess the names of these companies, so you can Google them, and read reviews for them on blogs and forums. Also checking to see whether the merchants they cater for are reputable. This will help further with narrowing down your search.

 
Once you’ve narrowed the field down again, it’s time for more research (no-one said this was going to be easy). Hopefully you should be looking at the strong contenders for whose affiliation network you are intending to join. This time you are looking into things which will affect how much money you could possibly be earning. Essentially these are:
• Product prices – ideally you need to be advertising a product or a service that is somewhere between £10-£500. Lower than that, you won’t be receiving much in the way of commission and higher than that, chances are people won’t be looking to spend that much online, so no commission.
• Commission – in order for joining an affiliation network to be worth your while, you want to be taking anything over 20%.
• When and how you get paid – You ideally need to be receiving payment once a month, but there are affiliate networks that provide payment fortnightly, weekly and bi-weekly. It’s worth checking what the minimum payout is, as you might have earned some money, but not enough for the company to give it to you yet. Also check out how they are planning on paying you (i.e. PayPal, cheque, etc.) and make sure its suitable.

 
Once you are satisfied with the possible earnings side of things, you should take a look at the assistance the affiliate network is going to provide. At the very least you should have tracking tools so you can check yourself how much traffic you have directed to your chosen merchant. This will enable you to analyse how best to place your advertising to enable maximum earnings. They should also be available for customer service, to help you should there be a problem with the affiliate program. At the end of the day, if your losing out on earnings so are they!

 
Depending on how familiar and comfortable you are with a computer, some affiliate networks can offer help in designing and maintaining your website; but that entirely depends on your level of experience. But once you are an affiliate, you will have access to banners, buttons, images and text for free to add to your site.

 
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding an affiliate network that will work best for you.

To put it simply, affiliate marketing is a means for a company to sell its products or services by signing up individuals or companies (also known as Affiliates) who will market the company’s products for a commission. There are various ways in which this can be done, but in essence it is done through the use of hosting links, banners, product...