Work Those Affiliate Programs and Make Some Cash

So you've joined your first affiliate/associate program
and slapped that big old banner on your site. All you
have to do now is sit back and wait for the bucks to
come rolling in.

Not so fast there, Bucky. There's
a lot more to making money with affiliate programs
than that. If your best effort is going to be that
banner, don't plan on retiring any day soon.

Just like everything else online, you'll get out
of it what you put in. So if you want to make
some serious cash with those programs you're joining,
you need to promote them. There are a variety of methods
you can use, but I'll discuss the
few that I know seem to work the best.

My first suggestion to you is to join only programs
that relate to the theme of your website. Make sure
it's a "good fit" with your site and that it pays
out a "healthy" commission. Getting paid $2.00 in
commission may not be worth the work involved in
promoting the program. Try weaving the URL's
throughout your site or devoting a whole page to
their topic. Don't just use banners; use alternatives
like text links within your pages. Banners have
become so saturated online that a lot of folks
tend to ignore them, plus the extra weight
they add to your pages makes them load slowly.

Most programs you join will give you a variety of
ads to use in your promotion efforts, but for
best results you really should be creative and
write some of your own. All too often I see the
same old ad repeated over and over online until
I want to scream. A little creativity and stressing
the benefits will take you a lot further than
canned ads that 10,000 other programs are using.

Make a habit of scanning discussion boards and
look for any opportunity to answer a question
or give advice using your affiliate link. Make the
link a part of your signature
line and use it in your e-mail correspondence
and newsgroup postings.

If you publish your own ezine, make sure you keep
a list of text ads for all of the associate programs
you participate in and pick 2 or 3 to put in your
newsletter every time you publish. If you've
purchased the product yourself, a personal endorsement
will pique your subscribers' interest and motivate
them to click through. Your subscribers trust you,
so don't recommend anything you don't believe in.

Don't forget about placing your ads in other ezines
that cater to your target audience. There are plenty
of inexpensive newsletters just waiting for your
ad copy. For instance, an ad costing you $10.00 could result
in three associate sales adding up
to $100.00. That's a pretty nice return on your
investment.

One trick that has worked well for me over the
years is placing my associate links in e-books
that I've written. Since the books are given
away for free there's no telling how many
people will see those links and possibly make a
purchase. If your book is well written and popular
you could stand to make some decent revenue from
the associate programs that you've placed in it.

Associate programs really are a great way to make
some cash online, but a banner alone is not going
to do it. Start promoting your "special link"
every chance you get....and you'll be rolling
in the dough in no time at all.