Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

     Many marketing programs claim that they are the top paying affiliate programs or brag about have 75% commission.  While your goal as an affiliate marketer is to make money, they may not be the right programs for you to promote.  You can make an incredible amount of money from affiliate marketing once you have mastered some of the techniques.  If you are just starting out, you may want to look for some important things. 

     First and foremost, check out the product.  If it is a product on clickbank, check out the return rate.  You do not want to screw up your marketing budget with a product that just gets returned.  There are some fantastic products on clickbank to market, but there are also some duds out there.  Clickbank has many information products that are top paying and it is a great affiliate program.  However, if informational eBooks aren’t your thing.  Keep looking.  There are plenty of other things to market. 

     Second, check out what type of resources are already available for you to use.  Some products are great, but they don’t have any banners for you to post on your website.  You have to create your own.  If you are new to internet marketing that will take time.  As great as a 75% commission is going to be, it may be easier to start with a product that is good, but also has marketing tools and information available for you.  Often, if you look at the bottom of a merchants website you will see a link for affiliates.  This will have tools like banners and advertisements that you can use on your own websie.   

     Third, is there someone you can contact for support?  Many products will at the very least allow you to email questions to someone.  The wealthy affiliate is a great source for information on marketing, ideas for products to market and coaching from seasoned affiliate marketers.  With all the helpful ideas, their company may not be the top paying affiliate program, but I can maximize my efforts to ensure that I make money from their service.   

     A top paying affiliate program is great to look for, but your goal is to make money.  It is far easier to find a quality product or service that you are knowledgable about and write articles about it.   Creating a website based on something you know will make you money faster than learning about your product and your market.