4) Too many different programs/Too diverse programs

This is a very common problem. Promoting 100 different programs on 100 different subject areas - will kill your chances of success! Of course it is ok to represent several products at same time - often you need to do this to make a solid income. Just be sure that they are related to your site's content, and don't compete with each other too much (if at all). Often it is very good to be an affiliate of several programs that complement each other.

I'm sure you can see advantages of promoting "Fast and easy birdhouse kits" alongside "Home delivery birdseed" and "Jake's guide to birds". Compare that with a site that promotes "Ma's cookie dough", beside "Uncle Jeb's axle grease remover" and "Guido's kneecap replacement service". Which do you think will be more successful? The point is STAY FOCUSED. Know what you promote, and promote what you know.

3) No backend sales/support (ezine etc.)

You MUST have backend sales and support. If you don't know what backend is, get your mind out of gutter, its not what you're thinking! Backend simply means systems that kick into play AFTER initial contact/sale. The absolute best of these is running your own ezine. If you don't have an ezine and a system for collecting email addresses and information from your visitors, you need to get on it NOW! Don't know why? Its simple.

If a visitor comes to your site and then clicks on a link to one of your affiliate programs, you will get a commission (assuming you presold your link well). At that point, they're GONE. You've lost them FOREVER! Now imagine that you have an ezine signup box on your site and they join your ezine. Now you have them for as long as they remain a member - possibly years! How many links will you be able to present to them? How many more will they click? It really is a no-brainer. Setting it up isn't realy all that hard either.

2) No effort on your part

You need to work as an affiliate marketer. Anyone who tells you that you can do it on 2 hours a day while sitting on a beach is basically a LIAR! There is no question that ONCE you get established and things automated, workload will be lower, but you ALWAYS need to work at it. If you don't, a $4000/month affiliate income can change to $50/month very fast! Look at it this way, when you build a house, do you simply leave it and move to next town and do it again? No, you live in house, enjoy its benefits and comforts, and continually maintain and

upgrade it. Building house was hard part, but upkeep and enjoying house are just as important.

1) Trying to sell

Your job as an affiliate is NOT to sell product. Let me repeat that, because I'm sure you missed it as you fell to floor. Your job as an affiliate is NOT to sell product. Selling product is job of main site.

Your job is to get person visiting your site to click your affiliate link with an open mindset, and an interest in buying. You are to Pre-Sell, or Promote if you prefer - site and get person to do what you most want them to do: Be a Curious George and CLICK THE LINK! However, you need them to do more than simply click link. You need to make sure that they are clicking link with an interest in what lies behind it. If they are simply clicking a banner because it is flashy, you won't have much success. However if you create an interest, a desire to know more, about benefits, value of clicking link, then you will have an instant winner. The more you know about how to do this effectively, more you will succeed and profit.

--------------------------- Eric Koshinsky: webmaster and guide at Newbie-guides.com We aim to provide useful tips and guidance for those who are new to personal online marketing. Learn more about programs, techniques, and software that can help you reach your goals. I look forward to getting to know you. http://www.newbie-guides.com/?aa Join our newsletter: news@newbie-guides.com

Use your spell checker but don't rely on it (i.e. it won't pick up difference between there and their). Use dictionary for words you are not sure of.

After editing it a number of times, leave it for a few hours or sleep on it then edit it again (or have someone else read it). This gives you a fresh perspective and you will often refine it until it's near perfect:-)

9. Submit your article to online publishers and article banks - this will potentially give your article exposure to thousands of people.

Article submission resources:

http://www.ezinearticles.com http://www.ideamarketers.com http://www.makingprofit.com http://www.allwebarticles.com http://www.goarticles.com http://www.ezadsuccess.com/articles/submit.shtml http://www.netterweb.com/articles

Article announcement lists

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishInYours http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aainet

Directories of ezine publishers

http://www.directoryofezines.com http://www.ezinelocater.com http://www.ezinehub.com http://www.ezineuniverse.com http://www.ezinesearch.com

Software to send out your articles.

Ezineannouncer (Ezineannouncer.com)

Automatically sends your articles to 1000s of ezine publishers, saving you a lot of time and money.

Tips:

Keep it simple - write to appeal to a large audience, so don't use large words or jargon that people won't understand.

If you are planning on creating a web page from your article for search engines, then weave your keywords throughout your text.

Send a thank you note to all people who publish your article. This will help you build long term relationships for your business.

Plan to write an article every 2 weeks or so. You will see a dramatic increase in web site traffic each time you submit your article.. all without spending a dime.