If product is unique in some way, affordable to masses, useable and needed and you can get in on ground floor then you could be onto a winner. In my experience, it’s product which brings in serious marketer not affiliate program. Think back to early days of mobile phones, when they use to be very bulky and expensive and people were saying “They’ll never catch on” However, marketer with vision saw mass potential and stuck in. Oh how I wish I’d been in this game then because now I wouldn’t be here typing this article, I’d be on a beach somewhere and my secretary would be typing this article. There are other types of product based affiliate programs out there which will also give you a chance for success, but finding it is like crawling through a minefield. Don’t simply sign up because it’s free membership or site looks professional, read all pages and understand ethics of owner. Consider product(s) on offer and think about your target audience. The product(s) should be affordable, useable, sellable, exciting and hopefully unique in its market. The affiliate program should be affordable and sustainable. Look at Compensation plan and consider how feasible it will be for you and your potential team, to reach profit line. Some plans may look impressive but sometimes they dazzle you with big Dollars. Look at amount of paid sign-ups required together with percentages paid and compare this to cost of program and cost of advertising needed to reach those required sign-ups. Work out how long it will take you to break even, for instance, if cost of program is $20 a month and you spend $20 a month on advertising you may get 1 or 2 sign-ups a month. If comp plan pays you $5 a sign-up you’ll need 8 sign-ups to break even but it may take you 4 to 8 months to get to that point. So it could cost you between $160 and $320 to get there.

Do your sums or you may never really break even?

You should look at make-up of down line and how it fits in with matrix/comp plan. Some down lines have legs, in that you build so far down and then line splits off and begins again. This usually happens when you reach another level in comp plan, but resulting effect can make it hard to progress to next level. Some have a straight down line so everyone who joins will be in your line. This can be misleading in that you believe that it’s your sign-up and you’ve earned money. However, it does allow you to assess popularity of program and help you decide if you should continue.

Now Image you’ve come across an affiliate site (Not hard to do with today’s Internet) Ask yourself following questions:-

Does site look impressive? Does it make you want to read on? Does it have a product that excites you? Could you use product? Could you sell product? Would you buy product? Is product affordable? Do I get product as part of affiliate program? Can I afford monthly payment? Do they have a worthwhile Compensation Plan? Do they have a matrix or a straight down line? How quickly will I break even? Can I make a profit?

SO CAN YOU SUCCEED BY MARKETING AN AFFILIATE BASED PROGRAM?

Find today’s ‘Mobile Phone’ with an affordable affiliate program, offering you a good compensation plan, workable matrix and responsive down line and answer is undoubtedly

‘YES’

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1. Your customer base: Your site and your newsletter are good starting points, after all, these people already like your products. Put a link on your homepage that says "Webmasters: Make Money!" and talk up your affiliate program in newsletter on a regular basis, stressing that your affiliates can sign up for free and start making money right away.

2. Other businesses: Target business that, say, focus on pets, but that are not your direct competition. Send an email to each business inviting them to join and put "Affiliate invitation" in subject line of your email. Also mention each business and/or business owner by name in body of your message to lessen chances that it will be deleted as spam.

3. Your friends and acquaintances. Come up with a short blurb that talks about your affiliate program and ask everyone in your address book to send it to everyone in their address book.

4. Professionals: Veterinarians, breeders, etc. Anyone who deals with pets is a potential affiliate.

Which program should you use?

There are so many affiliate programs that choosing one can be a daunting task.

I use AffiliateTracking.net ( http://wetrack.it/az/af.cgi?36854 ) for all of my sites, mainly because their customer service and support is phenomenal - they had my first affiliate program up and running in just days - and they're also very reasonably priced. In addition, multiple sites can be promoted in same basic package; there's no need to spend extra for every site.

I heartily recommend AffiliateTracking.net, ( http://wetrack.it/az/af.cgi?36854 ) but you can find other similar companies by doing a simple search for "affiliate tracking" in your favorite search engine.

No matter which company you go with, you could have others promoting your site and making sales for you in just a couple of days!