Make a habit of scanning discussion boards and look for any opportunity to answer a question or give advice using your affiliate link. Make 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 associate programs you participate in and pick 2 or 3 to put in your newsletter every time you publish. If you've purchased 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 years is placing my associate links in e-books that I've written. Since 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 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 dough in no time at all.

3) Affiliate Shop: http://www.AffiliateShop.com

No software to be installed; just cut and paste a few lines of HTML code on your site to get your program up and running. Some of features include pay per click, pay per sale, accept or reject affiliates who wish to join and much more. Flat charge for set up of 395.00 then you'll have to pay a monthly fee of 45.00.

Software Options:

You'll want to make sure whatever you buy offers ability to track real time stats. If you'll be integrating it with your existing shopping cart, make sure they are compatible.

1) Affiliate Tracking: http://www.AffiliateTracking.com

You can buy or lease their software which runs on their server. Choose basic package or add on their check paying and promotion modules. Basic set up fee of 75.00 plus 34.95 per month. Simple templates are available to get you up and running quickly.

2) Affiliate Software: http://www.AffiliateSoftware.net

Pro-Track is inexpensive and easy to set up. Presently it only runs on UNIX servers. Pricing starts at 695.00 for set up on a single domain. Very powerful with many options.

3) My Affiliate Program: http://www.hypertracker.com/go/msmerle/article/

You design look and feel of your program and how much you want to pay out. Simple seamless integration with your website. Easy to pay your affiliates with simple Quickbooks integration. You pay a set price for software plus a small application hosting fee. Pricing starts at only 499.00 plus 50.00 monthly hosting fee.

4) Ground Break: http://www.GroundBreak.com

If you're at all good at configuring CGI scripts you may want to look at downloading this script and doing it yourself. If you need help with CGI, contact DavidBlack@thewavecave.com -- his work and rates are excellent.

Ground Break can be set up to work on your server quickly. Presently only works on Unix platform and cost 200.00. Can easily be integrated with most Perl based shopping carts. Your program can be set up to pay either per lead or per sales.

As you can see, options for setting up your own associate program are numerous. It will cost you some time and money, but in end it'll give you a powerful sales force which will extend your reach on Net.

Whatever program you choose, make sure it's easy to setup and user friendly so you won't lose people before they even get started. In part II of this article we'll examine some ways of promoting your newfound affiliate program.