At first you must think that with a title as above that this article must be about something other than marketing; however, what this article is about is marketing, specifically affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is much more than signing up for a free affiliate program and then posting your affiliate link here and there. It's all about promotion and not only promoting your affiliate program association or associations but also about promoting yourself. Hence, title of this article….

Let's imagine that you are a politician. Although glamorous, it is one of most backbiting filled professions on face of planet. But there is something to learn from great politicians who do it right. Those that are not using negatives and faults of their opponents, but that are rather only promoting their own positives and very fact that they are involved in being a part of political process are those who do it right.

So who are marketers that do it right? Those that don't point fingers while at same time they let their public know that they have something to market. How can you do you do this? The number one way is to sell your-self. I don't mean being a sell-out, but rather that you do things to make yourself visible to people that you would like to become your customers. One way you can do this is through networking. In offline world this is accomplished by belonging to church groups, business organizations, and other such groups where people meet and exchange ideas. Online you can network by participating in forums, in chat rooms, posting at guestbooks and much more. Let people get to know you and what you're about.

Imagine meeting somebody for first time on one of many relationships sites and then after an extremely brief introduction, you ask them to marry you? What sort of reaction would you expect? The nice lady will probably slap you, if there was a way of doing that online. (Although I must hasten to add that there are enough cranks out there these days so that out of every hundred or so marriage proposals you make in this way, it’s possible to get a couple of YES’s.)

So why do we expect a different reaction when we briefly introduce ourselves and then ask client to buy from us? Or do few cranks who actually buy encourage us to continue doing same unviable thing?

Is it any wonder that posting articles free on web is most effective way of advertising on net? It is actually a very powerful way of building a relationship because other person gets to know your lengthy intimate thoughts on a pet subject of theirs. Quick tip: The more intimate your article, quicker you will build relationships with those who read it.

This key or secret, or whatever you want to call it, is enough to make all difference in your online marketing efforts.

Just calm down for a while and forget all those make-millions-in-your-sleep-in-5-minutes schemes. Make an effort to put aside all those SPAMMING schemes and just slow down and take slower but more effective path to success online. Concentrate on building relationships. Your customer base will grow much more slowly, but it will be a more solid one. And besides there are ways of quickly expanding it later, once you have a solid base – like giving existing customers incentives to refer their friends to you.