I'm often contacted by my website visitors, readers of my articles and others who've 'tracked me down' in some way or another, who are generally looking for advice or guidance in some form or other. One of
more common requests seems to concern their need for information about how to go about getting their 'planned' Internet home business started. More specifically, in fact, are those wondering about Affiliate Marketing.It's not surprising at all, given level of exposure that this particular home business model enjoys online. Certainly, every website with a home based business theme promotes or at least suggests Affiliate marketing as a possibility for thousands of budding 'Netpreneurs' (not being a fan of 'buzzwords', I really do hate that expression!).
There would also seem to have been a recent increase in ebooks and tutorials etc promising recipe for success in Affiliate Marketing. Having written one myself and read many, I can say firsthand that some are valuable, helpful and useful products which will go a long way towards getting a budding Affiliate up and running and, provided they have necessary drive, perseverance and 'certain other qualities', on way to success in their dream of working from home. Of course, some (IMO probably about 50%) are total rubbish, a promotional vehicle for some other product or program, or both.
One article is certainly not going to go anywhere near giving necessary advice to information hungry 'Newbie' who is chasing promised dream of a successful home business. Nor will it suggest much in terms of necessary requirements and facilities etc. However, after recommending a couple of better (and more reasonably priced) tutorial ebooks, I will generally suggest that their initial Affiliate endeavor should include, at least, following:
Domain and Hosting Package - Although it is possible for some to achieve a level of success in Affiliate Marketing without a website, chances of a 'Newbie' having knowledge, experience and abilities in required areas is unlikely (i.e. copy writing ability for email ads and Google Adwords® and knowledge and skills in areas of promotion outside of website promotion etc).
Domains are priced from as little as $5 to about an average of $12 per year. Certainly don't ever pay more than $20 for your standard .com, .net or .biz domains. A hosting package with necessary facilities for a new Affiliate should cost no more than $3 to $5 per month. If it does, you're being charged too much, or paying for things that you simply don't need, nor ever will. A hosting package, which includes free 'sub-domains’, is a must for any Affiliate.
Safelist Memberships - I know that many say that Safelists are not very useful for promoting anything, as they are populated primarily by other home business people who are all there to promote rather than buy. This is true however, fact that most are others in same position as yourself, Safelists are a good opportunity for a new Affiliate to promote products, which may well be of interest to others who are also building or promoting their Affiliate activities thus, they are also useful for building your downlines.
