But how can you use free articles to promote an affiliate link? Putting your affiliate link in your Resource Box is not going to work, for a number of reasons:

- people can easily remove your affiliate ID and just visit main website of affiliate program (you get no commission)

- an affiliate link makes you look like just another beginner, instead of an expert with something unique to offer

So how do you use articles to promote affiliate products? Here are some strategies:

(1) Turn your website into a 'Marketing Resources Directory'

On your website display book covers and provide brief reviews for a range of eBooks or software that deal with web marketing.

You could divide your directory into categories: Web Marketing (general), Affiliate Programs, Search Engine Positioning, Email Marketing, Copywriting, Ezine Publishing, etc.

In your Resource Box at bottom of your article you could say: John Doe shows webmasters how to succeed in online business. Visit his collection of marketing resources at: http://www.yourdomain.com

(2) Write a Free Report

Write a free report on web marketing and turn it into an exe format free eBook.

But if free articles are your main marketing technique, you may run into a problem - how to come up with new ideas.

Yesterday an interviewer asked me in an email: "How does someone come up with topic ideas? What do you do, for example?"

This was my reply:

The key to coming up with topic ideas for your articles is to be very aware of what you yourself are learning. As you know, e-commerce is a huge area and we're all learning new things every day. Every time you learn something new, write a short article about it. Because there are almost certainly other people who are going to have to learn what you just learned and your article is going to make it much easier for them to get that information.

The other thing to do is pay close attention to questions people ask you. For example, I had a question last week from a man in UK who wanted to know how to use articles to promote an affiliate link. So I answered his question and then wrote an article titled: 'How To Boost Your Affiliate Sales With Free Articles'.

You may notice that I'm using this technique here. Yesterday someone asked me a question and today I'm writing an article about it. It's that simple!

Here are five great ideas for your next article:

(1) Write a Book/Product Review

This is an endless source of new articles. Every time you see a new eBook, write to author and ask if you can have a 'review copy' (this is also an excellent way to get free copies of latest new eBooks).