It should come as no surprise that a large number of online purchases are for computers, printers and accessories. After all, these are things web surfers use every day.

But nearly every day I field questions from friends, family and colleagues who are getting ready to make their first computer purchase so they can get on internet. In many cases, these folks have never even seen web or have spent little time online. This dilemma presents a special challenge and a unique opportunity at same time.

How does affiliate make this offline sale?

The answer to this question is a simple three-step process. First, sign up for one of many computer equipment affiliate programs available on web. I use a Dell computer and heartily recommend them, so I signed up for Dell affiliate program through http://linkshare.com

The next step is to create a sales page that you load to your website. If you don't have a website you can simply sign up for a free site from one of many free providers. A favorite of mine is at http://hypermart.net

This page doesn't need to sell your customer; it simply needs to provide links through which customer will click (many affiliate programs such as Dell contain hidden codes that require your customer to click from a web page.)

For an example of my Dell sales page visit http://smarthomebusiness.com/dell.htm

You'll notice that page isn't a hard sell; it's a simple page with affiliate links to Dell site. When my customer clicks on any of these links I'll be credited with any purchases he makes.

I ask this question because in excitement of creating your very own website, it is easy to forget (or not even consider) main purpose of your site! Alas, I talk from experience!

In late 1999 I created Shop Tour UK (http://www.shoptour.co.uk): "a unique way to surf secure UK shopping sites." (Well, that's what I thought, anyway! :-) ) The site started out life as a hobby site - no problems there! - but quickly started to take hours and hours of updating each day. (With no clear, measurable objectives it's very easy to continually change and 'improve' a site!)

Shop Tour UK wasn't making any money, either - well, it was a hobby site! So I decided to redesign site, join lots of affiliate programs, find best affiliate programs, and focus site on promoting those programs!

--- sidebar --- Affiliate marketing really does provide a great opportunity for ALL site owners to make extra income. But choose your affiliate programs wisely; otherwise, you'll still be working hard but for very little reward. To learn more about pros and cons of affiliate marketing, visit http://www.associateprograms.com --- sidebar ---

Yes! It took months to sign-up to affiliate programs and seek out best of them. Yes! It took a couple of site redesigns. And yes! It is better to have clear, and measurable objectives right from start! (That is, to know your site's Most Wanted Response!)

But hey! Now I spend much less time updating my site (because I only concentrate on promoting most profitable aspects of it), AND it is now starting to earn money!