Not so fast there, Bucky. There's a lot more to making money with affiliate programs than that. If your best effort is going to be that banner, don't plan on retiring any day soon.

Just like everything else online, you'll get out of it what you put in. So if you want to make some serious cash with those programs you're joining, you need to promote them. There are a variety of methods you can use, but I'll discuss few that I know seem to work best.

My first suggestion to you is to join only programs that relate to theme of your website. Make sure it's a "good fit" with your site and that it pays out a "healthy" commission. Getting paid $2.00 in commission may not be worth work involved in promoting program. Try weaving URL's throughout your site or devoting a whole page to their topic. Don't just use banners; use alternatives like text links within your pages. Banners have become so saturated online that a lot of folks tend to ignore them, plus extra weight they add to your pages makes them load slowly.

Associate programs can be set up in a variety of ways ranging inexpensive to pricey, depending on route you wish to take. The important thing is to pick one that suits your needs and your budget.

First things first: What are your options for setting up your own program? Glad you asked....some people "pay per click," crediting their associates a certain amount every time someone clicks through on their affiliate banners or links. But I prefer "pay per sale," which means that you only pay out when someone clicks through and actually makes a purchase. In this way you're not just paying for traffic but for actual results, which is sale.

You basically have two options for setting up your own program: Purchase software or use a third party service. The nice thing about a third party service is they manage all accounting issues, including click-tracking and sending your associates their commission checks, too. This takes a large load off of you so you can spend your time doing more productive tasks... but this luxury doesn't come cheap. Let's examine some of your options:

3rd Party Associate Services:

1) Clicktrade.com: http://www.ClickTrade.com

Outsource your affiliate program to ClickTrade and they'll take care of everything from tracking to paying your affiliates. Your program can be set up on a pay per lead or pay per sales basis, they do charge 30% for all of their hard work and a $500.00 initial deposit.

2) Clickbank.com: http://www.ClickBank.com