If you want to earn a sustained internet based income with affiliate marketing, you'll need to automate both the front end and the back end processes.



Following are a few proven secrets to ensure that you'll be effortlessly generating affiliate commissions while you count sheep...

1. Research and determine the most desireable affiliate products and associated affiliate programs which best fit your target market and that will help you to earn the most amount of money for the least amount of work in the shortest amount of time.

You want to make sure that the "affiliate vendor" (if they offer their own program) or the affiliate network (who manages a variety of affiliate vendor products) has a reputation for paying affiliates on time with an easy method for affiliates to register (get their affiliate ID/link), track their progress (clicks, sales, etc), and get paid (ie: direct deposit into a paypal account versus receiving a check).

Find products or services that pay out high commissions and that have a top notch sales page to ensure high conversion rates (from lookers to buyers).

Always look over the sales page to determine if it entices youto buy the product. If not, it probably won't interest others either. Keep in mind that digital products or services pay a much higher commission percentage than a physical product due to the fact that they cost less for the vendor to create, market, inventory, and deliver to the buyer. If you do select a physical product, try combining it with a related digital product to boost your overall payouts. An example could be promoting a gardening implement with a related "how to grow the biggest, juiciest apples" digital ebook.

And don't forget that an affiliate product or service with a monthly subscription fee (ie: a gardening club membership site)

generates an ongoing steam of income for work you did once. For the most income possibilities, you try to have a mix of "one time fee" and "monthly recurring charge" products that relate to your targetted market.

You should also plan to promote additional products to those that have bought from you, be sure that the affiliate network you chose has a variety of "complimentary" products you can introduce. Since people usually purchase more than one product on a subject they are excited about, this will lock in an ongoing stream of money from your initial marketing workd. Although you can transparently sell products to your market from a variety of affiliate networks simulatneously, it will be less stressful on you and your ability to efficiently handle your affiliate tasks if you have as few affiliate vendors and/or affiliate networks to manage as possible.

2. Focus on ONE product or service at a time to avoid "activity overload".

You must know if your sales efforts for a specific product or service are paying off or if you are just wasting your efforts. You need to observe and tweak until you have a steady stream of income from your selected product or service. If it doesn't happen, abandon it and move on to another one.

Get all marketing and upsell activities (ie: squeeze page, pre-sell page, free reports, autoresponder series, etc.) identified and ready to operate on autopilot before moving on to promoting a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

Automation of each affiliate product or service's process allows you to turn your attention to creating additional streams of income without disrupting your previous affiliate income stream.

3. In the know affiliates ALWAYS capture prospects name/emails for maximuming profit potential

Since the affiliate vendor or affiliate program doesn't provide you with a visitor or buyer's name and/or email address, if you route your prospects right to the affiliate vendor's sale page, you have lost them forever (even if they purchase, you won't know who bought, only that you completed a sale). Therefore, you won't be able to capitalize on your initial promotional efforts by selling other products or services to those who either expressed an interest or actually made a purchase.

Therefore, prior to sending your prospects to the affiliate product owner's webpage, you first want to direct them to a webpage that you have generated to capture the prospects name and email address. This page is known as a "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page. On that page you'll need to give something for FREE (ie: a report, mini-ebook, software tool, newsletter subscription, etc.). Something with VALUE that will get them to give up the information you want.

Since it is a known fact that a majority of people won't buy on their first introduction to an individual or product or service, you also have to follow up with those that have downloaded your FREE item (your list). Since statistics have proven that it often takes 7 exposures before a prospect is comfortable enough to purchase, you must have a process in place to ensure that you follow up in a timely manner.

Setting up an autoresponder with a series of emails that are automatically sent at set intervals, is the best way to make it happen. This email series should be structured so that it helps you to establish a relationship as well as establish you as a trusted advisor in your targeted market. This will make it easier for your visitors to buy from you.

By continuing to offer FREE, valuable information to your prospects along with additional promotions built into your email series, it will ensure that your subscribers will continue to stay "subscribed". That they will continue to open your emails and eventually purchase one or more of your affiliate offers.

4. Get the most exposure to your affiliate promotion

There are a number of ways to get exposure for your affiliate promotion (both free and paid). In other words, traffic to your promotional offer. The major marketing effort is made upfront. After that, if done right, a "viral" effect takes place and your marketing efforts will take on a life of their own.

Free ways:

Article writing - Write associated articles and submit to article directories. Articles are then picked up by numerous website owners, ezine publishers, and others looking for online articles. Your article's "resource box" should have a direct link to your promotional "squeeze or "opt-in" page (which can't be removed by the publisher). So, every time someone publishes your article, you'll get free traffic.

Forum participation - Locate related forums and particiapte in the discussions. Ask questions, offer feedback from your experience/educaton (not a sales pitch). Just set up your "signature" to route to your promotional "squeeze page" and Let your "signature" do your marketing for you. Just be sure that the forum OKs this type of signature (most do).

Blogging - seek out related blogs and write comments, again with a link to your promotional "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page.

Joint Ventures - find like minded people in your target market that have "lists" that you can market to and vice versa. If they introduce your promotional link to their list, you'll promote their product in your autoresponder messages to your list.

Paid ways:

Google Adwords PPC (or other PPC Services) - Write & publish PPC (pay per click) ads. Each time someone clicks your ad, you are charged a certain fee. Keep in mind that you are charged this fee when they "click" your link, not if they "purchase" the product. So, if you aren't monitoring your PPC budget closely, you may spend way more money on "clicks" than you'll ever make on affiliate commissions. Don't forget to read and understand the T&Cs of any PPC program before you attempt to use this marketing resource.

If you are too busy or simply don't want to do these tasks yourself, you can always/could easily outsource them to be done by others. But, make no mistake, they do need to be done. As always, its a trade off of your personal efforts or your money.

5. Make more cash than other affiliates promoting the same product or service

Once you have established a solid reputation as an affiliate who can close the sales, you can ask for a higher than normal commission from the merchant. Just contact the affiliate product owner and negotiate a larger percentage of the pie.

Since the merchant doesn't pay you anything unless you've made a sale, they have a zero risk investment in you. If you have been a producer with them or can demonstrate your success with other affiliate efforts, many will work with you. Since less than 5% of their affiliates ever produce money for them, they won't want to lose one that does. Just be reasonable in your request.

Use these guidelines and you'll soon see a BIG increase in your affiliate earnings in no time flat.