Millions of consumers have less than perfect credit. In addition, in 2004 nearly 1.6 million people in the United States filed for bankruptcy – and that number is expected to increase in 2005, due to the new bankruptcy legislation that recently went into effect. In short, this is a HUGE market!

Okay, so we know there's a market – but what products or services are people with poor credit looking for?

Here are some popular categories: Auto loans, credit cards, home loans, refinancing, checking accounts, personal loans, and information products (e-books, membership sites, courses, etc).

If you look at the number of searches done for bad credit related loans and financing, you'll find that a lot of people out there are looking for the “right” lender to help them. Many of them know their local bank would probably turn them down in a second if they applied for a loan.

They need a lender that specializes in working with individuals with poor credit… or information that they can use to increase their credit score so they can qualify for an auto loan, home loan, credit card, etc. with their local bank. That's where you come in!

As an affiliate you can direct them to various lenders and information products – and get paid for it if the person signs up for the service, or purchases the information product, under your affiliate ID#!

So where do you find such services and information products to promote. There are a few ways:

1) Search Engines: Type “affiliate directories” into your favorite search engine. Next visit the websites you find and click on the finance, credit or related categories. If you want to promote real estate related services (i.e., home loans) for people with poor credit, you could see if they have “real estate” category.

2) ClickBank: Another ideal starting place is ClickBank. Approximately 10,000 vendors sell their digital products and services through ClickBank. In addition, there are over 100,000 ClickBank affiliates.

Once you've signed up for their affiliate program, visit their Marketplace – you can go to the category “Money & Employment” and then click on the “Debt” link. It will provide you with a listing of all of the information products and services you can promote in the category.

3) Other Popular Affiliate Networks: In addition to ClickBank, other affiliate networks you will want to consider signing up with are Commission Junction and LinkShare. To find more affiliate networks, simply type “affiliate networks” into your favorite search engine.

4) Surfing the Net: Let's say you come across a website offering a secured credit card which you'd like to promote. Look for a link (usually near the bottom or top of the website) that says “affiliates” or “make money”, or something similar. If there is none, email the site owner (they should have a “contact us” link) and ask if they have an affiliate program.

Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on how you, as an affiliate, can cash in on the consumer credit trend and provide a valuable service at the same time – matching individuals that have poor credit with the appropriate service or information product that will help them.