Key #1: A unique product will give you the greatest profits

It is important to promote a product that is not already flooded in the marketplace. Even if it is proven to have a high conversion rate you will not get the same return if you have to compete with other affiliates. If you find the right niche that doesn't have to much competition and match it with the right product you can really clean up for maximum profits.

Key #2: Use affiliate tools to make your job easier

You may be a little confused at first when you start promoting affiliate products such as what keywords to go after what types of ads to use and where to advertise. This is why it is very important to find an affiliate offer that provides you with all the tools you need to be able to get started right away and profiting immediately. Make sure the affiliate program has a resource section available with all the ads, keywords and places you can start advertising.

Key #3. Resources to look for in an affiliate pogram

- A well written sales letter to make the sale - Ebooks that you can tag with your affiliate ID and give away to prospects. - Pre-written emails and ads you can mail to your list or use to run e-zine ads - Keywords and ads for pay per click marketing - Redirect links to cloak your affiliate link so you don't lose any commissions - Banner ads to run through contextual ad networks

Key #4: A way to track sales and activity

This is one of the most important keys when it comes to affiliate promotions otherwise you are just throwing money and advertising at the wall and seeing what sticks. This is the quickest way to fail. You need a way to track individual marketing campaigns on how many clicks they receive, where they came from and how many sale result. This way you can do away with what is not working and scale up on what is yielding the most sales.

Key #5: logging of IP addresses and cookies

When you are marketing an affiliate program, not every prospect that visits your affiliate link will buy right at the moment they come across your offer. They will often bookmark the site and then continue surveying the market for more options. This is why it is critical for the affiliate program to have cookies to log that you were the affiliate that should get credit should that prospect return to make a purchase. Furthermore it is best if the affiliate program also logs their IP address to tag them to your affiliate ID since a lot of people clear their cookies on a weekly basis.

One last thing to consider is finding affiliate programs that have a high percentage of commission paid out to you as an affiliate. This insures that you don't eat in to much to your profits with your advertising budget.