It might surprise you that top earning affiliates don't pick affiliate opportunities just based on the product. Here are four methods the experts use to evaluate an affiliate program.

1. Your first priority as an affiliate marketer is to target a market that is known to have people currently spending money. The experts already understand this because they know that it is much easier to sell a product in a market where money is already being spent.

Basic marketing 101 will tell you that to make a sale you must have a customer that has money, and also has a need or an interest in the products you are selling. One affiliate marketing technique is to use a pre-sell page to develop that interest.

2. What you cannot do is develop a need for a product and this is another thing that an affiliate marketer that makes the most money will target. Solving people's problems with a product or service is an excellent way to make money online.

People will spend money if they feel like it benefits them personally. And certainly solving a person's problem does that!

3. The experts will also look at the amount of money it is possible to earn. This is why they will concentrate on selling information products as opposed to physical products.

Information products are easy to earn commission rates of 50 to 75% on. The higher the commission rate the more money you stand to earn if it is a quality product. Plus information products can be sold with instant access which is a great selling point as well.

4. The final thing that an expert will look at is the marketing tools available to them. Every quality affiliate program is going to provide you with what you need to sell that product online.

You must market your product or service on a large scale if you are going to become a successful earning affiliate. You can market to a large audience by using Google Adwords, banners, e-mail marketing, blogging and writing articles.

These are four ways that an expert will pick an affiliate opportunity. There are so many affiliate opportunities online that you might as well stack the deck in your favor before you start promoting.