It's a minefield out there! If you have made inquiries about how to make money as an affiliate, then your e mail in-box is probably crammed every day. All offering you the greatest push button system which will allow you to live the dream life with little effort on your part. Yeah right! Come on wake up!

Why is it when faced with a well crafted sales letter we suspend all common sense and get sucked into the dream? I know, having fallen for it numerous times.

It has taken good deal of time and a lot of wasted cash before the light came on.

How Hard is It To Make Money As An Affiliate?

Not as easy as it may first appear. Oh the system is simple enough. You don't need a web site if you're willing to pay for advertising. You just sign up for an affiliate program and drive traffic to your affiliate sales page and collect the commission. Easy right?

What they don't tell you is the need for excellent keyword research. How to find the right niche? And last but not least how to drive traffic.

There seems to be a glut of programs around at the moment advocating the use of PPC (pay per click) advertising as the easy route to untold riches. Take it from someone who has fallen into that trap (twice) you can lose your shirt on PPC.

I would strongly recommend you get a blog with either Wordpress or Blogger and just play around with it. Add links to your affiliate offer and off you go. However You need to learn the free methods of driving traffic, of which there are many. It is essential to get the right coaching. A good mentor or training program will save you a ton of time and money.

Which Programs To Go With?

Well the most popular way to make money as an affiliate is with "Clickbank". Clickbank is the biggest seller of digital products in the world. You can sign up as an affiliate in about 30 seconds and it's free. I highly recommend these as the way to start and make money as an affiliate, as their commissions are generous, around 50-75% being the norm.

There are lots of other affiliate programs available like Amazon, Paydotcom, Shareasale, Pepperjam Network and countless others. I suggest getting your feet wet with Clickbank.

Despite all the horror stories there are some very genuine people, who are more than willing to help you. Of course they hope that in time you may buy something from them, after all that is why we are in business. However there is so much more to running a successful internet business than just affiliate marketing.

As you get further involved you may form joint ventures with the people you meet along the way. This can be the best way to generate income but that is for another article.

Don't forget if you want to succeed, get a good quality "make money as an affiliate program". If you can find a good mentor all the better.