If you have searched for an online business at all, you came across some of the thousands of affiliate programs available to you. What are affiliate programs? How do they work? Can you really make money with them? These are three of the most asked questions about affiliate programs, and here are some simple answers to them.

What are affiliate programs?

Affiliate programs are partnerships between someone with a product to sell to a customer he doesn't have, and someone looking to sell a product he doesn't have to a customer he does have. The classic example of this is Amazon. Although everyone has heard of Amazon, they still cannot reach everyone from their own website. You sign up as an affiliate with them, put their link on your web page, email, newsletter, etc., and when someone gets to Amazon through one of these links, you will get a percentage of what the person buys. You can find affiliate programs for almost any niche or product out there. It even has gone second generation, so to speak, in that you can even become an affiliate of a program that promotes affiliate links. The advantage to you is that you don't have to make your own product to sell. You don't even have to handle it. You point someone to it, and if they buy it, the seller pays you a commission.

How do affiliate programs work?

Affiliate programs can either be handled through a third party such as PayPal, or through the company who has the product. When you sign up as an affiliate, you will get some kind of ID or user name. This ID or user name will be attached to a URL where the product is found. For example, if you enroll as an affiliate with "John Doe's Holy Moley Easy Schmoley," and are given the user name of 3x45gyh, you might end up with a URL to promote that looks something like http://johndoesholymoleyeasy schmoley.com/?ID=3x45gyh. When you finally do get someone to http://johndoesholymoleyeasy schmoley.com/?ID=3x45gyh and they purchase the $149 product, you will probably have made about $75. (Note: These affiliate links are not the easiest thing to remember. You can't just rattle that off to someone and expect them to get it right. If you are going to promote affiliate programs at all, you would do well to go to a place like ViralURL to get a link shortener. Your long URL might then look like www.viralurl.com/me/jd.

Is it possible to make money with affiliate programs?

Yes, if you work at it. There are no programs out there where you just sign up and start raking in the money. (Some sites will claim they can do that, but think about it for a second. ) A strategy that has worked well for me is to make a site that is a resource site for people building online businesses. Instead of trying to promote one product or service with each URL, I put them on one site and then link to the affiliate sites. Even for a very beginner, this can create several small streams of income, which in time will turn into significant streams.

Overall, affiliate programs are quick and easy way to make some money. However, there is one big word of caution. Do not get involved in a bunch of programs too quickly. You will end up not working of them very well, and none of them will produce for you very well.