The most obvious is that you must enjoy the Internet. Now this may seem ridiculous, but I know of people who started out with affiliate marketing who dislike the Internet. Worse than that - they are afraid of it. For you to be successful you must enjoy the whole experience, be curious about what is out there and how you can harness that to work for you.

You don't have to invent the whole system, as that has already been done for us by someone else, thank Goodness. Many people have built the systems that make it all work, especially in the affiliate marketing field, so you don't have to be particularly techi. Just be prepared to follow the system and don't get fazed if it doesn't do what you hope or expect it to do first time.

It can help later on if you are prepared to learn something about how it all works, but it is not essential. Many very successful Internet based businesses are run by people who do none of the technical stuff. They just hire people to do it for them, and there are plenty of those out there.

Time is really important, especially if you have a day job. I know people who get up at 6 a.m., do 2 hours of their own Internet work, work a full day and then work on the Internet again until midnight when they get home. Not all of us are so driven and not all of us are prepared to give up that amount of our lives.

Be honest with yourself about how many hours a week you can dedicate to your affiliate business. Whatever you decide your available time is, say 2 evenings a week + 6 hours at the weekend - you choose. It is more important to keep to that time on a regular basis than try to cram more hours in. Once you have made your timetable, try to stick to it.

Consistency is the key. Think about it as though you are keeping appointments with yourself. Put your allocated time in your diary and think of it as a commitment to yourself. Why I suggested the 10 hours above is because it is do-able for most people. However, we all have different habits and you should choose the times that fit in with your life whilst not interfering with it.

Ability to set your own goals helps towards your success. Remember - you are going to be your own master or mistress in this enterprise. There will be no boss or colleague to nag you or make demands on you. It is all up to you, so you need to have a certain amount of self-discipline to keep this all going over time.

Don't forget that you do have to work hard at it. It is not a get rich quick strategy. Please don't believe all the hype that is around on this. Even the most successful Internet business leaders have spent years and thousands of hours perfecting their products and services. However, the advantage of affiliate marketing is that you can jump onto their bandwagon. You can reap advantage from their expertise and investment.

Finally, there are two essential requirements to be successful with affiliate marketing, and they are patience and determination. As I have said, there are no instant millionaires with affiliate marketing, but there are many, many people who are making a comfortable additional income, and there are no limits to what can be achieved.