After all, if customers trust you and you've built rapport with them, then they will also trust your recommendations.

So what's an affiliate to do?

1. Don't Over-Recommend

Many affiliate marketers make this mistake, especially when they are first starting out with affiliate marketing. They over-recommend affiliate products. In other words, they recommend too many products to their customers, subscribers, and website visitors. If you do this, you'll lose your credibility faster than you can say "affiliate marketing."

My advice is to be very sparing with your product recommendations in order to maximize your affiliate profits. Don't choose one product this week, then tell your visitors about another competing product next week. Choose a couple of product within your niche and continually recommend the same ones to your target audience. Doing this demonstrates to your audience that you truly believe in the merit of those products and improves your credibility.

2. Recommend Honestly

This one kind of goes along with the one above, but it's worth mentioning separately. Be honest in your recommendations. Sometimes you'll find an affiliate product that fits perfectly with your niche, but it's not perfect. You can still recommend the product, as long as you also mention the flaws in the product. Rather than lose any points for you, this will make your recommendation more realistic and will tend to increase your credibility.

This is especially true when you are doing a full blown review of a product.

You'd be surprised how many affiliate sales you'll make, even when your review is less than positive. People appreciate your honesty.

3. Build Relationships

How well you've established your relationship with your target audience is perhaps the most important factor in determining your success as an affiliate. Rapport is everything in online business. In order to build rapport, your audience has to trust you.

How can you build rapport with your target audience?

1. Sound like a leading expert in your field. If your visitors feel and believe that you are an expert in your niche, they are more inclined to making that purchase.

2. Avoid hype at all costs. It is better to sound low key and confident, than to scream your recommendations from the roof tops.

3. Back up your claims. Your target audience is not stupid. They are actually turning to experts and may already know the things that you know. If you back up your claims with hard facts and data, you'll be building credibility with your audience and sell a lot more affiliate products.

There's one other thing to think about on this one. I highly suggest that you actually use a product yourself before you recommend it to your target audience. Nothing speaks more to credibitility and trust than someone who speaks from experience about an affiliate product.

Product recommendations are a great tool for your affiliate marketing campaigns if you're smart about how you recommend products. Follow these simple tips and you're sure to increase your affiliate marketing income!