Affiliate Marketing Goldmine

After you have your hosting, you'll want to start planning your site.  If you are going to be an affiliate marketer that means deciding exactly what you want to sell and what vendors you want to work with.  You will be happy to know that the possibilities are endless- you can work with almost any company you've ever heard of (and a lot you haven't) selling any product you can think of.  The first step of the process is to apply the affiliate networks of your choice.  On the bottom of this page you will see banners for some of the most popular networks- check them out and familiarize yourself with them.  You will see that they offer a vast array of merchants for you to choose from.  Now you'll have to make some choices; which networks are best for you?  What do you want to sell?  The typical beginner's mistake is to apply to every network, then apply to represent every merchant (you will not be accepted by all of them), and then stick banners and ads all over a blog or website.  Sorry if it bursts your bubble, but that won't cut it.  You will not be likely to make any sales like that; this requires more planning and experience.  Now here are some facts about this process of deciding which networks to work with.  You could apply to every one of them, but some of them will close your account for inactivity if you don't show any traffic or earn commissions in a given period of time.  It is probably better to pick one or two that represent the merchants you most want to work with and concentrate on those.  At least in the beginning you won't need more merchants than they will offer.  Also pay particular attention to the fact that some networks are geared to the US, some to Europe, and some to Asia.  You can still apply to them, but if your site is in English you might want to think twice about your choices.  Some of the networks will not approve your application unless you already have a website that meets their standards, so bear that in mind also.  Do not get discouraged if you get turned down by one or more affiliate networks in the beginning; you can keep applying regularly as you try to meet their criteria.  The bottom line is that this is the first step you'll need to take to get your business on its way.