Affiliate marketing is quickly becoming a very specialized form
of online business. It seems that people all over the Internet
are clamoring for more affiliate tips. And there are a ton of
products, services, ebooks, ultra-high priced DVD sets, and a
plethora of other “things” geared for affiliate marketing. So,
the question of the moment is how do you weed through this
avalanche of “stuff” and find out what actually works. Because,
after it’s all said and done, the name of the game is making a
living from affiliate marketing.

There are plenty of strategies and tips. There are plenty of
people telling you which way is best and which way you
absolutely should not do. Funny thing is, the things you should
do don’t work sometimes and the things you shouldn’t do, work
sometimes. It’s really anyone’s guess at what works and what
doesn’t.

However, there are three critical affiliate tips that you should
take heed of and use on a consistent basis.

Affiliate marketing is built around content

Do you really want to make a name for yourself in affiliate
marketing? Do you want a long lasting online business? Then you
have to take very seriously this first critical tip.

Content is what drives affiliate sales. Period. You can
advertise as much as you want, in as many different places that
you want, but at the end of the day, it’s the content on your
site that will make the sale. Notice I said “your” site.

Affiliate marketing becomes a very lucrative form of business
when you have your own website. A website that contains timely,
relevant, and informative content. This content can be in the
form of articles, product reviews, industry news, interviews
with key people, or whatever people will want to keep coming
back for.

Ken Evoy of Site Built It!
(buildit.sitesell.com/glimmersales.html) says that content is
the only way to Pre-sell your site visitors. I whole heartedly
agree. Content will effectively pre-sell your visitors, that you
work so hard to advertise to, into taking action… clicking
through to the merchant and ka-ching… making you commission.

Affiliate marketing is made stronger through your list

Any type of online marketing depends heavily on a way to keep in
frequent touch with previous website visitors. Having an ezine,
newsletter, or other type of e-mailing list is a key component
to affiliate marketing. A strong list of subscribers is a gold
mine for savvy publishers.

The key to making an ezine work for you though is, again,
strong, quality, and relevant content. Something that people
will want to keep reading on a continuing basis. A weekly, or
bi-weekly ezine can easily boost your affiliate commissions sky
high by placing a few links within the content or as a product
review or special recommendation.

Again, please note the use of “a few”. Many ezine publishers
just don’t seem to get the idea of “a few”. That means one to
two affiliate links within the whole ezine. The key to
publishing an ezine is to establish contact and grow a
relationship with your subscriber. Not force affiliate links
down their throat. When you can build a strong relationship with
subscribers, they will be more likely to listen to your advice,
your suggestions, and your recommendations.

An example of this would be Alan Gardyne of
AssociatePrograms.com. His newsletter is crammed full of great
tips and case studies of successful affiliates and what they are
doing. He has grown a great list of over 22,000 subscribers who
he can actually call a friend. Why? Because he has never crammed
affiliate links down the throats of his subscribers. But, each
and every issue of his ezine earns him thousands of dollars in
affiliate commissions.

If you don’t have an ezine, start one. If you do then take a
hard look at it and see if you’re using too many ads and not
enough content.

Affiliate marketing depends on strategic linking partners

Search engines like Google, MSN, and Yahoo! are looking hard at
sites and one of the criteria for high rankings is how many
relevant links to your site there are. Meaning is there any
other sites out there that are linking to you. This is very
important for affiliate marketing websites.

And another reason why content is so important.

Every day I set aside one full hour of time in my day to
research and email potential linking partners. Once I find
someone who’s site is comparable to mine I will email them, by
name, and present my proposal. Keep in mind they do not have to
link back to you. So, you must make it appealing. Either by
reciprocating with a link to their site, a special comission for
everyone they refer who buys from you, or some other way of
enticing them to link to you.

Now, just any site will not do you any good. They must be
relevant to your particular niche. For example, a fishing
oriented website would not benefit, either by traffic or search
engine rankings, by having a diet site link back to them.

Content, mailing list, link partners. Easy, right?

It is, but it takes time and dedication. You can create a very
profitable affiliate program. Anyone can do it. But, it depends
on you. Are you dedicated enough to do it?

Use these three critical affiliate marketing steps in your
online business and you’ll see an immediate increase in your
bottom line.

Tim Bossie
http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/three-critical-affiliate-marketing-tips-for-higher-commissions-386.html