So, you are attracted to the promise of earning money online without having to do a lot of work. But does affiliate marketing really work this way?

It is truth that as an affiliate marketer, all you're required to do is to simply place the merchant's ad on your website. After that you just kick back, wait for people to click on the merchant's ad, purchase their product and let the money roll in. Too easy... right? Well, not so much. Truth is many affiliates earn almost nothing from their affiliate programs BECAUSE they do nothing. Affiliate marketing is just another form of marketing, and to actually make money at it you definitely need to market the merchant's product.

Those who are successful in affiliates selling in any affiliate program DON'T just sit around and wait for the money to come rolling in. Why? Because there's no such thing as money for nothing. If you want to succeed with affiliate marketing, and if you want to continually grow your affiliate income, you've got to take action. Taking action means:

• finding ways to promote your merchant's business and products better, 
• coming up with new ways to get people to click the link or ad provided to you by the merchant, 
• constantly thinking of new ways on how to increase your affiliate sales! 

Become an expert on your affiliate product

You can do a much better job of promoting the merchant's product if you know a lot about the product. The best way to become an expert on the product is buy it and use it yourself. You'll then be able to tell your customers about your first-hand experience the the product. You can even pen your own testimonial or personal endorsement about the product. If you're not able to purchase the product, you can at least thoroughly research it.

Host your own website

Or at least have a domain name that is short and easy to remember which then redirects to your affiliate site. DON'T expect a visitor to remember a very long and incomprehensible URL. If you do, don't expect them to visit your website any time soon. That means less traffic for your page therefore making it less likely your affiliate ads and links will be clicked.

Also consider creating a private website and offer access to it to anybody who clicks on any of your affiliate ads. Visitors are often attracted to these private websites by their exclusivity. Private websites also provide you with a venue to promote back-end products, up-sells, down-sells and one-time-offers (OTO's).

Write your own ads

Often your merchant usually wouldn't mind if you write and design your own ads for their products, provided you ask permission from them first. Present them with your ad before you post it on your site. This can give you an advantage over the legions of other affiliates who may be promoting the same affiliate products.

Create a free ezine or newsletter

Ezines and newsletters are periodical publications whose aim is to inform a group of people about a certain subject. AVOID blatantly promoting your merchant's product as this will greatly annoy your readers and you'll only end up losing subscribers. Instead, concentrate on providing useful, informative, even entertaining content in your ezine or newsletter. Try to find ways to insert your affiliate ads and links within the letter so that they appear as part of the content. Don't forget to promote your ezine or newsletter on your website.

These are a few ideas on how you can increase your affiliate sales and continually grow your affiliate income. There are lots of other tips and ideas out there, if you think they would work give them a go. Don't ignore your own ideas though. What's important is that you find ways to:

• attract more traffic to your site, 
• induce your visitors to click on the ads on your site, and 
• to promote your merchant's products even beyond your website 

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