While it may sound like a very strange post, what 5 Things have your New Training Shoes and Affiliate Programs got In Common?

1. You probably bought your last trainers because your friends have them. To make money on the internet you need to be individual and not always follow the crowd – don’t sign up to an affiliate program because everybody else has, it may be saturated.

2. As soon as you got your new trainers back home you did not like them.
Think before you sign up for an affiliate program and build your site around it – make sure it is right for you.

3. If the colour you wanted was not in, you probably opted for second best. If the affiliate program you’re looking at does not fit your needs (or your visitor profile) exactly then don’t sign up for it.

4. As soon as you bought them, there was a better pair on the market but you were stuck. Always monitor your affiliate programs and if something more popular, better and paying higher commission arrives then give some serious consideration to changing your site affiliate links.

5. Rather than stick to one shop all of the time, look around for your next pair of training shoes. Don’t always look in the same place for your affiliate program links, check all of the affiliate sites available – you might be surprised!

You will read in many places on the internet that you cannot make a full time living from affiliate income, but if you do it correctly even your Granny could make a living online.  So what exactly are the 10 tricks and tips which can put your granny on the road to riches?

1. Pick Affiliate Programs to match your visitors.  Many people make the simple mistake of selling what THEY think their customers want rather than selling what the CUSTOMERS want.

2. Go for niches, not for mass markets.  If you are in the market to build a website around football shirts for example, you will have no chance as the competition is too large.  However if you try to build a site around Scottish Football Shirts you have every chance of doing something with it because the market is very much smaller.

3. Try different affiliate programs.  Too many people join the online world expecting to make money at the drop of a hat.  This will never happen! Your site will not be perfect from day one and it will need to be modified on an ongoing basis to make it successful.

4. Do not give too much information to your potential customers.  Many people make the simple mistake of giving too much information about the affiliate product they are trying to sell, actually on their site.  You really want to get potential customers off your site and onto the affiliate site (using your link) as soon as possible.  Always leave them wanting more so they visit the affiliate site you are using.

5. Do not always go for big ticket sales.  While it would be nice to get regular £50 affiliate commission sales, this is just not a reality for many people.  Aim for the smaller affiliate commissions first and build your way up when you understand the market a little more.

6. Always review your affiliate links.  You need to be offering the newest and brightest products to get regular sales and build up your income.  For example, what is the point of retaining a link to buy “FIFA 2007” for the playstation when “FIFA 2008” has been released?

7. Always check your website stats.  It is vital that you know where you traffic is coming from, which pages they are visiting and what they like and dislike.  By using systems such as Stat Counter it is possible to see what pages have received traffic, how long your visitors stayed on your site and a lot more.

8. Stick to subjects you know about.  If you have not got a clue about the latest ladies handbag fashions then there is no point trying to set up a site selling handbags (via affiliate links) as it will soon become obvious that you have not got a clue!

9. Build up a portfolio of sites to sell affiliate income and don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.  In order to be successful on a long term basis you need to build up a portfolio of sites covering different subjects, thereby spreading your risk.

10. Do not trick your visitors, tell them the facts and figures and then steer them towards your affiliate links.  If they don’t hit your links then you will not make any money!

Simple? Well not quite, but your Granny could still do very well!