Want to make some money on the Web but you don't have a product or service to sell? If "yes," consider becoming an associate (or affiliate) reseller for one or more of the many online merchants.

Here are three associate programs that work for me (and a little information about Google Adsense):

1. Internet Marketing Course
2. 5 Pillar Associate Program
3. Google AdSense

3.Google AdSense
Not an affiliate program, but a system that pays YOU every time someone clicks through an ad on your web site. This one is close to perfect. It's free for you to use, easy to set up, and it generates more revenue than most affiliate programs. Click this link for full details.

How it Works

1. When you sign up with one of the affiliate programs that are found all over the Web, you will receive special coding that you copy and paste into your web site or newsletter. Some affiliate programs provide you with a ready made web site to use.

2. Using your ezine, your web site or your email signature, you promote the product to potential customers.

3. When someone clicks through your specially coded link, and then makes a purchase, you are credited with a sales commission from that sale. The merchants have tracking software in place that monitors your sales and commissions. Some merchants use third party tracking so you can be sure that everything is being recorded accurately.

4. When your commissions reach a certain level, the merchant sends you a check.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What products or services are available for affiliate resale?
2. What products should I sell?
3. Can I really make money at this?
4. Do I need a lot of technical skills to become an associate reseller?
5. What should I reasonably expect from the merchant?
6. How do I promote my web site or newsletter so it will reach many viewers?
7. What associate programs do you recommend?

What products or services are available for affiliate resale?

You can find almost any product or service imaginable -- ranging from books to computer hardware to gift baskets to marketing courses or even Viagra.
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What products should I sell?

Sales are best when you choose an affiliate program that compliments the theme of your web site or newsletter. For example, this web site is a resource for business people and entrepreneurs, so my affiliate programs are products that this group is likely to find interesting -- books, marketing courses, ad-tracking software.

If you are publishing a fishing-related web site, for example, you might opt to be a reseller of sporting goods, fishing gear, books, or even travel related services and products.
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Can I really make money at this?

Yes! But, and this is a big BUT, you must work at it. Affiliate sales is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Webmasters who are reportedly making thousands of dollars a month from affiliate resales have two things in common. Their sites generate a lot of traffic and they work hard to promote their programs.

Personally, I prefer to put my efforts into promoting the products that I create and sell myself. However, my affiliate programs benefit from the traffic I attract from my other promotional efforts, and they do bring in some cash. My affiliate programs pay for my domain name and my web-hosting fee many times over.
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Do I need a lot of technical skills to become an associate reseller?

No, you do not need a lot of technical skills, but you do need to understand how to cut and paste and how to use your browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc). And since the requirement is to have either a web page or an email mailing list, you will need the skills necessary to maintain one or both.

If the merchant provides you with a ready-made web page, the necessary technical skills are fewer. But one word of warning: many of the major search engines will not list these free web sites, making promotion more difficult.
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What should I reasonably expect from the merchant?

Many merchants offer associate reseller programs. Some are excellent. Others are not. You should look for the following:

• A clearly worded contract outlining the terms and conditions.
• Marketing material for your use. This could include a free web site, special forms, images or text that you can cut and paste into your existing web site, marketing letters that you can send to persons on your newsletter list, and more.
• Support and ongoing contact to encourage you and to address your questions and concerns.
• Your own private, affiliate page on the Web where you can track your sales and commissions and change your contact information if needed.
• Checks that are paid according to a reasonable schedule that was clearly stipulated at the time you signed up. Hint: If you are to be paid .03 cents per "clickthrough" and the merchant issues checks only when your sales reach a sum of $100, you could have a very long wait to get that first check unless your site experiences very high traffic.
• A system that pays for sales resulting from return visits. Affiliate programs recognize your customers for an extended period of time are best. Why? Suppose you have an affiliate link to a bookseller. Now suppose a visitor to your web site clicks through on that link but does not make a purchase. However, he remembers the site. A few days later, he returns to the site using the site's URL and not your affiliate link. This time he makes a purchase. Do you get the credit?
  
  The best affiliate programs set "cookies" that will track your referrals and credit you with sales for a set time after the initial visit. Some affiliate programs set their cookies to last for life; others for various times ranging from a few days to a months. It's important to find this out because the difference means $$ that either will or will not go into your pocket.

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How do I promote my web site or newsletter?

First, what NOT to do. Almost all associate merchants stipulate that resellers must not use illegal or unethical methods of promotion. Typically, this means no spam (unsolicited commercial email), no posting affiliate links to newsgroups or email lists, and no posting the links in conjunction with sites that promote hate, illegal activities or porn. In most cases, failure to abide by the merchant's stipulations will result in your contract being discontinued.

The ethical and effective methods of promotion include:

• Listing your site with major search engines. For more information, check my page called Beyond Search Engines.
• Advertising your resale product in your email signature
• Advertising your resale product in your own opt-in newsletter.
• Purchasing or trading advertising with other webmasters or newsletter publishers.
• Writing informative articles on a subject of choice and including your advertising material in the byline. Send your articles to webmasters or ezine publishers who typically use this type of content.
• Purchasing keywords in Pay-Per-Click search engines.
• Exchanging links with other webmasters.
• Ensuring that your web site contains content that is valuable to the reader and does not consist solely of links to associate programs.
• Trying the products yourself and writing honest testimonials.
• Ensuring that you limit the number of affiliate programs that you promote on a web site or newsletter. If your site contains links to dozens of affiliate programs, you will make fewer sales than if you offer only a few.

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What affiliate resellers do you recommend?

There are many, many resellers, and I have not tried them all. Some I have tried and discontinued either because sales were low or because there were concerns regarding the merchant's policies and practices. The programs listed at the top of the page have brought in checks on a regular basis.

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