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I'm fairly new to it and no expert, but here is what I've learned so far:
1. Sign up with a vendor such as Commission Junction or LinkShare.
2. Apply with specific advertisers that have a relationship with CJ or LS. Choose only a few to start. Make sure they are highly targeted to your site's content.
3. If accepted by those advertisers, get their creative to use on your site. Most of it is either banner ads or text links.
4. Use banner ads sparingly. They get a lot of clicks from curiosity seekers but not much other action.
5. Plant a lot of text links throughout your site.
6. Drive audience to your site via search engine optimization, link development and pay per click advertising (sparingly). Again make sure it's targeted.
7. Check your impressions and click numbers in your vendor reports every day.
8. Drop low performers, add new ones, keep experimenting.
9. Understand that the typical clickthrough rate is about 2%, and out of that 2% you might get only one or two sales. That sounds low, but the revenue is better than running Google AdSense and the like.
10. Work hard, be patient, and eventually you might get a decent payout. But keep in mind that 97 percent of affiliate marketers give up because they aren't patient enough or don't work hard enough. Just when you're ready to give up, you might get your first sale. And you go from there.
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Affiliate marketing sounds easy but my experience has been that it takes a lot of work. Watch out for adverts that tell you that you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars on auto pilot. My advise would be to start by reading some books on the subject. There are many e books (some for free) on the subject. You need to have a basic understanding of the topic before you start. Once you start reading, you will see what is required and then you can start by joining affiliate programs. The good affiliate programs also offer a lot of free training and guidance to get you going. Be sure to choose good products to promote otherwise you will waste a lot of money on advertising.
