Why Affiliate Programs Are Your Best Internet Marketing Training Ground

Hello there,When your just starting out in internet marketing and are trying to make money online, even with the best of intentions and armed with a certain amount of information it can still be a long and perplexing process.You will see other people who are successful, promoting their own products, but when you're just starting out, don't have a customer list, or a large budget for Adwords (PPC), and you are trying to create an income, where is the best place to begin?My answer is always the same: start with affiliate programs and products.Why? Because affiliate programs are the easiest to carry out and simple to understand.And how's that?No physical products are necessary.You don't have to invest in inventory, shipping, deal with customer complaints, or develop a product line.It's all about promoting other people's products.There are just a few basic steps to making money on the internet by promoting other people's products and I can summarize it quickly: * First do a bit of internet research. Find out what people are looking for. * Sign up with an affiliate program and choose your product. * Get your own personal affiliate id link for the product you're going to be promoting. * Find the appropriate keywords * Create a small website, or even a one page sales page, and include your affiliate link.People who are interested in the product and click on your link will have a cookie set with your affiliate id will be redirected to the product that you are promoting.If they do decide to buy this particular product, you will get a pre-determined commission. Another thing that is great about this is that the buyer does not have to purchase the product immediately in order for you to make money. Most affiliate programs will have a 'cookie tracking system' that tracks your potential customer, so that if they return to make a purchase at a later date, you will still be credited with the sale.So you don't have to be a internet genius to begin to make decent money working with affiliate programs.Most affiliate companies are configured with the internet 'noobs' - beginners, and their lack of experience, in mind. You will quickly be able to promote a product without the need to be an expert. After all, the person who developed the product you're promoting should be the expert.It is important that you choose a successful affiliate program that has a proven track record. Most affiliate programs that are well put together will even provide you with pre-written emails, banners, text links and free bonus products, that you will be able to brand as yours to help you promote their product.Think of affiliate programs as your internet garden.Besides the fact that you will begin to make some money while promoting affiliate programs, concentrate on building a customer list that can make you money again and again in the future.What you need to do is build a relationship of trust with your customer base. You do this by sending out follow-up emails, newsletters, etc. Once your seeds of trust are planted, you can continually promote other affiliate products, or even your own products, to your list! Naturally, the larger the list, the more opportunities for making money you will have. Be sure to keep nurturing your customer list and it will continue to pay you big dividends for years.Please understand the importance of building and maintaining a customer list.If you always have a zero customer base, it will always be like starting out over and over, again and again.Now just because affiliate programs are fairly easy to implement and the fastest way to make money on the internet, it does not mean you are not going to take a few missteps here and there. The fact is - You WILL make some mistakes. Every person who eventually becomes successful has made some dozies. But since this is your training ground, you might as well you're your mistakes here, and even more importantly, learn from them.Whatever mistakes you might make in promoting affiliate products will prepare you for even bigger things - like creating and promoting your own products while on the way to becoming a master of internet marketing.Keep focused on the big picture, because right now you are acquiring valuable skills to build upon. Use these skills to continuously create multiple sources of income. In another article I'll write more about this.You will start making money very quickly if you follow these basic steps. Of course there are many other elements involved in becoming successful in internet marketing. But right from the start, let the idea of building up a list, sink into your mind. It can, and will, produce a perpetual cash machine if you set it up correctly.Don't stop learning and keep pushing on,Be fearless,Billy Ojai