Affiliate Marketing

I had always thought that this little venture was more trouble than it was worth. I put up a few links on my website and thought no more about it. Last week, I got two checks in the mail. Not lotto sized checks by any means, but checks that I was not expecting, nonetheless. So today I decided to spend a little bit of time securing a few more links and updating some that I had already. It took about 30 minutes total, so no big deal. I even put a note in my Outlook Calendar to spend a few minutes every Monday morning updating these links.
My point is this: Why not start a small affiliate marketing program on your website/blog/email marketing? Here are a few steps to get you started:

1. Find a few sites that specialize in links. I'm using Linkshare and Amazon and have included their links on my blog and website (hint, hint...click now and begin shopping). These two are quite user friendly and they do send checks.
2. Do not believe the hype all over the web that you will get rich quick from starting an affiliate program. Remember, gentle reader, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...
3. Choose links from businesses that you have used in the past or that have upstanding reputations in their field. Don't send your valuable customers to a scam site or worse yet, give them a virus! This is another reason that I like Linkshare, all of their links come from legitimate businesses most of which I have heard of!
4. Set aside time each week to update and refresh your links and check your accounts. I am up nuts early in the morning so that I can spend time on this sort of thing before I start with client projects.
5. Don't have time for this type of project? That's OK....Your Virtual Assistant can likely handle that for you, quickly and efficiently. Don't have a VA? Why not? (Shameless Plug of the Day!)