Building A Home Based Affiliate Business

A home based affiliate business is within your reach. As an affiliate, you recommend the products and services of merchants (Amazon, Circuit City, Petco, 1800flowers, etc.).

When you send them a customer - you get a commission. The great thing about internet affiliate marketing is you don't have to create, stock, or ship any products. Here are the steps to a home based affiliate business:

First, you'll need a website or blog - it's where you'll recommend a merchant's products and services. Learn how to Make Your Own Website. When deciding on a topic for your website or blog, keep these things in mind:

• Pick a topic you know and love.
• Pick a topic you won't dread writing about.
• Pick a topic that has merchants selling products or services related to it.

After you get your website or blog up and running, and have at least 10 pages of content - you're ready to start internet affiliate marketing. You now need to locate merchants that sell products or services related to your chosen topic. And apply to become their affiliates. Where do you find merchants?

• At the search engines. Go to your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.) and search for products and services related to your topic. This should lead you to quite a few companies. If they accept affiliates, you'll see a link located on their Home Page (it's usually at the bottom of the page). Click on the link and you'll get all the details of their affiliate program.
• An easier way to find merchants is through affiliate program networks. These networks list hundreds of merchants that accept affiliates. You'll find merchants in just about any category you can imagine. And there's no cost to join.

Here's a list of affiliate program networks:

• Commission Junction
• Linkshare
• Shareasale
• Clixgalore
• Clickbank - This company is a little different, they offer ebook affiliate programs.

Some merchants accept all people who apply and others are really picky. If you get rejected by a merchant don't feel bad, it happens to the best of us. Don't give up on having a home based affiliate business. Just apply to other merchants and you'll eventually find 1 or more who'll accept you.

Once you're accepted as an affiliate, you can begin referring people to your merchant - and start making money. You'll refer them to your merchant through ads and text links. Your merchant will provide you with a variety of creative ads and text links for you to choose from.

Pick those that fit best with your site or blog and get your special tracking code. This tracking code displays the ad or text link on your site and identifies you as the referrer. All you have to do is copy and paste this tracking code into your website or blog. Don't worry, it's not as difficult as it may sound. And you'll get complete instructions from your merchant or the affiliate network.

Whenever anyone clicks on the ad or link, and buys something from your merchant, you'll get a commission. If you follow these steps you'll be on your way to a real home based affiliate business. Internet affiliate marketing is a great way to make a living online.