How to Make Money Online with Affiliate Programs

Making money with affiliate programs isn't rocket science. You don't need a marketing degree or a college degree to do it. In fact, affiliate programs are an excellent way to make money online and it can be easy to do if you go in knowing some key points.

First, to make money with an affiliate program, you need to understand how they work. An affiliate program works by signing up people to represent certain products or services and then paying those people a commission to sell the company's product or service. This is a great way for companies to expand their sales force and market share. Nowadays, with the Internet making the world your global marketplace, making money online through affiliate programs is more feasible than ever.

Hundreds of thousands of firms have launched affiliate programs that have continued to be a great success. Big names you know such as Ebay, Amazon, and Google have affiliate programs where it's possible for an individual to make a good amount of money online through their affiliate programs.

If you're not sure how to begin the process of making money online through an affiliate program, here is a brief outline to get you started.

First, find a company with a product or service you'd like to represent. Normally you will sign up at the company's website. If they don't manage their own affiliate programs you might be registering at an affiliate management site such as Commission Junction or ClickBank. You will be given your own unique i.d. as an affiliate of the company to sell its products online through its affiliate program.

Then, set up a blog or your own website and advertise your product with a link to the company's site that includes your affiliate i.d. so you can be given credit for each sale. When people hit your blog or website, they will see the advertisement for the product or service you're representing and when they click the link to go to the company website, you will be given credit if they buy the product or service. You probably won't have a problem finding products to sell in an online affiliate marketing program to make money. There are numerous products in categories such as art, automotive products, cards, computers, credit cards and finance, gambling and adult venues, home businesses, magazines, matchmaking sites, web hosting services and so much more. It's just a matter of deciding what you feel has mass public appeal and what type of products or services you'd be comfortable representing.

There are two key points to being a successful affiliate and making money online through affiliate programs. Number one, you must market yourself. The previously mentioned blog is an excellent way to market your affiliate program and make money online. With a blog you can write personal, newsy messages and you can go a step further and keyword enhance them to give your page more relevance in search engine return results. It's a great way to "soft sell" the public on your affiliate program items. If you don't want to use a blog, set up a website. Don't put a bunch of screaming graphics or huge letters. The most successful affiliate sites are not full of fluffy words and empty promises about products. The successful websites are low-key in design using low graphics and light colors. Another great way to market yourself is to write articles about your service or product you're selling. Use a product review style and post them on any of the free article databases out there with a link back to your site.

The second key point in making money online through affiliate programs is to be organized. You can use your computer and build a spreadsheet, make notes on a pad and keep it in your desk drawer. Whatever works for you so you can keep track of your programs. You just need to be consistent and diligent about keeping records of your clicks and sales to insure that you make money in your affiliate programs.

If people are clicking your links and you're not getting sales. Obviously you need to tweak out the wording for your products. People are turned off by phrases such as "It's the Best" or "You MUST have this product/service". Instead, tell people how they will benefit from the product or service with out using sales fluff and filler words, give them a few uses for it, show them why they should purchase from you, and they will. You in turn, will make money online for simply hosting an affiliate program.

When a sale is made, you will be given credit as long as your affiliate i.d. was associated with the sale. Most affiliate programs let you sign up for free and pay you a percentage of the sale. You don't do any shipping or direct sales. Usually, if you market hard and consistently, you stand to make a good deal of money online through affiliate programs. That's the sheer beauty of using online affiliate programs.

Now that you know the potential for making money online with affiliate programs, sign up for some affiliate programs to represent products or services you feel have a mass appeal. It's not too late to get in on one of the fastest and easiest moneymaking opportunities you can find to make money online.

About the Author

David Cooper can help you make money online with affiliate programs. David specializes in helping people with their affiliate marketing efforts by offering real world tips and strategies. Download his FREE Affiliate Marketing Primer ebook at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com

Dating for Adults - Making the Sexual Connection

Tired of the dating ho-hum? Looking for some dating fun? Dating can be a little wild. Are you? When you've tried and gotten tired of the standard sites like Yahoo Personals or e-harmony, maybe what you are really looking for is one of the sites designed for adult fun. There are many sites that are for people looking for sexual hook-ups and the good times that come from enjoying a partner without the expectations and pressure of something serious or exclusive. Let me show you some of those sites:

PASSION - Over 18,000,000 active members. The purpose of the Passion.com site is to make it as easy as possible for you to meet people, using the power of the internet. At Passion.com, you'll find a community of people using the site as a tool to make connections and find partners for dating, romance, friendship, and a variety of encounters. To find your match, Passion offers several powerful features, which allow you to narrow your search so that you are able to find exactly the kind of person you, are looking for. On various occasions, new features are added to make your time at Passion.com a successful and fun experience. Passion.com offers a variety of membership packages. Standard membership is free. As a Standard member, you can chat, send instant messages, and browse through the worldwide database of profiles. You also have access to an interactive Magazine, where you can post or answer advice questions or post poetry and articles. There's plenty to do as a standard member! If you decide you want to speed up your search, consider one of the premium memberships. Premium memberships offer far more privileges and cost as little as 25 cents (or less!) per day.

FRIEND SEARCH - an online community of people from more than 250 countries seeking new friends, pen pals, love, relationships, soul mates, marriage, activity groups, organized events and much more! With the services offered, Members can even create personal network of friends. FriendSearch.com is much more than an online dating service. Members join for a variety of reasons. Many Members are simply interested in the romantic search option while other Members seek out friendships, life-partners, idea exchanges, and some Members are just open to the experience! Meet Adult singles in your area tonight. Browse millions of Adult photo personals to make friends, go dating, find love or long term relationships. 1,000s of matches made thru our Cupid's matchmaking service. Rated the World's #1 FREE Adult Online Dating site.

RESOURCE GUIDE:
- Yahoo Personals... http://www.yahoo-personals.5x1.net
- e-harmony... http://www.eharmony.5x1.net
- PASSION... http://www.passion.5x1.net
- FRIEND SEARCH... http://www.friendsearch.5x1.net
- Sex SEARCH... http://www.sex-search.5x1.net
- ADULT FRIEND FINDER... http://www.friend-finder.5x1.net
- EROTICY... http://www.eroticy.5x1.net
- Friendly Door - adult dating... http://www.friendlydoor.com

Sex SEARCH - Explicit pictures, videos, stories, images, or sounds will be contained on this website. If you are under 18 years of age, or if it is illegal to view adult material in your community, you must not visit this site.

ADULT FRIEND FINDER - the site makes it easy for you to meet people using the power of the internet. At Adult FriendFinder, you'll find a community of people using the site as a tool to make connections and find partners for dating, romance, friendship, and a variety of encounters. To find your match, the site offers several powerful features, which allow you to narrow your search so that you are able to find exactly the kind of person you are looking for. On various occasions, new features are added to make your time at Adult FriendFinder a successful and fun experience.

EROTICY - explore your sexuality. Eroticy was created and formed by two women. It started with a simple concept: create an adult site for adults. The objective was to provide a site people would not be ashamed and embarrassed to go or be a part of. Sex is a basic drive, along with food and sleep. In our society, it is too often associated with guilt. So Eroticy was created as a place where everyone can come and be themselves in a relaxed and safe environment where people from all over the world can explore their sexuality together. You can chat with someone about a bisexual curiosity or anonymously email someone who is into the same fetish as you. You can meet someone who is straight as an arrow or totally out there. Eroticy offers more than just adult content and dating opportunities. People join Eroticy for a sense of community. The relationships that people develop here are not bound by geography, society, or culture and are often deep, rich, and long lasting. Members earn merit and community standing by accumulating points earned by activity on the site, earning other member's admiration by being added to favorites lists, and otherwise being active members of the Eroticy community.

You're bound to find the adventure and fun you seek by visiting one of these sites. They are a little wild. Could that be you?

© 2005


Note to Publishers: You may freely reprint this article on-line and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered, including the "About the Author" message.

About the Author

William T. Gray writes on a variety of dating topics. His articles appear on numerous sites around the world, including adult dating sites such as the FriendlyDoor at http://www.friendlydoor.com

Free Help Starting a Home Business

Where's the best place to get free help starting your own home business? Would you believe it's the United States Government? The Small Business Administration is one of the best resources available to a new home business owner. A visit to their web site will turn up easy to understand articles about startup costs, calculators that help you figure out your tax responsibility and access to support groups, forums and information that's invaluable to anyone starting up or running a home business. Here are some of the services that you'll find from the SBA.

Free Consultation On Business Plans For New Business Startups
The business plan is one of the most important tools you have. It can help you land loans, attract the attention of investors and leverage existing funds. Your local Small Business Administration office has experienced businessmen who will help you prepare a business plan and offer you other startup advice for your home business - for free.

Free Pre-Certification For Home Business Loans
The Small Business Administration 'guarantees' loans to certain small businesses, including home business ventures. They don't lend you money themselves. Instead, they make a guarantee to the loan company or bank that they'll be repaid if you default on the loan. An SBA businessman will go over your business plan and credit history to help decide if you're a good credit risk. If he thinks your business has a good chance of taking off, the SBA will pre-certify your business for a loan. It's not a guarantee to you that you'll GET a loan, but it's unusual for a business that's been pre-certified by the SBA to have trouble finding funding.

Free Mentoring - Especially For Women
The SBA offers several programs that are meant to help women overcome the unique problems that face a new business startup owned by a woman. Everyone's heard about the old boy's network. Women don't have that option, but they do have roundtable support groups and a matchmaking service offered by the Small Business Association to help them find a mentor already working in their field. The SBA's web site should be one of your first stops if you're a woman looking to start or expand a home business.

Other Free Resources For Home Business Startups
Also on the SBA web site, you'll find the government gateway to bidding on contracts offered by the U.S. government, and the newest postings of contracts, grants and other money that's available to home and other small businesses. You'll also find a wealth of other information, including step-by-step instructions on how to incorporate your business, what your health insurance options are as a self-employed business owner and much, much more.

When you're starting a new home business or looking for a loan to expand one, you need to make use of every possible resource available. The Small Business Administration is one of the most valuable resources that you'll find. For more information on business plans, mentoring, contracts and more, visit the Small Business Administration web site at www.sba.gov. It's all free - the best price for your home business.

About the Author

Michael Law is editor at 1steliteworkfromhome.com ( http://1steliteworkfromhome.com ), a Work From Home Directory Resource.

1steliteworkfromhome.com is a resource for anyone looking to find work from home job information and discover ways to work at home.

This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the "About" and "weblinks" are kept intact.

Write a Better Online Personal Ad

This article is available on the web as well as by autoresponder. If you decide to publish, please let us know at articles@dateable.com and be sure to include the bylines. Thank you.

ARTICLE URL: http://www.dateable.com/brand/articleadtips.shtml

AUTORESPONDER: adtipsarticle@sendfree.com

WORD COUNT: 1511

===========================================

Write a Better Online Personal Ad By Tracy Brant at Dateable.com

If you are going to invest time or money in using a matchmaking website, you should really pay some attention to writing a profile that will get you some responses. People will not be interested in emailing you if you do not do something to make yourself stand out from the masses of people using personal ads.

I administer several dating websites. People frequently write in saying, "I never get any replies to my ad." And when I go look at the ad, I find that they have not filled out the profile, or added a photo. Who can tell if they want to email you if there is no information? Not quite as bad, but still ineffective, is a profile that says, "Email me for details" or "looking for a nice person." You can't bother to write a paragraph to find the love of your life? Or even a fun date for the weekend?

Here are some guidelines for writing effective personal ad blurbs:
INVESTMENT. Decide that this is worth spending some time on, or don't bother. You wouldn't submit a sloppy resume, would you? This is about making a good first impression, because there will be no second chance once someone clicks to the next ad.

MARKETING. You are marketing yourself... trying to stand out in a crowd. You are the "product." and the people you want to meet are your customers. Think about who you want to meet, and then think about who THEY want to meet! How can you tell them that YOU are the person they want to meet? Magazine ads, for example, grab your attention, make you laugh, they make you think "wow, what a great thing... I want to buy it." They can be short, but pack a punch. If they are long, they tell a good story. Marketers test their different ad campaigns, and you should, too. Try placing different ads to see what gets you a better result.

PREPARATION. Before you log in anywhere, do some thinking and writing. Don't wait until you are faced with a blinking cursor to write your blurb. Give serious thought to how you will describe yourself and the person you hope to find. Write at least two paragraphs, one about yourself, and one about the person you seek. Ask someone you trust to read those paragraphs and comment on how well they reflect who you are and what you want. Save that text to cut and paste into dating website forms. Have a digital photo or two ready.

OPENING LINES. Use your username... don't be Bob3456... be PaintBallPrincess or SecretSuperHero or something else that reflects your sense of humor and yourself. If the ad allows you a "subject line" also use that well... "Need woman in Atlanta" doesn't cut it. "Atlanta man on a mission" sounds more interesting. "Atlanta Knight seeks his Queen" tells a different story about who you are seeking. Use your username and subject line to hook people into your ad. Use humor, drama, a funky metaphor. Then, like any good ad, you want to show them you are what they need, show them why you are unique, and invite them to take action... by emailing you!

DETAILS. Write in complete sentences. Spelling and grammar DO count. We have modern tools to help with that. You want to look like you find this task important enough to spell out the words. Unless you are 15 years old, writing "If u r inrested n me, wrt 2 me" makes you LOOK 15 years old. ALL CAPS IS LIKE SHOUTING... don't. It is actually harder to read.

HONESTY. If you are not honest with yourself and others, you will not find happiness in the personals. Are you married? You know, people CAN figure that out and will resent the lie more than the wedding ring. Without making any value judgements, putting down "married" will not necessarily stop you from finding matches. If you are just looking for a casual date, don't imply that you are looking for marriage just to get more email... it wastes everyone's time. If you are looking for a long-term thing, don't think you can "convince" a casual date to spend more time with you. You are asking for disappointment. Try completing this sentence: "In a year, I'd like to see us doing...."

STRINGS. Guys, I see many you making a crucial mistake in your profiles. You will find that women are seldom looking for a "no strings relationship." There simply is no such thing... if it is a relationship, it has strings of SOME sort. If you don't want strings, you are looking for an escort service. Women of any description can find casual physical relationships without lifting a finger to a keyboard. Don't lie, but think about which "strings" are okay with you. "Seeking Torrid Summer Romance" is fine and honest. So is, "I am not eager to move in or get married. I want to have a regular date for parties and cookouts with my friends." Ladies, this counts for you, too. If your personal ad sounds like you might be offering paid sexual services, you are going to get some rude offers. You might avoid phrases like, "looking for a wealthy man with good taste in jewelry."

BEYOND PHYSICAL. Have you ever really dated someone just for their eye color? OK, maybe you have spectacular eyeballs. But ads tend to reel off personal stats... and then stop there, as though there were nothing but a body. Most personal sites let you click things to describe your eyes, hair, and height... don't waste valuable profile space on your hair. Talk about who you are first, and what you look like at the end. Want to know the number one thing surveyed women look for in a guy? A sense of humor.

AVOID NEGATIVES. This is not the place to list all the things that drove you crazy about your ex and how you won't put up with that again. Don't list what you don't want... discuss what you DO want. Turn your own lifestyle quirks into positives, not obstacles. Workaholic? Try, "My career keeps me very busy, so I need someone with a flexible schedule for spontaneous one-day adventures." Frugal to a fault? Try "I find it amusing to squeeze a nickel 'til it screams... help me research for my web column "CheapDates for CheapSkates." Worried people will regard your children as an obstacle? "My family is very important to me and I hope to find someone that will enjoy the attention of a warm family circle."

POST A PHOTO. Website statistics show that an ad with a photo is 80% more likely to get a response. A photo that shows you relaxed and having fun, no matter what you look like, is even better. Don't use a photo that isn't current.. it isn't worth looking so insecure, or being rejected later. Don't rush to ask for a photo... you may look like a "pic trader," someone who is collecting photos rather than looking for a real date. Don't stress about your looks... attraction is about more than looks. Yes, we often are first attracted to someone by looks, when we meet in person. But on the Internet, if you seem like a jerk, you won't get the chance to meet in person.

LIFE STAGES. People often say that "age" is not as important as "life stage." Where are you in your life? Just starting out in a new career? Settled into life with kids? Empty-nesting? Exploring new interests? These are things that matter. Talk about what is important in your life. "I am established in my career and now turning my attention to the great books I never had time to read." "I moved to this state for a job after college, and I am looking for dates with a lot of outdoors-loving friends to help me build a sporty new social circle."

FAVORITE THINGS. Listing ALL your favorite things is dizzying.. Choose one good example and talk about why you like it. Choose something that gives the reader an insight into what you enjoy. You want people to be able to spot things you have in common, but also feel that there is something new and interesting to learn about you. Interest them in learning more with a "teaser" about something fascinating about you. Ask a question for them to answer in the reply email.

RULES. Never... NEVER include your last name, phone number or address. Observe the rules of the various websites... some do not allow you to post web addresses or email addresses. Many prohibit crude language or sexual references. Getting your ad removed by breaking rules is a waste of time.

So... let your personality be shown in a tasteful way, take the time to do a good job, and have a good photo. Those things alone will put you far ahead of the misspelled anonymous pack. Best of luck!

© Dateable.com LLC 2002

About the Author

Dateable.com is an exciting online community for singles, couples and romance lovers. Dateable.com has romantic resources, advice, poetry, greeting cards, and more. Dateable.com also features specialty matchmaking services. Whether you are looking for a soulmate or a playmate, visit http://dateable.com