If you're new to affiliate marketing, this will be a real eye opener for you. Affiliate programs are certainly the best choice for anyone who is just getting started online.

Here's why...

• You don't have to create a product of your own.
• There's virtually no overhead or cost of goods sold.
• You have no products to ship or inventory to track.
• You don't have to handle credit card transactions.
• You don't have to handle refunds or customer support.
• You don't have to create a huge website with a shopping cart.

All you have to do is refer people to a merchant's website through your personal affiliate link. When someone clicks on your link, you get a percentage of the profits on anything your customer buys.

What exactly is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is the promotion of products sold by a merchant in exchange for commission-based compensation. In the offline world, an Affiliate is what would typically be known as a sales representative.   But working as an online affiliate, you don't have to wear a suit or drag a briefcase of samples around with you! In fact, once you build your strategy for making money through affiliate programs, you won't even have to think about it anymore –- except when it comes to deciding how to spend the money you've made.

It's a win-win situation for both parties:

• The merchant makes money without any up-front advertising cost (they only pay you if you generate a sale).
• You make money without the hassles of running a business.

And everything is 100% automated. Sales and commissions are tracked automatically through web links and cookies and you receive a check or PayPal payment at the end of the month.

What do you need to become an affiliate?

All you really need to make money with affiliate programs is a computer with an Internet connection and a strong desire to succeed.

Here are three absolute necessities for any successful affiliate marketer.

The first thing you need is a simple, one page website as a landing page to collect leads and direct traffic to the merchant’s site. There's really no excuse for neglecting this step. You can buy a domain name for $8.88 and hosting for just $3.95 a month.

Second, you'll need an HTML editor and a site template. Obviously, you need some content to put on your site. And unless you want to spend time learning HTML, you'll need a template to use.

Third, you need a quality autoresponder system to follow up with the leads you capture. This will be the lifeline of your business so don't settle for a cheap system.

Beyond that, there are numerous techniques that you can work into your marketing strategy...but they are beyond the scope of this article.

If you're in a hurry to learn these techniques and start building your affiliate business, check out http://affiliatecashsecrets.com or visit http://digitalprofits.net to download my free report, "Three Steps to Affiliate Profits."

© Derrick VanDyke - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include this resource box. You can also include your affiliate link when you sign up at my Affiliate Cash Secrets website.