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.