Building a Web Site For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Profiting from Your Program

Most affiliate programs depend on the vast number of people they can get to advertise products or services for them. But you have no guarantee that you’ll actually make any money — let alone any significant money — if you sign up with them. The odds, after all, are all with the affiliate programs. (See the section “Running Your Own Affiliate Program,” later in this chapter.) But you can do some things to increase your chances that you’ll actually find a check or two in your mailbox. And, if you really do it right, that check will be more than a joke.

Taking time to find the right programs

It’s easy to get caught up in a heady rush and sign up with every affiliate program you can find right away. After all, you could JOIN RIGHT NOW and be up and running in JUST A FEW MINUTES! If you’re wise, though, you’ll take it slow and easy. Trust me, you’re not missing the key to instant riches by not acting immediately. Billions of dollars are not going to suddenly flow into your mailbox the day after you get started.

If you’re going to make a profit — and you can — a big part of the reason will be that you carefully studied the programs that are out there and made the right choice for you.

Use this checklist to get some basic answers about an affiliate program before you commit your time and energy to it:

✓	Go to the Web site that offers the program and read the ...