Affiliate Marketing - Do's and Don'ts

Affiliate marketing seems to be a growing trend. People are claiming to be making thousands of dollars overnight with out doing any work, living their dreams with minimal effort. Although it is very possible to make a nice living off of affiliate marketing it is completely unrealistic to think that anyone can make a fortune without working for it. Like any business you need training, a plan, capital, and dedication to make it work. If you are seriously looking to make money online then you need to do some research on the subject, you need to be willing to put out some capital on advertising, and training. It is important to get involved in the affiliate community, network with people who have been successful affiliate marketers. Think of it this way, you wouldn't open a variety store and expect it to run itself, you would do market research, you would get training on inventory and how to work the till, you would get to know the people who shop there, and you would definitely put out capital.There are two types of affiliate marketers, successful affiliates and unsuccessful affiliates. Those who are successful work very hard to make their business successful. Below are a list of Do's and Don'ts of affiliate marketingDo:* Set aside some time each day to work on your business * Have some capital to spend on advertising, and training * Network with other affiliates * Expect to fail and learn from those failures* Research, Research, and Research some moreDon't* Expect to make money overnight* Try to do it without training* Get discouragedFor the most part the same rules apply for starting an affiliate marketing businesses as starting any other business, those who are willing to work hard will get much farther than those who are looking to make a quick buck. There are many different tools out there to help marketers get ahead, but my recommendation is take advantage of the training that the company you are selling for has to offer. Most companies don't want you representing them with a blind eye, they know that the more knowledgeable you are about their products the better you can sell them.