Last article we looked at many different ways to make money online. We found affiliate marketing to be a great option for people just starting out. This is because quite large sums of money can be made with a very small investment of money. This is exactly what people need every day, to pay off credit cards, mortgages, and get back on track with their finances.

The first thing to keep in mind when starting an affiliate marketing business is that making money online is never as easy as promised. After reading many “how to” articles and paying to join a training system, I found that it takes time and effort to make it all happen. If we were told this before we signed up and started, we would be in a much better frame of mind and much more likely to succeed.

For those of you who are thinking of getting started with affiliate marketing, you can be sure that it is definitely worth the time. You should start by expecting to “learn the ropes” first. There are quite a few processes and skills that need to be learned before real money can be earned. If you start out thinking that you will make $2000 in the first month, you may be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, goals and dreams are very important, but expect to work hard before you see the money they promise.

Some useful tips when looking at it for the first time are:

• Have a goal: Your final destination is largely determined by what your goals and dreams are.

• Write them down: There is plenty of research showing that written goals are much more likely to be accomplished than goals in your head.

• Do some research – Don’t buy the first training package or system you come across, look around and find the one that best suits your needs.

• Have a plan – Plan what steps you will take to launch a successful campaign. A good training package will outline the steps required to make money online.

• Stick with your plan until you see results: Don’t get distracted by all the other things you can do to make money if it’s not in your plan.

• Fine tune: When you make money, analyze your results, see what’s working and what’s not, and plan your next campaign.

If you invest in a training program, they’ll walk you through the practical things you need to do to get everything linked and working properly. Some of these include:

• Setting up a ClickBank account.

• Setting up a PayPal account.

• Buy web hosting or show you free hosting websites.

• How to get cheap domain names.

• How to link your domain name to your hosting site.

These are mechanical steps that every affiliate marketer must take before they can start choosing products, researching keywords, building landing pages, generating traffic, and analyzing results.

Next time we will see how to choose the best ClickBank products