Affiliate programs offer a low cost way for people to start their own online business even if they have no previous relevant experience. However, many people fail with affiliate programs and most of them fail for the same reason. This is nothing to do with lack of affiliate program information, it is because they do not start out the right way to succeed with the affiliate program they choose to promote.

With an affiliate program, there are several simple but important steps you will need to take in order to make a success of your business and earn the money you want. Following the simple steps listed below will enable you to make dramatic progress so you can start to earn money from your affiliate program at an early stage.

1. Look for an affiliate program in a niche that interests you. Your business is a long term commitment, if you get involved with an affiliate program in a niche that holds no interest for you, running your business will be less interesting and enjoyable. The internet offers plenty of affiliate program information so you can easily find the best niche to suit your interests, there is no need to rush into the first affiliate program you see. Make a short list of possible niches and then go on to looking at the affiliate programs from the financial perspective.

2. Select a lucrative niche from the affiliate program information you have gathered. Don't be tempted to rush the affiliate program research. Your goal is to earn money, and you need to ensure an affiliate program is likely to be profitable before you make a commitment. The internet is full of information about profitable niches, and you will need to research these before you decide on the best business opportunity for you.

3. Another important piece of affiliate program information you will need to research is the reputation of the affiliate program owner. You need to find affiliate programs with good reputations and high quality products or services that will appeal to your customers.

4. Set yourself a goal: decide how much you want to earn from the affiliate program within a set amount of time and write this down. You will need a goal to work towards and writing down your goals is important. As you achieve each goal, you can cross it through and replace it with a more ambitious goal.

5. Create your own website to market your choice of affiliate program. The affiliate program will undoubtedly provide you with your own affiliate web page but creating your own unique website will attract the search engines and having your site listed in the search engines is an important step. Make your website interesting to human visitors by offering some free tools, e-books etc on your site as well as having articles related to your affiliate program.

6. Place advertisements on your website. You can earn money by displaying advertisements on behalf of companies such as Google, Yahoo, Revenue Pilot, Adbrite and numerous others.

7. Start a linking campaign. Links are very important to all online businesses, not just affiliate programs. Information you need to remember is that links from other sites will help improve the ranking of your website. One way links are more important than reciprocal links but reciprocal links are still of value.

8. List your website in major and niche directories, this is time-consuming but free and can be done in stages to reduce the boredom. If you have a reasonable budget for promotion of your affiliate program, you might want to consider buying software to perform this task.

9. Write and distribute articles to article directories. This is a free and highly effective way to market your affiliate program and obtain one way links from other websites.

10. Become an active participant in Internet forums related to affiliate program marketing and to your particular niche subject. Most Internet forums are free to join and allow you to include a link to your affiliate program or personal website as part of your signature.

Elaine Currie enjoys working from home. Her "Top Ranked" Work At Home Directory http://www.HuntingVenus.com gives you all the affiliate program information you need to start, maintain, and earn money with your own Internet Home Based Business.