[winningratings]

The first thing I would say is - treat the affiliate marketing world as a mine field for the newbie!! - tread carefully

Now in brief - many of the affiliate schemes out there simply dont work - its that simple. You should approach a program from the assumption that it is a no hoper until you are sure it really is working

You have to remember that its just too easy for anyone to set up an affiliate program. All it takes is a fairly simple script - and bingo you have an affiliate program. So many merchants who have never learnt how to sell anything will set up an affiliate program in the hope that other people will sell their product for them - but of course if they don't know how to sell it in the first place, or it just isnt selling - wrong product - wrong market etc, then its unlikely anyone else will sell it either

My own advice is TEST - TEST - TEST!!

My own strategy is concentrate on affiliate schemes with real products. Im talking about real products you can hold in your hand and make a good commission from - or products which will give you a good percentage and which are likely to be in great demand. All these type of schemes have paid me and continue to do so every month

I would highlight two types of affiliate programs that have worked for me

1) Residual Income
This is really a great way to earn money from home. You simply join up for free, get a website and people you refer basically pay you a commission. Most of these schemes dont work, but if you test them out first, you will find out those that really work great. In general - always concentrate on schemes that are selling a real product like binoculars, sports wear, purfume etc. Anything which has no real product or only a "phoney" product is actually an illegal ponzi scheme and you should have nothing whatsoever to do with such schemes. They will not last very long and the whole thing is a fake

2) Advertising
Schemes which allow you to sell advertising - such as PPC, banner ads, static text ads etc, can be good earners. Its even better if people can join for free because then people are not "put off" by trying to "get round" your affiliate URL. Its only after they have joined for free that they might decide to "buy" - thats when you can get paid - and theres no affiliate url or cookies to worry about. Just for your information many affiliate schemes rely on some cookie or your affiliate url for you to get paid - if the cookie is gone or people "bypass" your affiliate url, then you never get paid anything even though the person buys the product

Hope that points you in the right direction