Where do I start?

[gsenders]

Hi Everybody,
I have just come across your site and I can’t get over the wealth of knowledge that is here so I thought it best to sign up and say hello. But I’m afraid there is another reason for me joining , I need some advice on the whole world of affiliates both from the merchants and publishers point of view.
I’m based in Ireland and have been running a website for nearly a year now, it’s going ok but the any advertising that we have done just doesn’t seem to work and what has worked has all been web based. So now we have put a lot of effort into launching an affiliate program and we are just about getting it off the ground.
We sell solely to Ireland so we are predominately trying to recruit Irish publishers and this is where the problem lies, there are very few here, but the more I read and learn the more interested I get in the publishing side of things and I would now like to try and take some baby steps into this sector. I’m not looking to make my fortunes in this but would like to think of it as a hobby and would like to see if I can send new traffic to my site.
I face a number of steep hurdles and the biggest of these are my lack of development skills, the only java I know about this the kind you drink.
So I guess my question is where could I start? I write a number of articles on a blog each week and after reading the various article submission threads on this forum I think that this may be a reasonably good starting point.
Well thanks for taking the time to read this and if anyone has any suggestions or can help to point me in the right direction, I would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

[Linda Buquet]

Hi gsenders,

Welcome to 5 Star. Well sounds like you already have your niche so that's a huge step in the right direction. If you haven't yet, read all the stickies in the newbie forum and then even some in the niche forum to further define your niche and learn more about keyword research etc.

Blogging is a good place to start. Beyond that, there are so many different options. Your questions were pretty generic so I'm having a hard time knowing exactly what I can tell you that would be most helpful. Read the stickies, see if you can get a little clearer picture about where you think you may want to head and then ask more specific questions and we'll see if we can help you get there.

[kenpachi]

If you site doesn't require much programming (HTML not included) you could buy a template or download a free one that suits your fancy. You could also hire a web developer to design one as well. Blogs are also a very good way for people to create a site without having to have a degree in Programming.

Good luck!

[affearner]

Hello gsenders. It looks like your problem is how to advertise your site or your affiliate program so as to let people know the kind of business you have. If your site is already fully-functioning, focus on the marketing and advertising strategies now. Infomercials, link building, offline advertising, etc should be done.

You see, an effective and efficient site and Affiliate Program is something that doesn't require high maintenance.

For your Affiliate Program, is that in-house or are you with some channels like CJ and the likes? I suggest that you work side by side with some channels or networks as these channels are capable of finding publishers for you. Also, use Google alerts using your most applicable keywords in order to find publishers then recruit them.