Many an internet marketer got his start making money online by selling someone else's product. It is actually a good place to begin because you don't have to come up with your own product, you can get started quickly, and you don't have to spend a lot of money.

Affiliate marketing is a win-win situation for both the product creator and the affiliate. The product owner can ultimately sell more of his product by having others (the affiliates) sell the product and make a predetermined percentage of the sale. The product will reach so many more people when the owner has affiliates out there selling it for him.

It's like having a sales team doing the marketing, and he's happy to pay them. It's a good situation for the affiliate marketer because you don't have to spend time and resources creating a product, you can promote it inexpensively, and you are not responsible for customer service.

Typically, affiliate commissions are around 50% and higher. You aren't charged anything for being an affiliate, but you also don't make any money if you don't sell the product. Think of it like a sales job where you work only on commissions. If the product you're promoting sells for $57 at a 50% commission, you will make $28.50 for each sale. Just think if you sold 5 per day - that's $4275 per month. The earnings potential is the big thing that drives people to try affiliate marketing.

Occasionally you'll find a product, such as an ebook, that you can make 100% commission on. These products tend to be less expensive, and the product owners do this to get you to sell more. They're going to make their money on their own links inside the ebook, plus backend sales.

Many product owners will give you affiliate tools from a website dedicated to helping you be a good affiliate. After all, it's in their best interests to help you sell so they can make money too. They might offer you banners, ebook covers, blog posts, articles for your website, emails you can send out to people on your list, a list of keywords, and maybe a short report you can brand and give away.

If you are an affiliate marketer then you should realize the emphasis is on the word "marketer". Here are some ideas on how to market the affiliate product:

* Article marketing, lots of it
* Pay Per Click (PPC) ads
* Marketing the product to your list
* Adding your own bonuses to any sales through your link
* Having a product review blog that showcases the product
* Squidoo lens
* Twitter about it with a link
* Selling it on the backend of a PDF you're giving out for free
* Interview with the product creator
* Doing a video about how to use the product

Effectively marketing affiliate products requires finding the right niche, the right product, the right keywords, and the right combination of marketing. The good thing is you can gain knowledge and experience as you go and tweak what works until you're making the kind of money that's possible to make with affiliate marketing.