How Do You Choose An Affiliate Program?

It's an acknowledged fact that affiliate marketing is one of the best, if not the best way to make money online. The best part of the whole deal is that it works very simply - once you sign up and get started, most affiliate programs practically run themselves, so that even when you are sleeping or away on holiday, you can make money on the Internet.

So far - so good. You don't even have to have a website to promote your affiliate products once you decide to make money from home, because you can just as well do it from your blog for free. As ideal as all this sounds, the real crux of the matter is in selecting the best affiliate programs to promote.

Almost all affiliate programs sound very attractive when you read about them for the first time - but are you actually going to be making money online from them on a consistent basis? After all, you will be interacting with both the Affiliate Company as well as your customers and the last thing you want to do is end up dealing with complaints rather than counting your profits.

To ensure that you choose the right affiliate programs, here is a checklist you can use:

• You must be able to sign up without joining fees.
• The affiliate program must be lucrative with a high percentage of commission. You can make money on the internet by promoting a 50% commission program with the same effort you would put in promoting a 20% commission program
• The affiliate company you choose must have an effectively designed website that is professional and provides a good sales letter that sounds convincing to the customer.
• While on the subject of the affiliate company's website, also make sure you can find customer testimonials.
• Does the affiliate company provide a money back guarantee or a free trial period?
• What about secure online transactions?
• Check to see how frequently you will be paid - the maximum acceptable is a month.
• Its best to choose affiliate companies where you can expect commissions as long as the company is in business when you want to make money from home. This means you get commissions even for repeat orders from the same customer.
• Strong customer support and a good monitoring system is a must
• Does the affiliate company pay you for referrals through you?

Obviously you would do some research before you sign up to make money online - so do read user reviews that are unbiased before you take the step!