Title: The Basics Of Affiliate Marketing Word Count: 600 Summary: Affiliate marketing programs over the years have proliferated into a multi-million dollar market. Affiliate marketing programs which were once a rarity have now become the norm for Internet marketers. These affiliate programs have allowed many people the opportunity to start their own online business and to reap the profits of other individuals labor. Affiliate Marketing is a true Win-Win situation. Affiliate marketing programs are pretty much the same regardless of the... Keywords: affiliate marketing,affiliate,marketing Article Body: Affiliate marketing programs over the years have proliferated into a multi-million dollar market. Affiliate marketing programs which were once a rarity have now become the norm for Internet marketers. These affiliate programs have allowed many people the opportunity to start their own online business and to reap the profits of other individuals labor. Affiliate Marketing is a true Win-Win situation. Affiliate marketing programs are pretty much the same regardless of the products or services being offered. Someone or some company offers an individual the opportunity to sell their products for them at either a set amount per sale or a specific percentage of every sale. All you, as the Affiliate Marketer have to do is advertise and generate traffic to your website or their website and get others to purchase the product or service. Simple isn't it? Yes, Affiliate Marketing is a pretty simple concept and it is currently one of the most touted “businesses” on the Internet. As an Affiliate Marketer, you have advertised the “product”, generated traffic from articles and search engines, visitors have gone to your website, viewed the offer and sad to say, they may have left without purchasing. Do not fear – with Affiliate Marketing, your visitors don't have to purchase the first time, the second time or maybe even the twentieth time that they look at the offers. Virtually every reputable affiliate marketing program offers up “cookies” that hold these visitors as “your customers” for 30 – 90 days. Many programs actually keep cookies for up to a year. These “cookies” are stored in a cache file on the programs server. Therefore, when one of your visitors returns, their IP address is noted and if they purchase, bingo, you just received a commission and your check will be coming soon. Congratulations. As stated earlier, Affiliate Marketing is a pretty basic concept, and is relatively easy to get into. But, there is a LOT more to affiliate marketing than just signing up for every program that “looks good” to you. If you want to really succeed as an Affiliate Marketer, you will have to spend many hours, sometimes days researching the various Niches and products that you want to promote. You will want and “need” to contact the owners of the program you are interested in BEFORE you do anything else. You will need to ask specific questions and receive answers to those questions before you decide to join. Some questions you should know before you take the leap into promoting the products, services or the whole program are: 1. How much will it cost to join? 2. What are the benefits of a “free” versus paid affiliate? 3. How much does it cost to upgrade? 4. How will you be paid? 5. How do you know if you get credit for every sale? 6. How are customers tracked? 7. How are they going to help you promote the product? These are just a “few” of the questions that you should ask and receive answers to. Plus so many more questions that require honest upfront answers that will allow you, the affiliate marketer to make a good decision and to understand if this is a good program for you to invest in. Remember, Affiliate Marketing can be very lucrative, but, it can also be very costly to you if you don't research the programs before you get involved. There are so many affiliate marketing programs available, not everyone will be a good match for you. Please take the time to research each one before you sign up and your income potential will increase dramatically when you are only promoting the right products to the right niche.