Many people hesitate to get involved with affiliate marketing because they don't have a website or any knowledge of html. Rather than make the investment in the tools that a full time affiliate marketer might use, they want to test the market first and see if it is for them.



This is a wise choice. It is easy to try affiliate marketing without risking a dime of your own money up front. Here is how:

My personal recommendation is to get started using information products available through ClickBank. Why? the biggest reason is the margin. When you first begin a venture, it's much more encouraging to receive a 50% commission on a $50 product than it is to receive a 4% commission on a $100 product.

So, first, go to Clickbank.com and sign up for a free affiliate account (you only pay if you want to sell your own products). You'll receive a user ID that you will need to use when creating your affiliate link to any product in the ClickBank marketplace. Make a note of this, it is what links you to your commission.

Second, browse the ClickBank marketplace at marketplace.clickbank.com and find a product that you would be interested in promoting. For now, don't worry about things like gravity and popularity, pick something because you are drawn to it. It will be much easier to promote a product that you have an affinity for than one you picked because of popularity.

Create your affiliate "hoplink." It will look something like this: yourid.vendorid.hop.clickbank.net, this will be the link that you promote. When someone clicks on your link, the ClickBank servers will record your affiliate ID and the Vendor ID. If a sale is made, you will get the commission. Clickbank pays every two weeks and is never late.

How to promote your link without risking any of your own money. Find and join forums that specialize in subject matter relevant to your product. For example, if you are promoting a recipe book, join a cooking forum. If you're promoting an MP3 site, join a music forum.

Edit your profile and enter whatever information about yourself you choose. Make sure that you enter your affiliate link in the URL box, then create a signature with your affiliate link in it.

This link will show whenever you make a post to the forum.

How to post: This is critical! Never, ever put your affiliate link directly into a post. It is considered "spamming" the forum to make a post promoting your product (though some forums have a "marketplace" section where you may do this). Forum moderators are usually very quick to delete any posts like this.

To get the greatest results, you will need to invest some time, and contribute worthwhile, helpful information to the community. That's what a forum is after all, a community of like minded folks who want to talk about a topic that they care about. It's like engaging in a group conversation, but you get to do it while wearing house slippers.

Like any other group conversation, someone who only wants to talk about himself, without contributing anything of value, is very quickly shunned.

So grab a link, join a forum, create a signature and take part in the conversation. You'll be surprised at how quickly you begin to see results. You will also enjoy yourself.