Marketing products and services online gives you a lot of advantages over a traditional retail business model. Potentially you can have a global customer base. More people are using the internet each year to purchase goods and services. The possibilities for merchants are only limited by their imagination.

However, it is not only merchants who are benefitting from the internet. Affiliate marketers are taking advantage of online merchants and profiting. The merchant may have spent their time, money and expertise in sourcing products, setting up a professional website and worked out pricing structures. When it is all set up the person wishing to become an affiliate can agree to refer customers to the merchant's website for a commission.

It is important for the marketer to choose a good affiliate program and use the most appropriate marketing techniques.

Firstly the affiliate would be wise to choose a merchant offering products or services that they are passionate about. Promoting successfully online usually requires you to write about the products frequently. If you have no interest in the products then writing articles about them would be a real chore.

Before making any agreement with a merchant, make sure you research the company to make sure that they are reliable. Check their reputation on products they supply, customer service and their record on dealing with affiliates. Check them in relevant forums and ask members if they have had any good or bad experiences.

Thoroughly check out the level of support the merchant will offer you. Do they provide you with a website? If so can it be customised to make it unique, including your own domain name? Do they provide ready made banners and advertising copy?

Make sure you learn as much about the products and services as you can. If it is a hobby or real interest to you then you should already have a foundation of knowledge. You can never know too much though and the more you know then the easier it is to write about. You could be considered an expert by prospective customers and this increases your credibility. You could then start your own blog and if promoted correctly, should generate traffic in time.

This check list can help you make an informed choice that best suits you. There is a myth that the only way to succeed online is to jump on the latest affiliate program simply because it is new. Some do go on to succeed and some of their affiliates may make income out of it. However a well established program that has a good track record of helping their affiliates can be the best option for an internet marketing newbie who has a lot to learn.