The following is a list of some of the issues you may want to look into before choosing an affiliate program.

1. Does the program offer a 30 day money back guarantee? This gives you time to use and evaluate the products as your prospective customers would.

2. What training resources are provided with the program? Do they include written and video training? Do they also suggest the best outside training resources to help your marketing campaign?

3. Does the training resources at your disposal include sales letters, email templates, auto responder messages? Sales copy can be more difficult than imagined for someone who has never had to do it before. Having great examples of sales copy that has been proven to work for the products you are selling, gives you the advantage to start with. Then you can learn from those examples and write your own if you choose to do so.

4. Do they have means of answering your questions by email or a support ticket system? What is their turn around time for answering questions?

5. Does the affiliate program provide you with a website or landing page which has your name on it?

6. If the products are downloadable information products then does the operator have your name or ID embedded in the brand? Do they include quality free downloads available to your customer, as part of the strategy to lead your customer to a sale?

7. How often do they pay commissions owed to you?

8. Does the program operator pay Clickbank, Pay Dot Com, Stormpay or Paypal?

9. An affiliate program that provides you with the opportunity to earn more than one income stream is a great advantage. Once you have one up and running it is much easier to duplicate the process.

10. Does the program operator regularly update their information and training resources. The internet is constantly changing and you don't want to be left with outdated products or marketing strategies.

The products may be great but if a small operator cannot give you the training and ongoing support then the newcomer may be left floundering. In any business problems are going to arise after you first start out. Affiliate marketing is no different and, unless you are very good with computers and a marketing guru, you need the ongoing support of a program operator who has an interest in you succeeding.

Having said all of the above, you will do well to not rely on your affiliate program operator to provide all of your support. They are most likely focussing on their product selling. They may not be totally in tune with your specific challenges, especially if you are a small operator just starting out. You may need specific advice on website design, set up structure for your business etc. A good affiliate program will either resolve or direct you to the best resources to resolve most of your requirements.