One of the quickest and the easiest way to generate extra income is through affiliate marketing on the Internet. You do not even need to stock your own goods or merchandise, you simply sell other people's products, goods or services and in return, receive commissions by doing so. It is even possible to get started on affiliate marketing without having your own merchant number for credit card transactions nor your own website; however, having your own website is highly recommended.

Basically, affiliate marketing is simply promoting a company's products, goods or services on the Internet and by doing this online promotion of company products and services, the website owner gets commissions! There is no need to have a brick and mortar store to showcase the products.

Additionally, setting up an online affiliate business is a lot easier compared to a regular business. Moreover, there are several affiliate networks and affiliate program directories on the Internet and the number increases every day.

Signing up as an affiliate marketer is easy, you simply go to an affiliate network or affiliate program directory to sign up for a partnership that fits your website's area of focus. Major affiliate networks like ClickBank or Commission Junction literally have thousands of affiliate programs in all sorts of categories that you can think of.

You can also promote affiliate programs directly by using Google Adwords. With Google ads, you can literally start a product or service promotional campaign within 30 minutes! However, advertising with Google Adwords is getting more and more expensive as there are many people doing the same and there is so much competition.

Beginner's Tips and Techniques on Successful Affiliate Marketing

1. Focus on a Specific Niche. Make sure that your website content is specifically targeted on a particular product or service niche in order to gain targeted web traffic. By doing this, you can then join all the affiliate programs related to your specialized niche. You can research on focused niches by performing searches on Yahoo!, Google or MSN. A good starting point is NicheBOT, it is an excellent resource and indispensable tool that can help you verify appropriate and specifically focused areas. NicheBOT has tools to research and pinpoint market niches for your website.

2. Provide a Solution. Do not simply engage in affiliate programs; make sure that the one you are promoting provides a solution to the client so that you will have repeat sales. Regardless of the demographics of your target market, the product or service you promote must penetrate and sell in the market in order for you to earn extra income.

Make your own research and then create your own marketing strategy. Identify your target market, their problems and requirements and find products that will provide solutions to their problems. Make sure that the products you find are solution-oriented and have affiliate programs so that you can sign up as an affiliate. Choose affiliate programs that provide solid back-end support in the form of web content to make it easier for you to sell their products and those that allow you to embed your own website links.

3. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Judiciously. Create several mini-sites that focus on different keywords or keyword phrases to enable you to get free search engine listings and free traffic. However, do not simply rely on SEO ranking because it is becoming more complex. Stick to the basics and you will see your site's profitability gradually increase over time. Do not waste your money in establishing search engine ranking in a short time. SEO requires knowledge, effort and time.

By implementing these 3 basic approaches to affiliate marketing, you will eventually become one of the leaders in your specific keyword phrase niche. As a leader in a particular keyword phrase niche, you will gain sizeable targeted traffic which eventually translates into a steady source of affiliate income.