Affiliate Marketing is one of the simplest ways to earn money on the Internet. With this type of internet marketing, your main task is to get traffic to the affiliate website, and earn a commission on sales of the product or service. Affiliate marketing is also a great way for the newbie to try his hand at online selling, and also an excellent business model for individuals wanting the benefits of having their own business without the hassles of establishing their own internet business. While some marketers make good money with affiliate programs, many fail to realize the full potential of affiliate marketing because of crucial blunders they commit along the way. This article points out several common mistakes made by affiliate marketers, and offers ways to improve your results.

1. Building Someone Else's List...Instead of Your Own

One of the most common mantra's you'll hear chanted by the Internet Marketing Guru's is that "the money is in the list". Most will even go so far as to say that the most important factor in building long term success is having a motivated list of buyers. Unfortunately, one of the biggest mistakes that many marketers make is building someone else's list instead of their own. With many affiliate programs, the affiliate marketer makes a one time commission on a sale, but the operator of the affiliate program keeps the contact information, and therefore has the opportunity to sell this person on 'backend' products and services. A simple way to get around this is for you to setup a 'squeeze' or 'lead capture page' which enables you to obtain that person's contact information before sending them to an affiliate website. Having a huge list of prospects that you can send your offers to is like money in the bank. Always remember, the money is in the list!

2. Failing to Track Your Links

Another common mistake that many affiliate marketers make is not using link tracking software to track where your hits and sales are coming from. You need to know where your sales are originating from so that you can target your advertising to the places that are producing results and profit. Advertising without tracking reminds me of the line used by Yogi Berra, "if you don't know where you're going, when you get there you'll be lost". Ad tracking software is inexpensive and is a must for the serious affiliate marketer. You should use this with all of your advertising.

3. Not Following Up With Contacts

While building a list of contacts is one of the keys to increased profit and long term success, it will all be for naught if you fail to follow-up with your prospects. It's difficult to understand why an Affiliate Marketer will spend time and effort on getting a prospect to a website, only to drop them like a bad date once they have made a sale. Most experienced marketers will tell you that the hardest sale is the first one, and the real profit comes from backend sales. The caveat to this however is that in order to achieve this you need to build trust and confidence with your prospects, and you accomplish this by communicating with them on a regular basis. Some simple ways to do this is by sending out a newsletter, offering free reports, and providing other valuable information that will remind your prospects that you are there to help and are a person they can call on.

4. Sending Multiple Offers in Your Emails

Another common mistake that many affiliate marketers make is including numerous offers in the same email. When a prospect responds to one of your ads, they are interested in receiving information on that specific product or service. Including numerous links and offers in an email only confuses your prospect and greatly decreases your chances of making a sale. More is not always better when it comes to email marketing. Remember to keep your emails focused on the product or service that your prospect is requesting information about.

5. Promoting Too Many Affiliate Programs

Along with trying to pitch several offers in the same email, many affiliate marketers fall prey to promoting numerous affiliate programs at the same time. As with most things in life, focus is the key to success with affiliate marketing. Jumping from one program to another will only lead to frustration and most likely failure. Don't allow yourself to fall for the better mousetrap theory. You can be certain that there will always be the next latest and greatest affiliate product arriving in your email. You need to realize that your success with affiliate marketing has more to do with you and your efforts, than choosing the perfect affiliate product or program.