Now that you've decided you want to be an affiliate marketer, how do you find the best affiliate marketing program? Which product or service should you promote and sell? There are a large number of ways to do this, depending on your experience, background, time and the amount of effort you want to put into the early stages of your business.

One of the most common methods affiliate marketers use to choose the best affiliate marketing program is to explore popular search engine lists and archives. Most major search engines offer their versions of the most popular or trendy affiliate products out there. While most beginners to affiliate marketing won't be able to compete with the 'big guns', try tweaking some of those top fifty or so that are listed and adapt them to your skill level and goals.

Now, one of the trickiest, and most time-consuming aspects of affiliate marketing is researching keywords to find the most sought after products and services on the Internet these days. User-friendly software programs that you install onto your computer yourself may make this task a little easier. Picking keywords not only to search, but to use on your own websites as content to generate visits, clicks and sales is an art form in itself, but one that will pay off in the long run. However, blogging or researching other's blogs is also a very common way for new affiliate marketers to see what's really 'hot' on the market at any given time.

Browsing major search engines for top sellers in any niche or field will also produce results as to what's hot and what's not at any given point in time. An affiliate marketer must stay aware and on top of changing trends and attitudes, which may change daily or monthly. Using search engines that focus on niche keywords, and perhaps less common niche competitors.

If you decide to go with a lesser known product or service, be prepared to spend a little extra time writing content for your niche website, as well as articles and blogs that will generate interest and visits to your website.

While researching your potential products and services, be aware of what others are saying about that product or service. Visit forum and discussion boards to see prevailing attitudes and feedback on results. If you find more negative comments than positive about any particular product or service, no matter what its commission fees are, you'll probably not want to involve yourself or your time in promoting it.

Remember also that people are fickle. What may be the latest and greatest this week may be a flop next week. Diligence and constant research is necessary in order to be successful in any affiliate marketing endeavor, and that goes for whether you own three websites or thirty. Take your time in finding the best affiliate marketing program for you, make sure that you feel comfortable promoting and selling the products you've chosen and then stay on top of attitudes, the market and popularity. Affiliate marketing takes time, effort and determination to succeed, just like any other business.