Can you make money with Internet marketing using no money down? Many of the big Internet marketers would laugh at this question, but anything is possible on the Internet. Affiliate marketing is the keyword to this riddle. In fact, it is the only real way to market yourself as a independent marketer without having to use a dime for budget. After you have been at it for awhile, you might want to try a few marketing methods that will cost a few cents. For now, though, all you really need is a tough skin, commitment and patience. You will need a lot of dedication to your venture, too. To be a dedicated affiliate marketer is to realize a lucrative income.

Affiliate marketing is a very competitive business these days. There might even be a million of them. Companies that have products to sell online will usually have an affiliate program. This means the company does not really need to hire individuals to sell there products. They create programs that you can join with a compensation structure in place for independent marketers to be able to make commissions selling the company's products. These affiliate programs are free to join for almost anyone willing to market the company's products.

What you are provided with is a piece of HTML code that, when linked to from a visitor to your site, takes the visitor to the company's website, and tracks the link to you. You get compensated for delivering traffic of potential customers, and even more, if they actually buy something. This code could be in the form of a word link, side bar content, even full page ads.

Traffic is what affiliate marketing is all about. The more traffic you can drive to the merchant's site, the more sales there will be; and the more commissions you will earn for yourself. Article marketing is one of the top methods of driving traffic, and can be done for free! A lot of affiliate marketers use articles as their primary way of getting traffic.

As an example of an article marketing technique, let us say that your company sells an e-book, "How To Strike Gold In Affiliate Marketing". This e-book has all of the insider tips from the millionaire master himself, Mr. Milliondollarman. The product is a hot one! Even the "heavy hitters" of the marketing world are reading this e-book. The only problem is you do not have a website. But this is not a problem because you can use article marketing to generate your sales.

First, write some articles about generating traffic, aimed at affiliate marketers. These articles should be around 500 words or so in length. Make your articles engaging and easy to read, and make sure that they contain information that your readers can use. At the end of your articles, place a link (called a backlink in this context) to the merchant's site containing your HTML code. Even without a website, you could be making money in affiliate marketing.

Any of these article you write should be submitted to one of the many article directories to be found online. Search engines like Google index these directories, meaning they can be found by people looking for information on affiliate marketing. This will drive traffic to the merchants site, ultimately netting you some income. This is basically how article marketing works.

Affiliate marketing and article marketing go hand in hand. Rarely will you see one without the other. It is one surefire way to make money with the Internet. It is an ongoing process that is a numbers game. The more compelling your articles are, the more traffic will be generated. The more traffic, the more visitors to your company's site. The more visitors that convert to sales, the richer you become.