Is it going to be value or money that you're going to focus on when you choose a program?

What's most important to you? Is it providing value or how much commission you can make? It can definitely be both, but you solely shouldn't choose an affiliate program based upon the amount of money you can make.

You don't want to sell just anything and you definitely don't want to sell junk. If you sell people something that is valuable, they will be more likely to buy from you again - if you sell them junk, they'll be less likely. You don't want to have the reputation of only selling junky affiliate products just to make a buck.

Personal development affiliate programs tend to provide more value, since they're focused on helping people better themselves.

Here are three tips to choosing an affiliate program.

1. Ask yourself if the affiliate product solves a problem for any target market. Is the market easily found online i.e. can they be marketed to online? There has to be a big enough presence online in order to justify the time and money spent setting up marketing campaigns in this niche.

2. The affiliate program should offer you tools. Are you getting letters, emails, or other content that will help you promote the affiliate products? Is it enough? It also helps to have some marketing training, although most affiliate programs assumes you as a marketer know how to drive traffic to a website and or you have a list to email promotions to.

3. Another important criteria you should keep in mind, is the product. Whether you choose an personal development affiliate program or not, you want products that provide value. What kind of products are you marketing?

In a nutshell, you want to pay close attention to what you sell. As a marketer, your credibility or reputation is pretty much all you have. It's not worth giving up so you can make a few dollars hawking some products that'll pay you pretty much some pocket change for all your hard work.

You also want to make sure you're getting the support you need from the affiliate program. You don't want to bother with affiliate programs where the tools or training aren't available and the customer service is out to lunch every time you have an issue.

Think of it this way: if you're having problems, so will your potential customers. More often than not that will lead to a higher than normal refunds if they can't get support when they need it most-after they bought the product. That will in turn, affect your bottom line.