The world of affiliate marketing from the outside appears to be a one way ticket to financial freedom. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the most effective means of generating a full-time income through the internet.But there are pitfalls ready to trap the unwary and ensure that many will never earn anything from affiliate marketing.

Generating profits in affiliate marketing depends on the affiliate's advertising, promoting and selling strategies. Everyday, as affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens as well so an affiliate marketer must be creative enough to employ unique and effective ways to convince potential buyers to purchase the products and services offered.

Compared to traditional advertising practices, affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free and cost-efficient.But why do many people still fail in affiliate marketing? Here are six principle reasons that affiliate marketing aspirations are never fulfilled.

1 The most critical aspect in the affiliate program is advertising and one the main reason why many will ultimately fail. The reason many affiliate marketers fail in this aspect is because they lack hard work,dedication, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing. Sounds simplistic but it is true. Although it pays to be lucky, you cannot merely rely on it. Affiliate marketing isn't as simple as directing customers to the business site. If you want to earn big, of course, you have to invest time and great amount of hard work in promoting the products. As earlier mentioned, the competition is very high and customers nowadays are very wise, too. After all, who doesn't want to get the best purchase—that is, get more in terms of quality and quantity yet pay less.

2 Lack of preparation is also a reason for failure in affiliate marketing, whether as a merchandiser or an affiliate. Research is a very important part of the prepartion. On the part of the merchant, they have to be highly selective in choosing the right affiliate websites for their affiliate program. In order to be sure they has the best choices, they must have exhausted the search in looking for highly interested affiliates whose sites are a sure fit to their products and services. The visitors to the affiliate's website should match their targeted customers. On the other hand, the affiliate marketer must likewise research on the good-paying merchandisers before they sign up for an affiliate program. It is important to ensure that the merchants' products and services match their interests so they can give their full attention and dedication to the affiliate program.

Valuable information can be sourced by joining affiliate forums, comparing different affiliate programs and reading articles on affiliate marketing where tips from experienced affiliate marketers are available on how to choose the best merchants and products with high conversion rate.

3 The actual website is a very important tool in the whole affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, you should plan how your site is going to be, from domain name to the design, the lay-out, the content, and ads. Some users are particular about what they see at first glance and thus when they find your site ugly, they won't read through the content even if your site has many things to say and offer. On the other hand, there are those who want information more than anything else. Affiliate marketers with "rich-content" web sites are usually the ones who prosper in this business because the content improves traffic to the site. Websites with high quality content with relevant keywords and more importantly, right information about the product and not empty hyped-up advertisements will allow you to earn big in affiliate marketing even when you're asleep.

Always remember, if you won't be able to sustain the interest of your site visitor, you won't be able to lead them to the merchants' site. If someone does not click then there is no sale and you earn nothing.

4 Selecting a top level domain name is also crucial to the success of the affiliate program. Lots of affiliate sites don't appear in the search engine results because they are deemed by affiliate managers as personal sites. Major search engines and directories would think of your site as transient ones and thus, they won't list it in the directory. Before you decide on the domain name, know first what you are going to promote. Many fail because their sites are not appropriately named, so even when they feature the exact products the customer is looking for, the customer might think the site is not relevant and thus, won't enter the site.

5 As an affiliate marketer, never stop learning. Certainly, there are still a lot of things to learn and so an affiliate marketer must continue the path of education so they can improve their marketing strategies. Many fail because they don't grow in the business and they are merely concerned about earning big quickly. If you want long-term and highly satisfactory results, take time to learn the ins and outs of the business. It is important to continually improve your knowledge of the basics of affiliate marketing from programs to advertising, website development and search engine optimistaion. Likewise, study the needs and wants of your site users and how different merchandisers compete with each other.

6 Keep on trying and don't get disappointed if your first attempts did not pay off. Thousands are attracted by the possibility of generating skyrocketing incomes through affiliate marketing and so they sign up in any affiliate program without carefully understanding every aspect of the business. When they don't get instant results, they quit and sign up for another program and repeat the process of just copying links and referring them to others. When you sign up for an affiliate program, don't expect to get rich in an instant. Work on your advertising strategies and be patient. You'll never know how much you can get if you don't persevere.