If you want to get into affiliate marketing you have a steep learning curve ahead.
My first advice is: read a LOT of salesletters from Ewen Chia, John Reese, Mike Filsaime, and others.
But do not... let me rephrase that... do NOT... let me put this even clearer, I really want to drive my point home with this... do NOT (under any circumstance whatsoever) buy ANY of their products!
Do not pay them a single dime!
I'm serious.
And that's not because I think these people are only after your money, they are cheaters and hucksters - no. And in fact, they are not, and many of their products DO work.
BUT:
you can so much of the basics for FREE.
Start out with simple stuff.
If you want to spend money, spend it on getting content written, websites developed (and I'm not talking spend thousands of dollars on that... you can get good articles for $5 and a website for $30 - if you know absolutely nothing about creating websites).
Try out different things to get traffic to your site. Blog commenting, social bookmarking, keyword research, SEO...
(if all these words don't make sense to you, never mind... they will soon if you start digging a bit).
Create a free email account with google or yahoo and sign up for as many internet marketing newsletters as possible. And read the emails. Read the free reports all these internet marketers give away. Watch their videos.
You will learn A LOT!
But make a commitment NOT TO BUY ANYTHING DURING YOUR FIRST 2 MONTHS ONLINE (other than a domain name and a hosting account, and maybe get some articles written and a blog set up).
But frankly... I'd even recommend that when you start out first time you don't even spend that. Just get a free blog at www.wordpress.com and a free email address at www.gmail.com.
And get some milage that way.
Believe me.
You wills save yourself thousands of dollars.
Read everything these internet marketers write, but DON'T buy.
(And believe me - that is not easy. Because they are VERY clever at making you WANT to buy).
But seriously, make a commitment not to buy anything in the first two months. Just read and observe.
Sometimes you will feel like the solution is right in front of you...
... in fact, if you don't make use of this opportunity it will be gone FOREVER and you'll have MISSED the chance of a lifetime.
At least if these internet marketers have good enough salesletter.
Believe me - that's not the case.
No matter how good an offer is that comes along - there will be at least a dozend offers that are just as perfect coming out this month.
The internet is FULL of opportunities.
Don't jump at them yet. Just observe and keep a cool mind. Read. Watch around. Try to get some experience with the free stuff.
And then, if you've devoted several hours each day for two months to internet marketing... THEN you can start to buy something. And you don't need anyone to tell you what to buy. By that time you'll have a much better sense what a good product is (one that can really make you money) and what an overhyped salesletter is (one that can really cost you money).
Believe me, this is the best advice you'll come along for quiet some time now. If you stick to it (and it's not gonna be easy) you're on your way to success online. (And frankly, I know nobody likes to hear that - but if you can taste a bitter spoonfull of truth: you need discipline and hard work to succeed online.)
But in the end: believe me, it IS possible to make a living online, it IS possible to get rich online, but it takes work and persistence.
Cheers,
Michael