If you are going to be involved in affiliate marketing, it just makes sense that you want to make money – and not just a little money but as much money as possible. You want to create a residual income stream. These great tips will help you make that happen. These aren’t the basic tips you hear all the time, like make sure you research your market, choose a sound affiliate program, etc. These are advanced tips that you need to do in addition to the basics. Are you ready?

#1 You need to be patient
The number one reason bloggers and website owners give up on affiliate marketing is because they don’t make any money in the early months. Getting the most from an affiliate program isn’t easy, but one thing you do have to have is patience, because seldom do you make money in the early days. Affiliate marketing is not a get rich scheme. It takes work and patience to get established. Keep that in mind. 

#2 You need to spend money to make money
Plain and simple – you need to spend money to make money. If you really want to generate a steady residual income flow you’ll need to spend some money. Buy the products you are planning to sell. Learn about them. Find what you like and what you don’t like. Make recommendations to your potential customers based on your experiences. If you don’t know the product(s) it’s going to be hard to make money from it. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, but you do need to spend enough to know your products.

#3 Monetize your blog early
If you are blogging and you are going to add an affiliate product you don’t have to wait a certain period of time before you monetize your blog. This is one of the most common mistakes made. You can start to sell products/services right from the beginning if you like. It’s more important that you know your product and are passionate about it than waiting a specific time to start to sell it.

#4 Know who your readers are
You need to know who your readers are so that you can market to them. You need to know what they like, where they live, what kind of money they make, what products they tend to buy, etc. When you know your reader you choose the right product to sell and you market it to them correctly.

#5 Always be honest
Honesty really is the best policy in everything you do. State both what you like and what you don’t like about the product. Outline the pros and cons. No product is perfect so don’t pretend it is. There is almost always something you’d like to see different so tell your audience. 

These five advanced marketing tips along with basic advise will help you to create an affiliate marketing program that sells.