[MichaelColey]

What one tip would you give to a new affiliate?

Let's see how many unique, useful tips we can put together. If you see one you agree with, hit "Thanks" rather than duplicating it. If there's a thread about your tip, include a link.

[MichaelColey]

The one big tip I'll offer is to provide value. When your site visitors find your site useful, they'll return to your site, tell others, post about it, link to it, etc. Each of those things is hugely beneficial to your site, and they come naturally when you provide value.

[msladybug]

Michael, I think my tip is a bit different than yours.

You should never look at your websites as complete or finished. Always look to add new features and content, never let your websites become stale. The minute you think a website is finished, it starts dying.

[affninja]

MC said it best -- adding value is the name of the game. When I first started, my primary goal was to make money, which was the wrong focus. Create something valuable, and the money will follow. The only thing I would add is to create unique value. If you're just copying someone else's model, what reason do customers have to visit your site instead?

[superCool]

one bit of advice that has helped superCool with webmastery as well as many other areas of life...

Never Throw a Brick Straight Up

think about it....live it

[kaizen]

Tricks can never replace honest intelligent effort.

[AffiliateHound]

What I would add is this: The last few years in my prior life, I dreaded getting up in the morning and facing the day's work. You need to enjoy what you do - you need to have a passion for it. When deciding what to promote, pick what you already are seriously involved in, are interested in, what you could happily spend all day researching, thinking, eating, breathing, writing about.

When you wake up in the morning, you should not be thinking "what the hell can I say about mauve widgets today?" but rather "ooo.. ooo.. mauve widgets are x, y, z, gotta write that down before I forget it!"

It's not just what you know, but what you enjoy.

Sort of the mirror image of avoiding the descending brick (and offered by someone who's heaved his share of misguided bricks.)

[davidh]

Only accept advice on how to do something for a living from somebody who actually does it for a living.

[Mr. Sal]

Before buying any ebook about affiliate marketing from those so called gurus out there, check ABW first.

With over 100k threads, over 1 million posts and almost 100k registered members, there is more free information about affiliate marketing here on ABW, than on any of those ebooks that usually have a price that ends on 7...

So, dig in here and read, read, read...

If you're new to affiliate marketing and don't want to speculate with PPC at this time, all you'll need is a lot of time and patience, before you see the real money roll in...

Getting your first affiliate marketing check is like getting your first driving license, but not until you start driving your first car everyday, that you would know the difference of been able to do something, and actually doing it!

[ewh]

Never stop learning - never stop trying!

[2busy]

Know your partners. Before you sign up for a network or a merchant's program do your research. First here on ABW because if someone has had a problem with them they probably come here looking for some help with that program before - do a search. Then check out the merchant's website, go there to shop, right through to the cart and checkout to see where you will be sending your traffic. Better to do this before you sign up than later, after you do all the work.

[rematt]

Be realistic. It's difficult to set a realistic expectation when e-books tell you how to "Make Millions On-line", merchants tell you that all you need to do is place a banner on your site and watch the moola roll in and self proclaimed gurus tell you how to make money while on the beach. If it were that easy everyone would be doing it and we'd all be rich.

A couple of days ago a new user posted something along the lines of; "I've created my site, I've placed my banners so where are the sales?" Perhaps it's time to revisit the Underpants Gnomes:

It's just like any other endeavor, you won't be successful unless you're willing and able to do the things that will make you successful. And part of that is having a realistic game plan.

-rematt

[Gary-AvantLink]

In line with what AffiliateHound said. My one tip is to FOCUS on one site, and avoid trying to build ten different thin Affiliate sites on ten different topics.

[Kim Salvino]

Build relationships. Did you join a new affiliate program? Reach out to the AM, even if it's just to say hi. Approved to the network, but looking for time saving tips or advice on tools? Send an email, or call. When I look back on when I first started, it is really amazing to see the end results of a 2 sentence intro email, or a 5 minute phone call. Some are my higher performers, others I am blessed to call my dearest friends.

As an affiliate, it's important to know that affiliate marketing doesn't exist without you. The AMs and networks that realize that are the winners, those that don't - not so much. You have the power to choose who you promote,so don't settle for those that don't appreciate your value or bottom line contribution.

2busy makes an awesome point in performing due diligence and knowing your partners as well.

[Mr. Sal]

Originally Posted by rematt

Be realistic. It's difficult to set a realistic expectation when e-books tell you how to "Make Millions On-line", merchants tell you that all you need to do is place a banner on your site and watch the moola roll in and self proclaimed gurus tell you how to make money while on the beach. If it were that easy everyone would be doing it and we'd all be rich.

How about this:

Phoenix-based TV pitchman Don Lapre accused of scam

[Zeus]

Be innovative: Don't stay mainstream. Offer a new service, a new design, a new offer... (In the limits of what's acceptable). If you think you're cool building a coupon site, you're a little bit late. You're late for article marketing, too. Thousand of affiliates are ahead of you in the search engines and only a few are making money. If you read of something new on a blog, an ebook... It may be also too late. Check what doesn't work on ABW, don't repeat the same mistakes. Successful affiliates will not tell you their best secrets but they will share what to avoid.

[JCrooks - buy.at]

If you rely on SEO to attract traffic, and you've optimized your site for Google (the smartest move, since they are the biggest), don't make the mistake of subsequently optimizing for Yahoo or Bing. You will be penalized for that, since each has different priorities which are quickly identified by the others. I've seen it happen, and it's not pretty!

Also, since Panda, be careful where backlinks to your site originate. Link farms, unrelated or duplicate content can actually hurt you more than help you.

[Mr. Sal]

Originally Posted by JCrooks - buy.at

If you rely on SEO to attract traffic, and you've optimized your site for Google (the smartest move, since they are the biggest), don't make the mistake of subsequently optimizing for Yahoo or Bing. You will be penalized for that, since each has different priorities which are quickly identified by the others. I've seen it happen, and it's not pretty!

What about if you try to optimized your sites for your visitors (that may buy something from your links), instead of for any SE... (remember Altavista days?)

[JCrooks - buy.at]

Of course that's always the first priority to make it best for the site visitors! I've just seen some affiliates who think they are so smart by optimizing every tiny point ad nauseum to try to eek out every last Google opportunity. I wished they'd focus on more fresh content, but they chose a different direction, and paid the price for it.

[akagorilla]

Build your audience/community first.

[Convergence]

Know your market you are targeting...

[ak1lz]

"My" rule of thumb to marketing. Simply promote products you are familiar with!

Say you use to ride bikes when you were younger and you know what to look for when buying a bike and what bikes are crap. Write an article about the following things, Quality Vs Price, Suspension VS Non Suspension, Big Tires vs Little Tires, be creative and come up with little things you can compare and contrast about two similar products.

Next you want to publish that article to your website, and share via social media , post to book marking sites ect.. your published article will get indexed faster by doing this. The best advertising will come from organic traffic.

This is a very simple and easy way to generate very unique content and getting it in front of the right audience.

Get creative! you can do this for a wide variety of products.

[isellstuff]

Others have touched on this, but I will try to put a different spin on it...

If I were doing things again, I would try to launch a website, app or service that could exist without Google. I would focus on viral growth and build it into my effort's DNA so to speak.

Not clear on what I'm talking about? Read this article about OpenSky and realize that they are brilliant because they have worked traffic generation into their business model from the start and they can exist without Google.

OpenSky Reboots As A Social Network For Shopping

[JoyUnltd]

No matter what advice you read/receive, no matter how high the authority is giving said advice: test it out yourself.

What works for one person/site/affiliate model may not work for another and vice versa.

[briteguy]

Thanks, this is the one of the best I've read.

So, coming from programming background, I got a question on shopping engines. If I do a shopping engine, would it still be successful? Say, if it is in a niche area, and use ppc to drive traffic?