If you blog or have thought about making money from your website then you have probably considered becoming an affiliate.  But what exactly is an affiliate?

An affiliate is a person who markets a merchant’s service or product and is paid a commission on a sale. Common affiliate marketplaces are ClickBank, CJ, and LinkShare.  Making money as affiliate is fairly easy although it may only pay pennies at a time.

Affiliate programs are revenue sharing arrangements set up by companies selling products and services. As a web site owner, you are rewarded for sending customers to the company.

After carefully reading the terms and conditions, which vary from program to program, you place a link from your site or newsletter to the vendor. When someone clicks on the link and buys a product or service from the business, you earn a commission.

The drawback to affiliate programs though is if you do not have traffic on your site then there is limited opportunities to succeed.