Really, Really Broke Entrepreneurs: Thinking of how to get started?

Are you still tossing around ideas of what type of online business to start?
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to get your feet wet with an internet business. It is very cost effective to begin and has great potential for earnings. These types of marketing programs are a great way to start off your business by earning some capital to begin your enterprise, and it is the cheapest, easiest way to start your online business. All you need to do is to pre sell your visitors and get them to click through to your sponsor's site, where their sales page completes the purchase and you collect commission. Once you have started to earn, you can develop your business knowing you have a consistent source of income.

Here are some steps to help you to begin:

Choosing an affiliate program: You will need to join a variety of affiliate programs to best judge which ones perform (payout) the best. You can join an affiliate network like Commission Junction or individual companies with whom you've done business online and appreciated their offerings. Visit their websites and look for links to their individual affiliate programs.

Decide which affiliate programs will have products and services that match your current market. This is very important because you don't want to offend your audience by displaying ads that are totally irrelevant or offensive to their needs. Choosing the proper market will result in sales for both your affiliate program and also your linking business because you build a community of trust between yourself and your clients

You will promote your affiliate products via a coded link. It is smart to keep this linking as seamless as possible so as not to lose your client or distract them from the focus of your sale. Too many clicks and popups will prove to be irritating, and your site visitor will be tempted to just close the window and go elsewhere.

There are several ways to market your sponsor's product or service - review them all and choose the best ones that provide a hassle free experience for your website visitors and potential clients:

Direct marketing, including advertising on related websites and targeted publications and Pay-Per-Click campaigns like Google Adwords.
Passive marketing such as search engine submission
Social marketing sites like MySpace, YouTube, Forums and business networks etc. Advertising in forums is considered distasteful and could be construed as spam, so you should join the community, participate in the discussions and use your signature area to display your website address
Newsletter marketing: Offering a free newsletter through your website allows you to build a client list and keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Be sure you have exciting and interesting content for your newsletter so that you're not perceived as spamming their mailbox with ad content only.

If you don't already have a website and just want to test the waters, try setting up a blog focusing on a particular niche market. Then choose your affiliates based on the subject of the blog. Similar to the newsletter, you'll want to keep the information fresh and consistently updated, to keep the traffic returning and viewing and clicking on your ads.

A great affiliate program that lets you start earning money almost immediately, is MoreNiche. It's a fantastic way to earn while you learn all about the affiliate business with their detailed guides on getting started and building your traffic. Most affiliates just give you some code and rely on you to build your own clientele, but you'll appreciate the support you get from MoreNiche.