Making Money With Online Affiliate Programs

There are many ways for a hardworking individual to make money online. Countless people have turned to the World Wide Web in search of a good money earning opportunity that they can make from the comfort of their home. It may seem daunting at first, but you can make money online if you learn, copy, and most importantly, have the determination to get started.

One of the most ingenious ways to supplement or even replace your income is through online affiliate programs. Online affiliate programs originated in 1996 when Amazon.com started paying websites to refer customers to their site. Now, in the year 2006, online affiliate programs are a mainstay in the e-commerce world. Even Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, Walmart, and Apple have embraced their online affiliate program marketing unit.

Online affiliate programs offer home business professionals and online entrepreneurs a risk-free form of advertising to generate income from their websites. Affiliate marketing is becoming an increasingly popular home business opportunity for the following reasons:

Requires no production costs Ultra-low start-up costs No staff No inventory No order processing No shipping No customer service Very limited risk

So you don't have a website? In many cases, you don't even need to run a website or know HTML to make money with online affiliate programs. As contextual advertising matures with Yahoo! Publisher and Google Adwords Many savvy online PPC marketers have moved away from website publishing and focused entirely on Search Engine Marketing (SEM). This might be a good way for some to test the waters with online affiliate marketing programs, but if you're not familiar with setting up pay-per-click campaigns, be careful. CPC can add up quickly with little return on your investment if done incorrectly. For me, I still believe that content is king and always will be. Owning real estate on the web is a lot like owning real estate, it only matures and increases in value with age.