by: Adam Waxler


There are many people who log onto the internet everyday looking for
a way to make money online.

They start with all the best intentions, but unfortunately, before
they know it they are getting bombarded with information and are
simply spinning their wheels.

I completely understand this. There is so much internet marketing
information online and once you get started it seems like
“information overload”.

Therefore, I will try to keep this as simple and short as possible.

Many people will sign up with an affiliate program promoting the
affiliate’s product or program. This makes sense. Starting as an
affiliate marketer is probably the easiest way to get started
online. There are many affiliate programs out there that will give
you everything you need to promote their products or program…Well
almost everything.

You see, many of these affiliate sites will give you a website, but
you don’t own the site. It is a gateway site. You don’t even own the
domain name for that matter.

Being part of one of these programs is not bad though. I belong to
several. SFI is a perfect example. I joined their program and have
several sites that they gave me to promote their products and their
affiliate program.

But if you are truly going to make money with these types of sites
you are going to have to do a lot more than simply sign up for their
program.

It is simply unreasonable to think that people are going to just
stumble upon your site and sign up for your program and start making
you money.

There are a few things you need to do if you truly want to make an
affiliate program work.

First of all, you must have your “own” web page with your “own”
domain name and your “own” host. You will then have links from your
“own” site to the other “gateway” site(s). You will promote your
gateway site it, but you will promote it through your own site.

There are so many reasons for this I couldn’t possible fit it into
this one article, but basically the site is yours to run the way you
want to. Think of it this way…it is “your” store and you are selling
“their” product.

Your web page could be designed as a short sales letter that focuses
primarily on this one program if that is what you choose. Or, you
could focus on several affiliate programs and products within the
same market. For example, a sales letter with the top 3-5 money
making opportunities.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: Either way, promoting one program/product or
promoting several, you will not only want to own your own site, you
definitely want to be able to “drop in” on potential customers from
time to time. What I mean by that is you want to capture email
addresses of people who visit your site.

To do so you need to give something away that is of enough value
that people are willing to give up their email address and receive
something from you week after week or at least month after month.

A newsletter/ezine is perfect for this. Send out a weekly or monthly
newsletter on your topic that includes articles, tips, e-courses,
bonuses etc. This way you can plug your programs over and over again
(not just once).

I know this sounds like a lot…design your own web site and your own
newsletter.

However, there are programs available that actually set everything
up for you, including a website, an autoresponder, a pre-written
newsletter, and even unlimited support.

Plug-in-Profit (PIPS)
(http://www.money-teacher.com/pluginprofitsite.htm) is a perfect
example. You can have a web site that site is 100% yours to change
however you wish. The site comes ready to promote 5 different
programs. You could work with as many of them as you want and you
can also add your own.

You also get a pre-written newsletter and autoresponder that is also
100% customizable. The newsletter is obviously designed to promote
the programs that come with the web site, but you can change it
however you wish.

PIPS may or may not be what you are looking for; however, if you
truly want to be successful online you will definitely need your own
web site and your own newsletter.

Copyright 2004 Adam Waxler

Adam Waxler owns and operates The Money Teacher web site and
publishes The Money Teacher’s Home Business Tips Newsletter teaching
others how to reach online success. To get your free newsletter
subscription send a blank email to: newsletter@money-teacher.com or
visit our web site at http://www.money-teacher.com.