The only plus side of being an affiliate for another company is that you don’t really have to do anything to get started. You just need to bring traffic to your affiliate site. They usually handle processing credit cards, customer service, technical support, inventory, etc. So they’ve removed most of the hassle for you.

If you do decide to get involved in affiliate programs, be sure to ask these questions below before you join.

1. Are there any fees to join or set-up fees?
2. How often do you pay your affiliates?
3. How do you pay your affiliates? Example, do you send a check? Deposit money into my pay pal account? Or do you only give credits toward your own product?
4. Do I get paid for every single sale I send to you?
5. Can I cancel my affiliate account with you at any time I choose?
6. How long has this affiliate program been in business?
7. How do you track sales? Does your system use CGI, cookies? Hidden form fields? And is your tracking set up so that if a potential customer visits my affiliate site then leaves and comes back a few days later to order, I still get credit?
8. Does your system offer me “Real Time Tracking” so I can see the second a customer has ordered and view my payment in the commissions area?
9. Are there things that can get me kicked out of your program?

Before signing up with an affiliate program I would also suggest you test out their customer service and technical support by calling them or emailing them yourself with some questions. See how quickly and how well they answer your questions.

Also I think it’s important to make sure they have a high quality affiliate tracking system that is cheat-proof.

It’s also important that the affiliate site has a good conversion rate, meaning their website is good at turning visitors into customers. If you are promoting an affiliate program with a poor conversion rate, you’re going to end up wasting a lot of your time and advertising dollars. Again, the Double Payment system shows you how to avoid that problem.

Lastly, just use common sense and make sure they have a high quality looking website that is easy for users to navigate, find good information, and order.

Don’t Over-Do It!
Be careful not to clutter up your main website with a whole bunch of different affiliate programs and products you’re reselling. Your site will look extremely amateur if you offer 10 different affiliate programs that are not related.