Affiliate Marketing is becoming, if it isn’t already, wildly popular. People from all walks of life are realizing that there really is money to be made as an affiliate and they have set about finding ways to capitalize on the industry.

I’m sure you are similarly interested in finding out how you can get started making money online.

Becoming an Affiliate Marketer doesn’t require a degree from an accredited university, it doesn’t require you to find an investor or even find the perfect location. But what is it that you need to get started?

Let’s make a checklist.

Do you have…
1. a computer?
2. some spare time?
3. access to the internet?
4. the commitment necessary to stick with a project till it works?
5. a bank account, credit card and/or PayPal account?

If you have all of these things, then you have what you need to start. As time progresses and you’ve become more successful, you may need to add to that list, but all you need when you start is listed above.

You do not need a degree in computer programming or marketing. You don’t need street smarts or bullying techniques. You don’t really even have to know what you’re doing, but it does help.

To be an effective Affiliate Marketer, all you really need to do is dedicate yourself to the project. It might sound strange, but a recent study suggests that an estimated 85% of aspiring Affiliate Marketers never follow through enough to see a profit. If you stick with it, you will see a return.

Once you’ve dedicated yourself to being an affiliate marketer, the next thing you need to do is find yourself an affiliate product.

There are millions of products available to market so keep your eye out for the correct product.

After you find the perfect product for you to market, the only thing left to do is market it.

The most popular question I’m asked when it comes to Affiliate Marketing is how do I know that my sales will translate into money in my pocket? I like to call this the affiliate link question.

It is very important to familiarize yourself with an affiliate link and how it works. An affiliate link generally looks like this: http://www.domain.com/?affid=56465468665

Each affiliate links looks slightly different, but generally affiliate links look like that. The string of numbers at the end is your affiliate ID number. Based on the affiliate ID above, my affiliate ID number is 56465468665.

Every affiliate has a different affiliate link and each link tracks each affiliate’s sales. Each time a person who has clicked on your link makes a purchase, that purchase is tracked based on your affiliate link and you receive a commission.

Every affiliate program has its own set of affiliate tracking requirements so make sure that you know the rules and that you follow them. You don’t want your commissions to disappear simply because you broke a couple rules.