All things being equal, starting an Internet business by selling affiliate products is more difficult than selling your own products. Don't get me wrong! You can enjoy GREAT success with affiliate marketing with the right
strategies.

Three issues to consider when promoting affiliate products:

1. The trust factor is important. A potential visitor HAS to feel a
certain level of trust and an expectation that clicking will not be
a waste of his or her time. The BEST way to validate the link is by
having it on your own site with your own valuable content.

For example: Say you place a link in a free classified site where
it is surrounded by hundreds of other links. You also place the
same link in an article you write which is focused on the niche
your link promotes. It is obvious which link will be more
effective. Whether you write the article for your own site or for
an article directory, having valuable content near the link works
MUCH better.

2. Online business beginners contact me at times because they
aren't making sales with a link they are promoting. I visit the
sales page and the vendor has removed the affiliate buy button and
replaced it with another! Affiliates often waste much time and
money promoting products (and even making sales) which they will
not get credit for! Checking the sales pages takes time, but it is
something you must do on a regular basis. I only promote affiliate
products from people I know of and trust. Therefore, I never
experience this common problem myself.

3. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the selling competition
for many top affiliate products and niches can completely overwhelm
the beginner's efforts. Unfortunately, most beginners tend to
gravitate toward promoting Internet related products. Could ANY
area be tougher? It is many times easier to promote products in
smaller, non-Internet related niches! If you are a beginner, stick
with products like "Growing Tomatoes", etc.