This is something many affiliates do not know and really ought to know. Keep this to yourself. Do you notice when you visit most sales page, they have an 'affiliates sign up' or 'make money here' link which brings you to their affiliate sign up page?

Imagine this scenario, Mr X visits the site through your affiliate link, he reads the sales copy and is rather swayed but the price $97 is a little steep. He sees the 'affiliates sign up' link and clicks. He then realizes he could get at 50% discount with the commission if he signs up with clickbank and buys through his own link.

The vendors do not want this to happen right? Wrong answer! The fact is they had intended to sell at $48.5(50%) of the price and so set it higher at $97. In addition to that, the affiliate link was prominently displayed so visitors could easily see it and sign up and get the discount. This make the buyer thinks he has got into a 'winning' situation but in fact the vendor got the sale he wanted and an affiliate at the same time.

Now you know why these 'affiliates sign up' or 'earn money now' links does not seem so subtle anymore.

Some tips you can and should use.

Number 1Choosing the right product to promote

There are several factors to consider there. I shall list a few. For me, I never choose a product with commission below 50% and a sale which results in less then $19. I only promote products which I have mailed the vendor and he has replied. I visit the sales page and rate it upon 10 on persuasiveness and would not promote products with a rating below 6.5

Number 2Make use of articles to promote

Articles just like this one brings me lots of fresh traffic everyday. Not only that, it also brings in targeted traffic as people reading and finding the content in the article are more then likely to visit the link at the resource box. Just remember to 'mask' or 'cloak' your affiliate link into a web address become most article directories do not accept direct affiliate links. Just do a Google on these cloaking services, there are many free ones out there

Number 3Drop the vendor a mail

Doing this serves two purposes. Firstly, you can determine the responsiveness of the vendor and much he cares about you- the affiliate, enough for him to reply. Secondly, you can ask him for tips and extra resources (other than those on his affiliate page) to help in your promotion. More often than not, the vendors are very likely to help.