Affiliate marketing is a popular way for internet marketers to sell products online without the hassle of stocking inventory, handling customer service and shipping items. Many online retailers such as Amazon.com use affiliates to drive business to their websites in return for paying them a commission. Affiliate marketing may seem simple in theory but it can be tricky. Here are a few tips to become successful.

Finding products to sell is easy. Besides Amazon, websites such as Commission Junction list thousands of online retailers who are looking for affiliates to help sell their products. Generally an affiliate will sign up with a company and add a banner or text link to their website advertising the retailer’s products. This may seem simple enough but there is more to it than that. The most important step is focusing on a niche.

To be even more successful try narrowing down your niche even more by creating a website or blog around a specific product instead of a category. For example, if you find a store online that specialises in swimming suits for plus size women you can build a blog around that very topic. Since this niche is much smaller you will get less traffic. However, the traffic that you do get will be very targeted meaning you are more likely to make sales.

You might say that there is an art to becoming a successful affiliate marketer. In addition to finding your niche and building a website or blog around it you will need to learn how to get traffic to your site. Luckily there are many resources online that teach you just that, and once you get the hang of affiliate marketing you can duplicate your methods to build a terrific income online.