When I began selling products online, I never once intended to become an affiliate marketer. In fact, I didn’t even know what affiliate marketing was! As an author of books - first my own self-published, then published books - affiliate marketing was unknown to me because, in the world of authors, there are usually no affiliate links. In our world, if I mail to promote a book, the other author returns the favor. Nice and simple. No affiliate checks or programs to mess with!

Internet marketing is different, however, and affiliate marketing and JVs are a prime source of traffic for most marketers.

When some big-name marketers first approached me to promote their products, I had no idea an affiliate check would soon be in my mailbox. I just assumed that internet marketers did things the way authors did - I’d mail for them, and they’d mail for me. Imagine my surprise when a big fat check arrived a few weeks later!

I’m now considered a top affiliate marketer. I routinely make five figures whenever I promote a big launch, and internet marketers are always asking me how I do it.

And therein lies the irony - I’m a top affiliate marketer because I never wanted to be one!

If you backwards analyze my business model, the reason why I do so well promoting affiliate products is simple. It’s because affiliate marketing is an afterthought for me. I have a large and very loyal list, and as a result, they listen when I promote. My unsubscribe rates are ridiculously low, even when I promote hard. By contrast, most new internet marketers who decide to earn their income as affiliates do poorly. The reason, quite simply, is because top affiliates are usually not just affiliates. They are people who have a product and a platform - THAT is why people listen when they promote.

Let’s look at the reasons why I do so well as an affiliate, and how I built my business up to this level:

1. My business promotes my own products first.

I started my business to promote my own products. Not someone else’s. As a result of this, I have a solid platform and people can identify me with specific markets and niches. I have established expert credibility in my chosen niches, and this goes a long way to achieving long-term credibility with my list.

2. My list provides high-quality content, not advertising.

When someone signs up for my list, with a ten chapter free download as an incentive, they are signing up to receive content. Do I sell my products via my list? Yes, of course I do - that’s why it exists in the first place - but I do it very subtly. I pack each newsletter with powerful information and tips, and gently remind readers at the very end of the newsletter that they can get a lot more where that came from by purchasing my product.

What I DO NOT do is send out pushy, spammy, high-pressure content trying to push people into buying. Doing that would have destroyed my success a long time ago!

3. I don’t promote affiliate products often.

Nobody joined my list to hear third-party product promotions. They joined to get a free download from me, followed by free content weekly. As a result, I don’t promote affiliate products to my list often. This keeps the integrity and quality of my list intact, and keeps unsubscribes low. Furthermore, when I do promote an affiliate product to my list, it’s a BIG hit, because the leads are receptive. They don’t expect a sales pitch when they open one of my emails.

4. I only promote high-quality products and marketers.

I don’t promote anything unless I know firsthand that it’s a high-quality product or service. In addition, I don’t promote for marketers unless I know for a fact that they are the real deal, and they are who they say they are. We all know there are marketers all over the internet making bogus income claims and exaggerating their success; therefore, I don’t promote for anyone unless I know for an absolute fact that they have done everything they claim to have done.

And, while I’m thinking of it, a word on list-building: I obviously have a large list. That’s how I promote. But, unlike many new marketers, I didn’t build that list through JVs. Yes, JVs are the fastest way to build a list. And if you’re brand-new to internet marketing and have no list, that’s a good way to begin building one. The problem, however, is that your list isn’t exclusive. You’re picking up names that are on several other marketers’ lists.

The reason I’m able to do so well in big promotions and blow out a lot of the big gurus is simply because my list is exclusive. By building it in several niches via AdWords, YouTube marketing, and more, I have names that the others don’t. That’s how I, with a list of around 100,000, can outperform marketers with much larger lists. It’s because they may have more subscribers, but I have more exclusives who won’t see the offer from anyone else.

In summary, keep these points in mind. If you work on building your own business with your own products first, you’ll automatically become a powerful affiliate marketer in a very short time!

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is founder of FJR Advisors, LLC and nevercoldcall.com and is a top internet marketer. Visit MarketingOpus.com for Frank’s free Internet Marketing Tips newsletter.

For many beginning affiliate marketers, finding a hot product to sell is the biggest obstacle they will face. Many have no idea of how to go about finding a product that is in high demand. The tips here in this article will help you find those hot products.

To be successful in affiliate marketing, you have to find a product that many people want to buy. Not only that, you should find product or services that consumers are likely to purchase over the Internet. Sure, a few people will buy a vehicle or home online, but not many. There are some products that people want to see, touch and evaluate in person before buying. You can’t do that online!

For starters, make a list of the things you like and are passionate about. It has always been said that you can sell something you believe in. That’s true. It’s also true that it’s very hard to sell something you know nothing about or have no experience in. This is why it’s critical in finding something that you enjoy or are passionate about.

First, visit Yahoo or Google. Both have excellent resources to find those hot products that you’ll need to be successful. You can search the trends to see how popular a product or service is. You can look back weeks, months and somtimes even years to see how much search volume your chosen product or service has been getting. Google has a section called Hot Trends. Get to know this section well.

I really love using Google Trends. I’ve probably found more hot niches using Google Trends than any other tool that I’ve used over the years. Look for the line on the graph to be steady over time or slightly rise. You may notice that some products are seasonal, having up and down lines that occur about the same time each year. There’s nothing wrong with this, but you need to be aware that you’re looking at a season product.

The section you want to look for in Yahoo is Yahoo Buzz. This section tracks the most searched for terms of the previoius week or month. It will also tell you whether or not your term is on the rise or tapering off. Personally, I prefer Google Trends for seeing if the product is on fire or cooling off. To find it, go to buzzlog.buzz.yahoo dot com. Play around with it a while to really find the best niche products that are hot.

Don’t overlook eBay in your search for hot niche products. Ebay has a section called the Pulse. This shows you the most searched for products on ebay. You can even drill down through categories to find the hot product per category. For example, you could use ebay Pulse to determine which mp3 player is the hottest seller on ebay. Or which color of iPod is a big seller. It’s these little tricks that will help you find hot selling niches.

You’ll soon be finding hot niches routinely. You’ll be surprised at how many hot niches you can find online by just making a list of the businesses in your part of town. Sometimes what’s popular in your town, be it a business or product, is also popular to the world. Never hesitate to put each of your ideas through your research to find out if a market exist!

If you are searching for a legitimate way to make money fast online, visit the hyperlink above for great ideas. While at Affiliate Watcher, you’ll find reviews of many affiliate programs that will show you how to make money online.