Being an affiliate marketer is often a challenging business.  We need to know a lot more than we thought when we first entered the field.  The learning curve is too steep for some, and many simply drop out.

If you’re reading this, I hope that you are one of those who will stay committed over the long haul, constantly increasing your knowledge base and actually applying what you have learned by acting upon that knowledge.  The most common problem among failed affiliate marketers is buying magic, secret plans and not implementing them to see if they actually work as promised.  Some are no more than buyers; they don’t even read the books they buy.

I want to recommend two wonderful resources for affiliate marketers.  One of those is a new approach to article marketing that automatically forwards your articles to many blogs as well as traditional websites, not just those you run yourself.  This system is a very valuable membership website called MyArticleNetwork.  I have described the way it works elsewhere (see that link).  Here, I am going to describe one way that it can be used creatively by an affiliate marketer.

If you write an article for distribution via one or more article directories, your link is limited to the author’s resource box, usually placed at the bottom of the content.  With this new system, you can put up to three links directly into the article itself.  Contextual links are much more effective.  Furthermore, the top article directories (those with the most traffic, which are most likely to show up in the search engine directories) will not allow you to place a direct affiliate link into even the resource box.  With this system, affiliate links are permitted.  You can get a feel for the whole process by visiting the site for this unique article marketing approach that will pre-spin your article so that unique versions are distributed to websites and blogs within your niche from their membership of over 10,000 websites.

My other top recommendation is a total learning system for affiliate marketing.  It is a brand new version of Anik Singal’s well received Affiliate Classroom.  Singal earned recognition as one of the young entrepreneurs of 2008 by Business Week, a top publication.  Singal has spent the last two years totally remaking this ground breaking program.  If you are truly serious about improving your affiliate marketing business, at least sign up to receive the full information.

If you see simply a squeeze page, that means that the course has not yet opened.  Fill it out to receive updated information, as it is being launched very soon.  If it has already sold out when you arrive, check for a waiting list, and sign up if one becomes available.  Good luck!

By the way, both have affiliate programs, however you must sign up before you get access to the affiliate programs.