Affiliate marketing provides first time online marketers like you the chance to market something online even without having your own product to sell. All you have to do is to sign up with an affiliate marketing program and start picking the products and opportunities you want to promote. As an affiliate, you are paid by the merchant for your services on a commission basis, that is whenever you have directed a visitor to the merchant's site and the visitor actually buys something. Being successful in an Affiliate Marketing program is usually dependent upon having a well designed website on which you are able to promote and market your affiliated products and opportunities.There are still many possibilities for the affiliate marketer who does not have their own website, and these can be implemented rather successfully with a reasonable amount of effort.

Some of the possible marketing methods you could use, without setting up your own website, include: Email marketing; Producing e-books or Ezines; using Online discussion groups; and Offline promotions.Let's look at these in more specific detail. Email marketing is the most widespread affiliate marketing plan, other than using a website. In this affiliate marketing strategy you are basically maintaining a list of email ads for your prospective customers and providing them with articles that are relevant with the products and programs you are promoting. These e-mails need not always be specifically promotional - in fact it might be more successful if they are not. It is important, however, that you provide good, clear links and references to your affiliate's website.

Producing your own e-books or Ezines can also help you generate interest in your affiliated trader's goods. If you are a talented writer yourself, then producing a complimentary e-book, which you then send to prospective clients, can be an interesting and profitable exercise. Again, it is best to make the e-book explanatory and educational rather than promotional, while clearly being relevant to the goods you are trying to promote.

You can then skillfully insert text advertisements or banners within the text that link directly to the seller's website. Ezine articles are an extension of the e-book idea but, in this case, the concept is to post your material on one of the many websites that act as hosts for ezines, so that people searching for information can find it on these sites. Again, within your article, you would include the necessary links to take the reader to the places where they can make their purchases. There is a wealth of Online discussion groups in operation today, as Forums or Message Boards or Chartrooms, and they can provide you with perfectly suitable venues for promoting your products. You can easily find people who may be interested with the products you are promoting by searching topics related to your offer or you can even start your own thread. One significant factor about all of the above ideas is that they involve you in very little financial outlay other than the cost of your time and your internet connection.

It is not totally necessary to rely on the world wide web to advertise your affiliate products, though; there are various strategies you can employ 'offline'. Advertising with flyers, brochures and classified ads, depending on your budget and the nature of the audience you are trying to attract, is still a very effective marketing strategy. If you do employ one of these methods, great care has to be taken about exactly who it is you are aiming your material at and ensuring that the material is hitting the correct target audience or you could be spending a lot of money for very little return. All of the above suggestions could undoubtedly help in your quest to promote your affiliate marketing program and demonstrate that success is possible without the time and likely expense involved in establishing a tailor-made website of your own. However,you will significantly increase your chances of success if you are able to be in a position to create your own site. Your own website can give you a location in which you are able to creatively promote your affiliated products and reach a potentially much wider market, while generating your own identity.

This should be something to aim for in your long-term planning, even if it's not a pre-requisite in starting your affiliate marketing career. Copyright (c) 2008 Tod A Dale.

Tod Dale is a top marketer who specializes in creating six figure incomes for home business entrepreneurs. To learn more about him, visit his Big Ticket To Wealth website.