So you've signed up for affiliate programs, posted links around the net but you're still only making pocket change? Wonder what others are doing that you aren't? Below you will find 6 things that every affiliate marketer needs to increase their income.

#1 - Your own Website:

Build a website to promote the product. Make sure it has its own domain name (yourproduct.com), not a free site like (yourproduct.othersitename.com). If you don't know how to build a website there are lots of places that offer simple site builders or you could choose to have someone build a site for you. One affordable website builder I recommend is Internet Based Family.

#2 - Write reviews:

You need to know your product and preferably use it yourself so that you can write honest reviews about it. What better way to promote a product and get people to believe it's great than to say you use it too? Post these reviews on your website, in your newsletters, articles and any other site you visit that gives you an opportunity to do so. Here is an example of a review Ive written: http://www.nellnews.com/?p=12

#3 - Use a Blog:

I recommend that you get a Blog and link back and forth to your website. This will allow you to create discussions on the blog about the product you are selling and list any updates to your regular website. Active Blogs are indexed quicker by many search engines than are new sites, and after the blog is indexed, the pages you have linked to the blog will also get indexed.

Not only that, but you can build relationships with people this way. Your visitors get to know you and because of that they begin to trust you and your product recommendations! Plus, lets face it; blogs are usually so much fun. And if you use word press blogs you have a really great option to automate your posts. You could write up a few posts at once and tell word press to post them on certain days on its own! Here is an example of a word press blog: http://www.nelltaliercio.com/blog

You can find word press at: www.wordpress.org Or you could use the more popular www.blogger.com for someone new to blogging.

#4 - Write Articles:

One of the best ways to become an expert is to write articles on any certain topic, use them on your website, blogs, newsletters, and submit them online. When you submit your articles to article databases be sure to include a link to your website in the resource box.

There are a plethora of places to submit articles and the more you write, the more people will trust what you are saying. You get more exposure, more people coming to your website, more sales, more search engine trafficetc To really pump you your article marketing efforts I recommend going to http://www.articlemarketingrocks.com to read through the information about article marketing and take the free 5 day ecourse.

#5 - Put your links in your signature lines:

Never allow a sale to pass you by! If you are a member of even one forum, you need to have your affiliate link, or your website link, in your signature line. It's free advertisement and you never know who will see it and click through to check out your product. I do not recommend using this as your only method of traffic to websites or sales, but it is a nice addition. You might as well make the most out of your forum visits!

#6 - Use Links instead of banners or buttons:

Due to the overwhelming amount of pop-ups and flashy text that we get each time we visit a website, people have learned to block these out as well as banners and buttons. It's much more professional looking and effective to have a text link with a few lines about the product.

These 6 secrets to affiliate marketing success will be a nice start for your business efforts. Just remember affiliate marketing is like any other business and it will take time, work, dedication, and money to make it truly successful.