Participating in Affiliate Programs can bring in extra revenue. The key to increasing your income is to get your readers interested in your topics. Unlike traditional methods of earning  revenue  where you get paid per clicks or impressions, affiliates are paid only when  a reader performs an action. For example a reader might purchase a product that you promote through your affiliate links or signing up for a newsletter. Just by merely promoting the offer, you will not get paid.

The art lies in driving curiosity and stimulating the reader to click on that affiliate link. Then only this action will turn out to be fruitful and who knows there may be a nice commission waiting for you on the other side.

Here are some things that you may want to do to create that stimulation.

Write what your audience wants?

The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to anticipate and meet the needs of your readers. This can be a very thought-provoking action to take from your part. Many a times I got stuck writing articles because I was trying to imagine what my readers were looking for when they came to my site.

The easiest way to start is to write articles on the products that you promote. It is important to keep in mind that while you are promoting your product you are considering on giving a solution to your audience and not just for the sake of earning an income stream from them. The product that you are promoting needs to add value to your readers.

Keep your products and advertisement on your website consistent with what your articles are about.

Say for example, if you are writing about affiliate marketing then distracting ads like “gardening products” will annoy your readers and they may never come back to your website.

But on the other hand, good content will make your readers want to subscribe to your newsletter and would tempt them to revisit your website.

Building Trust And Confidence

Many newbies have had a bad experience in promoting their affiliate programs. They kept on promoting product after product on their sites/blogs. Some blogs look like a market place with banners and ads all over the place. I am one of those examples when I first started blogging.

My impression was that by placing all these advertisements I am going to get rich. But hey! it really did not happen that way. When I looked at my stats, I hardly used to have a click on my ads although I had traffic coming to my blog on a regular basis.

The idea here is to create a long term relationship with your reader. Don’t expect that your reader will get excited with your product on the first visit. They would like to know you better and learn more about your product before they may decide to buy your product.

Readers are savvy. They know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust by promoting a product you don’t believe in or take advantage of their visit with too many ads, they will leave and never come back.

It is your repeat visitors that will drive traffic. They are the ones who will give you linkbacks, spread the word, and recommend your site as the go-to place for valuable content. You need to build a relationship based on genuine content.

If your visitors don’t think you’re being honest, they won’t read anything else you have to say