Affiliate marketing can be a big source of income for writers, especially bloggers. But what do those who are successful in the industry know that others do not? Here are a few of the secrets of successful affiliate marketers:

Know Your Audience – Your affiliate links need to be helpful to your readers. Consider why they come to site in the first place and choose your affiliate programs based around that interest. If you blog about baseball don’t include big ads for printer ink just because they have a high potential payoff. Your readers are there to read up on stats, scores and team gossip; printers are not likely to be on their mind at the moment. Purchasing a new replica jersey? Your content may just pique their interest enough that they go right off and do that.

Show that You are Trustworthy – Readers are savvy, they know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust in your opinion by promoting a worthless or “dodgy” product that you do not believe in but, has a high payoff they will feel either ignore or possibly stop visiting the site. New rules governing bloggers are making honesty in blogging even more important. As of December 1^st bloggers are required by the FTC to declare in writing to their readers if they are being compensated in any way to mention a certain product or service, which is making a difference to the way bloggers are approaching their daily posts.

Be Helpful

Throwing together a quick list of your favorite books chocked full of affiliate links is unlikely to be successful. Writing a careful and original review of one, with the affiliate link added in a more subtle manner is far more likely to get the results you are hoping for. Think of affiliate ads and links as complements to your content, not simply standalone advertisements.

Remain Relevant

Keep up to date on all the latest offerings from your affiliate programs and change out your ads on a regular basis. Seeing something visually new and stimulating may motivate a regular reader to finally click on that link for a product or service he has seen on your site many times before.