Can anyone start from scratch?

I've been reading these boards for a little while and have found a ton of useful information. I'm new at posting and was hoping you all could help me with a few things.

I put up my first websites a little over a month ago and things seem to be going alright so far. One of them has gone to number 22 on google out of around 3 and a half million results. Traffic is starting to come.

I've thought about making a lot of websites and using cpm ads for income. I've read that they don't make a ton, but I figured quantity would cover that.

Regardless, I've been reading about affiliate programs here and I've been leaning towards this a little more. But I was wondering where to begin?

Do I find a product that I want to sell, make a site that reaches a good rank, and hope that I can find a company that has it to affiliate with?

What happens next? Do I just place that ad and hope that people will click on it and actually buy on that session or before the cookies expire or are deleted?

I'm sorry to bring such questions without searching more, but there is so much out there. It just all seems so possible, but there is so much that I don't know that I feel like I'm about to run into 400 walls along the way.

I'm sure there is much more than throw up a site, optimize it, slap on an ad, rake in the dough. I'm not looking to get rich quick, I know it takes time and research. I just figured I'd finally post.

Thanks in advance!

Well, there's many different ways to go about achieving this. Here's one. What do you know about? What are you an expert at? Take that subject matter, and do some research. Are there any affiliate programs out there for this? Do a search for "your keyword affiliate" (without the quotes). If so, bookmark those sites and sign up for them after you create your site. It would be best to not just use ads to the affiliate. If you can discuss the topic, or review it, or whatever, and include a natural link to the affiliate, you'd probably get more out of it. In any case, create the site, sign up for affiliates related to that site (don't just throw up a bunch of non-related affiliate links - that doesnt work well). Then work hard to get the site to rank well. And you're right - you may very well not make much money from it. However, having several sites that make a little, can add up to a lot. But are you qualified to create that many sites on that many different topics? If so, great! If not, you'll probably end up with lousy sites that no one goes to or buys from. Hope that helps.

Thank you, that does help. You make it sound kinda easy :grin:. Well, other than all of the optimization and all.

Is it pretty much find my keywords for an item that isn't saturated yet. Optimize a site for those keywords. Put some decent information on the site, and then throw up an ad?

So basically, if the site gets listed well, and it looks well. People will buy?

Do many affiliate programs offer incentives for them to click my link, such as a discount or such?

yep, that's pretty much a good summary. i would say you need to give the user a reason to click the link by making the user want to - once they click the link, it is up to the affiliate to make the sale. just go have a look at some affiliate programs out there and you'll start to get a better feel for it all.

What types of affiliate programs are you looking for? Our advertising affiliates promote for our insurance, financial, and home improvement related websites. The links that our affiliates use promote the fact that all of our sites offer free quotes and a Free insider's guide to the product of their choice. If the visitor requests a quote, the affiliate advertiser is paid $3-$8 per lead. If you think our program might be of interest, please feel free to visit our site www.affiliate-program-marketing-center.com or contact me at anytime.