When you are looking for an affiliate program to promote in your specific niche market, you want to look immediately for two things right off the bat.
1) You want to find a product with a high ratio of sales to visits. A product that is converting and generating one sale for every 10 visitors has a better chance to make you more money than a product converting 1 out of 100. Obviously you will have to work much harder to make the same amount of money with the latter product than you would with the first if the sale price and commission rate is the same for both products.
2) Look for products with high commission rates. Depending on what kind of a product you are selling your commission percentage will vary. Your highest commissions will be for information products since
they do not require a huge cost to produce. They are made once and can be replicated indefinitely. You can make up to 75% on some of these products.
3) Look for programs that pay bonuses or commissions on One Time Offers and back end sales as well. I am finding alot more of these starting to appear. Sometimes the initial commission for the product purchase is lower but the back end sales can be quite significant.
By keeping these three main ideas in mind you will be able to judge which affiliate program has the potential to make you the most money for the least amount of work. Many of the major affiliate networks will show you the conversion rates for each affiliate program. Commission Junction, Clickbank, LinkShare and a few others do this, but this data is not always reliable and many times you will not be given this data at all. At this point you need to base your decision on a few more factors.
If all else fails, use your instincts and follow your gut. You were once a visitor looking for the kind of product you are selling, and it is likely you can judge for yourself if the particular affiliate program in question would convert well. Would you buy this product if you came to the site looking for answers? Does it look professional or does it look like someone slapped it up in five minutes from an old website template they got for free?
Review the sales letter of the affiliate program yourself. Does it contain the important parts of a sales letter? Does it invoke an emotional response and make you want to buy the product?
Look for who produced the product and who provides the affiliate program. Is it a respected name in the business? If you have never heard of the person before is it being endorsed by anyone who you do know and have respect for? Although testimonials are not always a good indication that a product is great, you can get a pretty good idea of the value of the product or affiliate program if it is being offered by someone who has previously released great and high converting products in the past.
Spending some time on an affiliate marketing forum can also be helpful. If a new product is dropping and is expected to be a hot seller you should already be hearing gossip about it. If a product is converting well and is making other affiliates a lot of money you will most assuredly find out and can jump in and get your piece of the pie.
If you are still unsure if a product is worth your time promoting through an affiliate program, you can always purchase the product yourself. I know this is not feasible for every offer you want to put together, but if you have no other choice and the product interests you, purchase it. Then you will know what it contains and can make a better decision.
Adam Bauthues is a successful entrepreneur both in the online and offline arenas. To learn more about why affiliate marketing is considered the easiest and most efficient way to earn money online, and how you can dominate any affiliate marketing niche no matter your current level of knowledge, please visit: http://www.affiliatemonthly.com