David Fiske A subtle blend of affiliate marketing and web development

Kieron Donoghue of UK Offer has posted a blog article worthy of your attention.

He explains the Do's and Don'ts of becoming an affiliate. I seem to have done the Don'ts so maybe it's time for the Do's!
 
The Don'ts

• Do not launch a shopping directory style site -- oops! I suppose price comparison comes into that and I've got a few of those kind of sites running.
• Do not launch a cashback site -- haven't attempted this yet though I once tried the "free iPod if you refer 30 people" type sites. Needless to say, that didn't work.
• Do not enter any saturated arena for that matter -- oops again. Sat Nav is reasonably saturated and so too is loans, mortgages, etc.
• Do not start off your venture into Affiliate Marketing by using PPC to drive traffic to your site -- that I do not do. I am very sceptical about PPC and am dipping my toe into it at the moment.
• Do not copy site designs or content -- I don't. As DBFCS designs websites, it seems daft to rip off other people's sites.
• Do not build a site purely for arbitrage -- I read about that today and how Google frowns upon it. Consider it avoided

The Do's

• Do build a site around a subject that genuinely interests you and that you are knowledgeable about -- I preach this myself but perhaps I do not take my own advice enough
• Do update your site regularly and persevere with it -- This is where I lack in. If I do not see quick results, I do not persevere. Perhaps I should.
• Do mask your affiliate links -- OK
• Do research niches -- again, perhaps I should practise what I preach more

Kieron certainly presents a few ideas to chew over here. He is one of the most successful affiliates I am aware of so it would be foolish not to listen to him.

This article refers to http://www.here.org.uk/2007/02/how-to-get-started-in-affiliate.html