81 Very Useful Affiliate Marketing Resources

Whilst the idea of selling a product on behalf of another company or person has existed for a long time, affiliate marketing itself was born in November 2004, but has only really taken off in the past few years. New generations of affiliate marketers are raking in massive per month profits, and more people are starting to experience profits through this method. Here is a list (which is by no means definitive) to help you get started - please feel free to suggest anymore if you so wish!

Keyword Tools

If you are creating websites, or even pages, to target specific affiliate programs you will need to know what keywords to target. Additionally, many affiliates use PPC ads, which is heavily dependant on keyword research:

1. Google AdWords Keyword Tool - Get keyword suggestions with some search and competition stats.
2. Keywords Analyzer - One of the leading keyword tools, especially for PPC marketers ($97).
3. Wordtracker - Another leading keyword tool ($329 for one year subscription).
4. Wordze - Another subscription-based tool ($35/month).
5. Overture - A popular keyword selector tool.
6. SEOBook - Several different keyword tools.

Multiple Domain Hosting

Many affiliate marketers own a number of different websites. The cost of hosting these sites can be very affordable if you choose a host that offers multiple domain hosting. These are just a few of the options:

1. Host Gator - Shared hosting at $6.95 per month.
2. DreamHost - Great plans, great prices with loads of bandwidth and diskspace.
3. Bluehost - Affordable, Reliable, Web Hosting Solutions.
4. Carolina Hosting Service - Blogtrepreneur’s personal host.
5. Media Temple - Awesome recommendations, grid and dedicated hosting.
6. Rackspace - Managed, dedicated and scalable web hosting for businesses.

Domain Names

If you’re operating affiliate websites, you will need to purchase domain names. Here are a few of the low-cost providers:

1. GoDaddy - $9.99 per year (and lower).
2. NameCheap - $9.41 per year with free WhoisGuard.
3. Proud Domains - Cheap, affordable domain names.
4. AffiliateJackpot - Great registrar for domaining affiliates.
5. 1&1 - $6.12 per year with free private domain registration.
6. MyDomain - $8.75 per year.

Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks manage the affiliate programs for hundreds or even thousands of different companies. They make it easier for you by combining payment from multiple programs into one check and by giving you one place to go to for management of your campaigns:

1. Commission Junction - One of the largest networks with a wide variety of programs.
2. LinkShare - Another large network that represents many well-known companies.
3. ClickBank.com - Exclusively downloadable products.
4. PepperJam Network - Read our review of PepperJam.
5. CX Digital Media - Claims to convert better than any other affiliate program.
6. AffiliateBot - Hundreds of programs to join.
7. 5 Star Affiliate Programs - Includes programs such as Microsoft adCenter.
8. Share Results - Includes Photobucket and Real Networks.
9. AzoogleAds - Claims to be the largest performance-based online advertising network.
10. NeverBlueAds - Another affiliate network with a number of choices.
11. AffiliateWindow - Represents a number of large retailers.
12. Affiliate Future - Represents companies in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe.
13. MaxBounty - Claims to have the highest paying CPA rates.
14. Copeac - A division of Intermark Media (internet marketing company).

Affiliate Program Directories

If you are searching for a specific type of affiliate program there are a number of directories that can help you find the right one:

1. AssociatePrograms.com Directory - Over 10,000 programs listed.
2. AffiliatesDirectory - Over 7,000 programs listed.
3. AffiliateScout - Almost 3,000 programs listed.
4. AffiliateMatch.com - Over 1,300 programs listed.
5. AffiliateSeeking - A few thousand programs listed.
6. 2-Tier.com - Directory of 2-tier affiliate programs.

Tools To Create PDFs

Many successful affiliate marketers create and distribute e-books with embedded affiliate links. As the e-book becomes widely distributed and read by hundreds or thousands of people, considerable commission is possible. Here are some resources to help you with creating a PDF e-book:

1. Adobe - Create your first five PDFs for free.
2. Open Office Writer - The word processor that is part of Open Office includes functionality for creating PDFs, and it is free software.
3. CutePDF - A free download for creating PDFs.
4. pdf995 - Another free PDF creator.
5. PDFCreator - Another free program.

Email Auto Responders

The top affiliate marketers have built large mailing lists with which to promote their affiliate products. Here are some of the options for setting up an auto responder and managing a mailing list:

1. GetResponse - One of the leaders, a turn-key email marketing service.
2. AWeber - Another leading program with all of the features.
3. FreeAutoBot - A free auto responder. Doesn’t have the features for managing a mailing list.
4. iContact - Email marketing and survey software.

Affiliate Marketing Blogs

Want to learn more about affiliate marketing? These blogs regularly produce content that will help you to improve your results:

1. Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins
2. EarnersBlog
3. Entrepreneur’s Journey
4. Zac Johnson
5. Super Affiliate Mindset
6. Uber Affiliate
7. 45n5.com
8. Aojon
9. Affiliate Marketing Toolbox
10. CDF Networks
11. Here.org.uk
12. Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog
13. 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Blog

Affiliate Marketing Forums

Forums are often the best places to get real feedback about your campaigns, and to talk about the latest affiliate marketing news. Here are a few of my personal favourites

1. Wickedfire
2. A Best Web
3. 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums
4. Affiliates4U
5. AssociatePrograms Forums
6. Earners Forum

Amazon.com

One of the oldest, largest, and most successful affiliate programs in the world. With Amazon you can promote just about any type of product you want:

1. Join the Amazon Affiliate Program
2. Amazon Media Manager - A WordPress plugin to help you manage and promote your Amazon affiliate links.
3. WP-Amazon - A WordPress plugin that allows you to search the Amazon catalog from your WP Dashboard.
4. Last Amazon Review - A WordPress plugin that will show your most recent Amazon review which includes your affiliate link.

Ad Rotators

If you are interested in rotating your banner ads to promote different affiliate programs there are several resources available:

1. WPAds - A WordPress plugin that will allow you to rotate banner ads on your blog.
2. AdRotator - Another WordPress plugin for rotating ads.
3. ASP Ad Rotator Component - Not a WordPress user? Here’s a script you can use.
4. JavaScript banner rotator generator - A tool to help you create JavaScript to rotate banners.
5. JavaScript Banner Rotator - Another JavaScript option.
6. PHP Buddy - A PHP option.
7. OIOPublisher - an awesome ad management system for Wordpress that costs only $37.

Software

1. Openads - An open source advertising community.
2. Bannersoft - Ad management and delivery software ($99).
3. adButler - Ad management program with free and paid (starting at $5.95/month) versions.

PPC Credits

If you plan to use pay-per-click ads to market affiliate products, here are two offers that you won’t want to pass up:

1. MSN adCenter - $50 in free credit.
2. Bidvertiser - $20 in free credit.