So you have decided to start promoting an affiliate program. Which ones will bring you the most profit? Which one will give you the best return on your investment?

This is very important decision to make. Make the right one, and you could be laughing your way to the bank. This is the practically the base on which your whole affiliate marketing business is built upon.

When I started, I just searched through places like CJ.com and Performics.com without any idea of what kind of program I wanted to promote. This led to an information overload, as I simply could not decide what program would suit me.

Well, to build a house you need a plan, and this is no different. Before you choose an aff program, do your market research. What are online buyers buying? What is the current hot trend? Everywhere in the newspapers, magazines and online you will find this information.

Next, you want to look at the commission rate. These can range from 4% for popular products on Amazon to 75% for information products like ebooks, membership sites and software. Anything above 75% means the product is probably not desirable at all and extremely hard to sell.

Now look at the merchant’s sales page. Look at the sales copy, the graphics and the overall ambiance. On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to buy?

Pass these three steps, and you might have found a winning program. Then check the payment links to see if they are all working, perhaps check some reviews on the Internet for this merchant, and you are ready to go.

Fabian Tan makes a short trip to his office everyday – his home! In 2006, he ‘murdered’ his job and now earns a solid income online. Go behind the scenes to discover more of his job-killing strategies and secrets at MurderYourJob.com