Why? They simply heard that setting up an affiliate site was easy and there were no products to produce, no hassles with shipping, inventory, customer service, or payment gateways to worry about.

Because of that, affiliate marketing looks like a pretty good avenue for making money online. Although, many people are simply lured by the hype and jump at the opportunity of making it rich overnight. Unfortunately, it’s not always the case and the story often plays out the same for many, outright failure.

In all honesty, it’s mostly due to lack of knowledge and understanding, planning, and some of the basic guidelines of working online.

Patience – did I mention patience

Think about all the successful businesses you know or might have heard about. They didn’t get to be where they are overnight, it took them time and effort to get to the position they currently hold. Of course, affiliate marketing may function differently, but it is still a business, and you must learn to treat it as one.

“Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” ― Napoleon Hill

The most important thing to remember is – stay the course. Work your business, learn new things, and commit to making your affiliate marketing business a success.

Avoid the mistake of jumping on every program out there

A huge mistake that many new affiliates make is following every program that is introduced to them. Don’t get me wrong, joining a few programs can help you to diversify, but some affiliates are constantly jumping from one program to another in hopes of making it rich. It’s all about focusing on what you are presently doing and what you need to accomplish.

Jumping from one program to another will only move your focus to other programs. In the end, every program that you join or start will eventually fail. Ideally, joining several other programs is acceptable, and will still allow you to concentrate on your main program.

Making the wrong choice in affiliate programs

This may sound completely obvious and easy to avoid. Still, countless affiliates will join programs that offer very little in commission rates. The best alternative is to choose affiliate programs that have a higher commission structure. At the same time, choose products that are relevant to your niche, and an added bonus is choosing something that you might be familiar with.

Don’t try to do everything

One of the worst things you can do as an affiliate is to try and market to everyone. Instead, try to narrow your market to a specific target audience. Focus on key areas of your niche and improve on it, doing this will help you to become an expert in that niche. Your efforts will go a long way in helping you to reach your specific goals.

Don’t rely on one source of traffic

Getting traffic through organic sources can be great for your site, but many affiliates simply trust Google to be the only source of traffic for their business. Google may be the top source of search engine traffic, but they are not the only game in town. Think about all the other areas where traffic can be generated from such as social media, social bookmarking, video marketing, podcasts, blogging, eBook marketing, and more.

Focus on your links

While it’s true that some affiliate links cannot be hidden or cloaked, the majority of them can be. Some people will not click on what they think are affiliate links, therefore, you need to hide them. In reality, you are basically masking your links to make them look more professional.

While there are plenty of affiliate marketer mistakes that should be avoided, these represent the obvious mistakes that continuously happen. Of course, mistakes or errors are going to happen no matter what you do. If they do happen, learn from them and move forward.