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There are plenty of ways an industrious individual can make money online. Countless people have turned to the World-Wide-Web looking for a good money making opportunity they can accomplish from the comfort of their own home. It may seem daunting at first but you can make money online if you learn, duplicate and most importantly have the determination to just start.

One of the most ingenious ways to supplement or even replace your income is through online affiliate programs. Online affiliate programs first sprang up in 1996 when Amazon.com started paying websites for referring customers to their site. Now in 2006 online affiliate programs are a mainstay in the e-commerce world. Even Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, Walmart and Apple have adopted the online affiliate program marketing module.

Online affiliate programs provide home business professionals and online entrepreneurs a risk-free form of advertising to produce revenue from their websites. Affiliate marketing has become an increasingly popular home based business opportunity because:

• It requires no production costs
• Very low start-up costs
• No employees
• No inventory
• No order processing
• No shipping
• No customer service
• Very limited risk

So you don't have a website? In many cases you do not even need to operate a website or know any HTML to make money with online affiliate programs. With the maturation of contextual advertising through Yahoo! Publisher and Google Adwords many pay-per-click (PPC) savvy online affiliate marketers have moved away from deploying websites and focus entirely on search engine marketing (SEM). This may be a good way for some to test the waters with marketing online affiliate programs but if you're not familiar with setting up PPC campaigns tread lightly. The cost per click can quickly add up with little return on your investment if done improperly. As for myself I still believe content is king and always will be. Having real estate on the web is much like owning a piece of property, it only matures and appreciates in value with age.

An article published by Click Z News identified that according to eBay their largest affiliate earned over $1.3 million dollars in January 2005 commissions, the largest amount yet in their online affiliate program's history. Their top 25 affiliates averaged over $100,000 per month each and the top 100 affiliates earn almost $25,000 each per month.

With these sort of numbers buzzing around the Internet it's no wonder affiliate marketing is quickly becoming the numero uno money making opportunity online. There are literally thousands of people just like you making a very handsome living from selling other peoples products online.

Don't be fooled though. As we all know there are NO get-rich-quick programs online or offline. Like any business making money with affiliate programs takes work, dedication and education.

Article Source: http://wah-articles.work-from-home-directory.com/

About the Author

Stephen Ralph is the owner and operator of the Top Affiliate Program Directory. Top Affiliate.com is an online affiliate program directory which provides free internet advertising for affiliates and affiliate program managers promoting one and two-tier affiliate programs.