What are our objectives in creating an on line business? We ultimately want to make money. There are, however, obstacles that need to be overcome. To make money on the Internet we need to cause a transaction to take place. We need targeted visitors to our website (potential customers) who like the product or service that we are offering and who trust our opinion enough to make a purchase. This is elemental.

In affiliate marketing, we are offering a product or service that is provided by someone else. This is a great! We do not have to manufacture, stock or deliver the product. We do not have to provide the service. We simply have to generate targeted traffic to the supplying website through an affiliate link. An affiliate link is a hyperlink that is generated for us when we join an affiliate program.

What we have to consider is that there may be thousands of other affiliates who are offering the same product or service that we are offering. How do we get the traffic (potential customers) to click through our affiliate link before they click through someone else's link? This is where most affiliate programs and subsequently their affiliates fail. Most programs offer the same old email messages or marketing tactics that have been around forever.

How many times have you received an email or read an advertisement in a newsletter or solo ad that says, "Fire your Boss!" or "Make a 6 figure income in 30 days!" or "Do no work and our program will make you wealthy!" or something to that effect. I am amazed that people actually fall for this hype. (But they do)

When someone looks for a program that promises great wealth with NO work, they will be fooled. If someone offers you a program that will make you rich overnight, IT IS A SCAM! An on line business is very similar to a brick and mortar business. You have to be willing to do some work, learn something new, make some effort and stick to it in order to become successful.

The reason that most affiliates (97%) fail is because they want something for nothing. They want to maximum gain with the minimum effort. This is even true in the brick and mortar world. Most new businesses (75-80%) fail within their first year. The major contributing factors are 'undercapitalization' and 'mismanagement.'

We are not going to concentrate on the 97% failures. We already know why they fail. They are not willing to learn new things and stick to a program. They are lazy and want something for nothing. We are going to concentrate on the 3% of on line marketers who win and most win big-time.