You have decided to get into the field of online marketing through affiliate marketing but you are not getting the returns on your investments. You are dejected and are wondering if leaving your well paid 9 – 5 job was a good decision. Before you give up on your online marketing endeavors however you should think again and consider the mistakes that you have been making. You will be surprised to learn that new affiliate marketers often make the same mistakes and realise they are wrong before its too late.

Online marketing is not tough if you get the hang of it and follow an approach that is strategic and disciplined. There are a number of things you have to keep in mind and familiarize yourself with before you enter the space. You cannot relax and let your efforts show fruit, you have to constantly try and make your efforts work. A few mistakes that you should try and avoid are as follows:

1. Niche: A common mistake that most marketers make is that they do not identify a niche for themselves. They get on to affiliate networks and pick offers that do not belong to areas of their interest and therefore are not competent enough to create communication for it. This is one of the most common mistakes that any affiliate marketer will make. What you must remember is that affiliate marketing is an ongoing process and you have to build your identity and your expertise through time. You need to come across as an expert in maybe one or two domains. By spreading yourself too thin you will not get value for your time and efforts because no one will be able to trust you.

2. Merchant: The second mistake that most affiliate marketers make is choosing the wrong merchants and wrong offers to endorse. What most new comers do is that they pick offers that offer high commission. But what they should really focus on are three or four basic things that is: a) is the product category already established in the market? b) Is the company well reputed? c) Will you be compensated well for your efforts? If you pay attention to just these few aspects you can do well.

3. Time: A lot of people get attracted to this format of business because it offers freedom. However what you should know that freedom does not mean that you have put in any effort. You can work whenever you want and wherever you want but you have to work. You have to invest some time in first creating an identity for yourself, setting up a following, generating traffic and focus of selling the products.

4. Tools: A lot of marketers do not use all the tools that they have at their disposal. Often they tend to use just one or two tools and do not even consider using others. However it is important that one uses all the tools there are since you have to make an effort to be present everywhere and create top of mind recall.