I came across this article and it helps summarize some of the essential tips for affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing – Five tactics for getting the most out of your traffic
Affiliate programs are catered to allow you easily generate income by monetizing the traffic in your website. Below are some of my thoughts on the article's 5 points.
1) As an affiliate, your role is similar to a company/product ambassador. Your credibility as an authorative person in the product is valued by the potential customer. They want good advice regarding the product/service that they intend to purchase.
Tip: Provide tips, insider info, etc. Don't just talk about the general info of a product. Customers want to know what to watch out for and the method to make the best purchase. Every merchant/advertiser is shouting out that their product is good, but customers may want to know why one product is better suited for them personally than the other.
2) Know what you’re selling and more importantly focus on the best selling products. A merchant may have thousands of products offered in their website, but only the most relevant (to your content) and which are the best sellers
3) Customers don't expect you to give them all the info, just point them to the right direction. You're a guide, not the fruit seller, but make sure you're not just a signboard.
4) Visitors needs to be prompted and it eliminates them having to 'consider' what to do next. Build a straight road to the merchant and it will help them to focus on the product/merchant site rather than something else.
5) With so much information available in the internet, visitors may need time to do their own research or to consider other options. They know that there are many sellers out there, so it's no wonder that they don't buy on their first visit. So stick with a program, especially one that has been around for some time and has a proven track record of converting referred traffic into customers.
These are just my thoughts on the article.