Starting an affiliate program seemed like the last thing I wanted to do during my first year online, but once I did everything changed. I invited my list to sign up as my affiliates, and they began to send their friends, contacts, and people from their lists to sell my products and courses.

Even though all of us had very small lists, there was power in the numbers from everyone combined. My business began to take off, and I realized this was an excellent way to grow more quickly.

I use the affiliate program provided with my shopping cart service. You can also find smaller sites that offer affiliate programs as well. Just go to Google and do a search.

Even if you only have one product for sale online, start your own affiliate program and invite your list to sign up. It will increase your income and help you to find partners to do more business with over time.

When we are first starting out online, the main concern is to be serious and to treat our business as though it were a corporation. After some point I think everyone realizes that part of the reason we became entrepreneurs in the first place was to make our own rules and to have some fun with our business.

So lighten up, and share some humor and anecdotes with your list. They will enjoy seeing that you are human. Tell them what happened at your daughter’s birthday party when it started raining, or how your fifth grade  teacher found you online and signed up for your list. Sharing this type of information with your people deepens the connection they share with you, and makes it even more likely they will want to do business with you in the future.

Everybody loves a secret.  This goes back to our childhood, when knowing a secret made us feel more grown up. Why not share secrets with the people already on your list? This can be a very effective way to build a relationship with your prospects so that you can connect with them on a deeper level.

Starting an online business seems like a mystery to many of the people on my list. They may be frustrated with the process or struggling with the technology. The marketing is completely different from anything they have encountered previously. When I share some ‘insider’ or ’secret’ tips they feel like they are part of the inner circle that will help them to achieve the success they are working towards. You can do the same exact thing when you share tips or secrets about your niche.

I first discovered rebrandable reports about a year and a half ago. These reports are written by other marketers who have a topic they want to share and affiliate programs you can join. This is an example of a rebranded report. As you can see, it is filled with valuable content that will help the readers to achieve their online business goals. Giving these reports away has made me an incredible amount of money.

The process of rebranding the report is one I cover in my technology training program. It only takes a few minutes to enter your affiliate links and then rebrand the report with your information. Then it is ready for you to give to your list.

The people on your list are expecting to receive helpful information from you on a regular basis. By finding reports that will be of interest to them, you are achieving two goals: giving them the information they want and promoting affiliate programs through your link.  Do this every few months and you will increase your income exponentially.