Rachel - 9:04 pm on Mar 17, 2005 (gmt 0)

I'm new to affiliate marketing, so you'd most definitely want to see what the experts say, but here's what I do for now.

If I find a niche that I think can make $5 or $10 a day that isn't going to be time intensive, I build a site for it. Write some articles, or have them written, and get it up. It doesn't cost much to have a site these days, so I figure it's a cheap gamble for the potential profit. If it doesn't work, it's not like you're out a ton of cash.

When I'm checking out the potential competition, I look to see if they're a site with true content, or just a directory type page. You might not be able to beat a directory type site in the SERPS right now, but I think people will be more likely to actually spend time on your pages (if they're content) and click your money making links. If I think they're decent sites, I do check out their incoming links, mostly to see if I'd be able to get links there as well.

Google might be the most popular search engine, but it isn't the only one. I have 2 sites that I put up less than a month ago. Google is mostly ignoring them for now, but I'm getting several hits a day from MSN and Yahoo, and it's brining in a dollar or two a day. Not great, but it more than pays for the hosting while I'm moving up in position.