Associate Programs is an excellent resource for associate/affiliate programs (just ask Carlo!); the unique approach of its creator, Allan Gardyne, incorporates actual, personal involvement with affiliate programs along with a community sharing feedback. He offers discussion boards and insights into this market, as well as recommending his Top 10 programs. This is an excellent site to get a personal view of affiliate programs; the key strength is Allan's email list of over 5,000 subscribers. A list like that will keep you in business for a long time. Let Allan show you how he makes a good living with affiliate programs himself.

"I'm Allan Gardyne. I live with my wife Joanna in a pole house among gum trees and jacarandas by the beach at Tuan, a tiny fishing village without a shop, in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. I wasn't born here - I just got here as fast as I could. Three days a week I work as a sub-editor for a daily newspaper and Joanna usually works one day as a reporter. These days, I spend just about every other hour I can manage working on AssociatePrograms.com."

"I run a directory of associate programs - the Associate Programs Directory, at http://www.AssociatePrograms.com . I began it because I had joined Jim Daniels' associate program for his introduction to marketing on the Internet, "Insider Internet Marketing". (It's http://www.bizweb2000.com/d2080.htm ) I loved the way commissions arrived regularly in the mail - I was making money while I was walking on the beach - so I searched for more companies offering similar programs.

I was amazed that apparently no one had started a directory of such programs, or if one existed I couldn't find it. So I decided to start my own. At first it was just a one-page Associate Programs Guide, but it quickly expanded into the Associate Programs Directory and I got my own domain name in March, 1998."

"My directory of associate programs is different from most directories. It allows companies running programs to list them, but also allows other people to recommend programs. I also publish an associate's special URL or ID number, so in some cases they can earn commissions from those links. I also allow them to include their own web site's URL, giving them free publicity.

This gives people a strong incentive to send me listings, so the directory grows fast."

"Traffic to AssociatePrograms.com has grown quickly, from 4227 unique visitors to the main page in April, 1998, to 12,305 in August. The Associate Programs Newsletter has gone from nowhere to more than 3000 subscribers in just over five months. I love getting e-mail from people thanking me and telling me how helpful the newsletter has been. It's fun, making money by helping people make money."

"I tell people which programs have made money for me and for other people, and also give marketing advice. I took Corey Rudl's advice and after buying his marketing course, I wrote a personal recommendation for it, instead of just posting banners. My sales soared from $195 (US) to $845 for a month. I use advice from Corey's manuals to market his course and have now achieved more than $1100 in sales for a month - just for course alone; it's at http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/7134/"

"The Internet is growing an a phenomenal pace and so there are always new people seeking products and services. For example, I've found that there are a lot of new businesses looking for an easy way to accept credit cards online, so associates of a company such as Thomas Harpointner's AIS Merchant Services should do extremely well. It offers an amazingly generous $175 commission per sale, and also has a second-tier commission of $50. It's at http://www.aismedia.com/x/cc.cfm?AG45xDUNN

(Note the nifty trick in the URL. AIS allows an associate to change the last part of the URL, so if any sales are made because of this publication I will know. All programs should include that excellent feature.)

Beware of thinly disguised pyramid schemes. I'm extremely suspicious of businesses which excitedly emphasize how much money you can make, instead of telling you about a wonderful product or service.