Affiliate marketing is all about promoting other people’s fine products and earning a commission. That sounds like a wonderful way to earn money – you don’t have to create your own product and you don’t have to deliver the product or handle customer service after the sale. But HOW you operate as an affiliate marketer requires some finesse.

Here are examples of what NOT to do as an affiliate marketer:

Do not promote junk. Promote one bad product and customers question your decision. Promote many bad products and you ruin your reputation. Pick products created by reputable businesses and check out feedback about the product and their customer service.

Do not continually promote products without ever giving your list valuable free information too. The people on your list aren’t on your list because they love to be constantly bombarded with promos, they’re there to learn from you and they want to see you and your personality, and learn what you have to teach them.

Do not email too often. How often is that? It depends on your list and what they’re expecting from you. When they opt in to your list it’s best to explain a little in your first email about what they should expect. If you are going to email them every day or every Monday, tell them. People like to know and they like routine.

Do not send promotions via email to your list about offers that are not targeted to your list. If your subscribers are interested in finance and financial issues, then stick with that topic or something closely related. Don’t start sending them promos on off-topic offers that sound good to YOU.

Do not promote only one way. To be successful as an affiliate marketer, you need to show the offers in other forms. Email is only one avenue. Write up thorough product reviews and post them on your blog, interview the product creator and put a link to the podcast on your blog and throughout your social media channels, do a How To video and post it on YouTube, host a Google hangout or webinar answering questions, etc. It’s better to take the time to thoroughly promote one product in all ways you can think of rather than shallowly promote offer after offer.

Becoming a successful affiliate marketer does take effort on your part. Even though you’re not the one having to create products, you’ve got to do your research to make sure they’re something you’d be proud to promote – your reputation depends on it. You also need to watch how often you promote to your email list and learn how to successfully recommend products in various ways. It may take a little trial and error to find what’s successful for you, but once you do, you’ll be smiling every time you check your PayPal account.