If you already have a website it is worthwhile considering joining one of the many affiliate programmes. To join affiliate programmes it is a simple matter of checking out some affiliate sites on the internet and choosing one that suits your purposes best. Next register your details with the site. Some sites do accept or reject you straight away but for others you may have to wait a few days while someone from the company checks out your website to make sure it is suitable.
Choose the affiliate programmes you want to join carefully. You really are aiming for an affiliate programme that is going to enhance your site rather than it looking to the visitor as though you just want to make some easy money. Besides, if your website is about home improvements you don't really want a banner advertising cheap flights on your site - it would be pointless and counter productive as no one looking for advice on DIY is going to click on a budget airlines site.
Once accepted into an affiliate programme it is just a case of loging into the affiliate site you originally signed up to, select the banner you wish to display on your website, then copy and paste the supplied HTML code. The company banner will then appear on your website and hopefully visitors will start clicking on the banner and earning you some money.
Most affiliate schemes work on pay per sale although others are on a pay per click, which is when the visitor clicks on a banner provided by the affiliate company without actually having to purchase anything. Others offer $/£ x amount flat fee for any new lead or new sale. I am affiliated to quite a few companies each using the different methods of payment discussed.
Forex (currency exchange and trading) and Clikbank are extremely popular affiliate programmes at the minute due to the high earning possibilities with both. Please don't let the term, currency trading, put you off. Anyone can be a Forex affiliate and you will be offered excellent online support and marketing tools free of charge.
Always read the affiliate companies terms carefully as some will cap your earnings at a certain level while others do not allow any other pay per click programmes to be included on the same webpage as themselves.
It really is a matter of searching through different companies on the internet until you find some that will work well on your website and who also offer decent rates of payment