What's the best affiliate program to create a second income?

I've been investigating affiliate programs since I first created new-terra-natural-food.com. I have literally examined hundreds of programs to find the best affiliate program to promote and produce a second income (small farms ALWAYS need more income streams).

I can now say confidently that the 5 Pillar Program is the best affiliate program I've found. The 5 Pillar program is the affiliate program for SiteBuiltIt!, the folks that taught me how to create an income-generating e-commerce website.

If you are not familiar with the concept, an affiliate program is essentially a partnership with a company that has products or services for sale. You promote their products through your website or blog, and a portion of all resulting sales is yours to keep.

Why is this a powerful model to produce income? Because you can begin selling a product and making money without an investment in inventory, or a sales force, or a store, or the hassles of delivery. Your only job as an affiliate is to get traffic to the vendors website; the vendor completes the sale, delivers the product, collects the payment, and gives you your cut. Amazing!

Are affiliate programs 'get rich quick' too-good-to-be-true fantasies? Like every other business opportunity, you need to beware of scams and schemes. Avoid any affiliate program that claims it will 'automatically' make you money. The reality is, even with the best affiliate program you will work for what you get.

Why 5 Pillar is the best affilate program

• Free to join Reputable affiliate programs DO NOT charge you a fee to join. Avoid any scheme that asks you for money up front for the privilege of promoting their products. NOTE: this DOES NOT mean you should not buy the product and try it; the best way to sell any product is to actually own it and use it.


• Long-term 'cookies' Lets say a visitor comes to your website, sees an affiliate product you are promoting, clicks on the vendor's link, but doesn't buy right away. If that visitor returns to the vendors page 6 months later, will you get credit for the sale? Vendors track affiliate sales by 'cookies' that are placed on the visitors computer. The longer the term of the cookies, the greater chance you have of being credited with the sale. The best affiliate programs offer lifetime cookies


• Generous, two-tiered commission structure A two-tiered commission structure means you get paid for sales you make, and you also get paid a small percentage for sales made by anyone who becomes an affiliate through you. NOTE; this is NOT MLM; the commissions stop at tier 2.


• Wide appeal of the product If you are going to spend your time promoting a product, make sure it is one with wide appeal. Too narrow a niche will just not attract sufficient traffic to generate sales. More traffic equals more money, all things being equal, so find an affiliate program that will be of interest to a LOT of people.


• And the most important characteristic of a good affiliate program? This one is personal; the best affiliate program is one that is a good fit for your audience - i.e. the people you expect to attract to your website.
  
  This just makes sense, right? If I'm looking at a website about, say, concrete, there is probably little chance I'm interested in car insurance at that point! The affiliate product you are promoting has to be consistent and congruent with the theme of your website.