Identifying Good Affiliate Programs?

Keep the following considerations in mind.

1. How long has the affiliate program been around?
A new affiliate program is not necessarily a bad thing, but unfortunately they may still be working out some kinks. And they might not have much in the way of promotional material for you to use. An established affiliate program on the other hand, will usually have payment schedules, tracking statistics, and ad creative down to a science. The longer a program has been around, the better the chances are that it is successful too.

2. How much commission can you earn?
Many affiliate programs pay very little -- some as low as 2%. Others offer outrageously high commissions... up to 75% in some cases. Why such a huge difference? Usually, it's related to the products or services being offered. Unfortunately, the commission structure can cause a program to fail too. Let me explain...
A company who sells products or services with a 30% profit margin, might decide to only offer 10% affiliate commissions. This, in their mind, is safe, because it allows the company to generate enough profit to continue operating. Another company however, might decide that paying affiliates more money will make them grow faster, so they'll decide to offer a 25% commission... leaving themselves with only 5% profit. With very little potential for profit, a company is much more likely to fold, or at the very least close their affiliate program.
So, try to weigh the long-term value of a given commission structure, with both stability and profitability of the company, before choosing which program to join.

3. Would you use the products?
This may seem like a strange question, but the answer can actually determine how successful you might be with any given affiliate program. If you really like something, really believe in it, that is going to show every time you talk or write about it. If you really like a product. You'll find yourself referring to something you personally use, or found useful with conviction. And these brief mentions can turn into sales. Sales that you'll make commissions from.

4. How many products or services can you provide?
The number of products or services can make a huge difference in your earnings through affiliate programs. You want your visitor to make a purchase, don't you? More the products and services your affiliate programs provide, your visitor is more likely to find what (s)he was looking for and order it.

So, do a little research in selecting your affiliate programs. Dig into the company's website and see what you can find.

You must guard yourself against these likely pitfalls while selecting affiliate programs.

Avoid Pitfalls

1. Are you being asked to recommend overpriced products and offered excessive commissions?
2. Does it offer Pay-per-click method of payment i.e, you get paid whenever a visitor clicks on your link. It's wide open for abuse.
3. Multi-tier commission -- this is MLM, which is perfectly legal, of course. But, unlike 2-tier, the incentive switches from selling products to signing up people in your downline.
4. Financially unstable. You can lose a lot of momentum if a company goes under, especially if you were banking on lifetime customer/2-tier promises.
5. Reports of late (or lack of) payments.
6. Slow and/or poor affiliate support.
7. Poor or little info about affiliate program available.
8. Dead links on merchant site.
9. No clear anti-spamming policy visible on site.
10. Allow spam, or seem to spam themselves.
11. Site that promotes get-rich-quick gimmicks.
12. Unethical conduct of any kind.
13. Defective joining process.