Now, there are lots of stories about how to make a fortune with affiliate programs. And there are many good programs.

BUT — there are also some that just want to take you for a ride. The ripoff ones are usually referred to as shavers. A good plan with a new program is to google the affliliate name and then tack the word shaving on the back. If a zillion hits from a bunch of forums where people are whining about how they got taken for a ride – be wary.

Some programs give you lots of tools — if you have a mainstream sites, amazon is completely awesome – but they also don’t pay you that much — so it can be a trade off.

So adding a few banners to your site can really help you earn a few bucks but that said — don’t go crazy with ads either because both visitors and search engines don’t want to see banners everywhere. One or two key well-performing affiliates that match with the mood of your site is way better than a bunch of misplaced ones.