by: Keegan Michaels
The beauty of the Internet is you can own your own business and earn good money without spending much time at it. You don't have to mind the store or keep office hours. You don't even have to be there to answer the phone.

I've known any number of successful Internet entrepreneurs who got started earning profits online while still working demanding full-time jobs. Kevin Needham of Memail.com became a major name on the Web while still holding down his government job. The media often tells the story of Jim Daniels who started his online publishing empire while working as a middle-manager for a tech firm.

Kevin Nunley was a DJ at an oldies station when his articles started appearing on AOL. Superstar Internet biz person and tech consultant Kate Schultz was a corporate manager when she began posting her own ads online.

The moral of these stories is don't let your busy life stand in the way of your desire to earn extra money or even a good living online. The Internet will bend, twist, and adapt for you more than any other kind of business.

But you have to go at it the right way or you will wind up spending way more time and money than you intended. Here is a simple plan to get you earning online while working at it just 10 to 20 minutes each day.

1. Choose your affiliate program wisely. You will want one main program you can promote intensively. It is much easier to make an impact with one good program you market heavily than spreading yourself too thin over a dozen or more programs.

Right now affiliates report their biggest earners are information products that tell affiliate program members and others how to earn better profits. Ken Envoy's "Make Your Site Sell" course, Corey Rudl's "Insider Secrets," and Jim Daniels' big "Make A Living Online" are real winners in this category.

You can also do well working with a company that represents many products and other affiliate programs. Check the many affiliate products and services housed under the ClickBank.com umbrella. QuinStreet.com features direct marketing services and ecommerce
technology.

2. Market to friends and associates using a simple signature file in your email. This is dirt simple yet incredibly powerful. Email messages have a very personal quality that sells. Your email program will let you set this up.

Your sig file should start with a headline that tweaks the reader's interest. Then follow with your web site address and your autoresponder address (more on this later.) Here's what your "sig" might look like.

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I made $500 with this program last month. Want to know more? See http://DrNunley.com/affilates.htm or write to mailto:bizguru@aweber.com
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3. Remember how I promised you would only have to work 10 to 20 minutes per day? The key to this is using the Internet's ability to automate tasks.

No question about it, you will want a series of canned email messages you can send to people who are interested. Use a multiple autoresponder to do this (freeautobot.com is a good one.) When someone emails your autoresponder address, they get your messages, one each day.

Chances are the affiliate program offers sales letters you can use. If not, get a professional writer to help you put together three sales letters. A set of three often works as well as the more common seven messages.

4. Finally, get your own web site. It is super easy to build a nice page or two using the free systems at Tripod.com and Homestead.com.

While most marketing on the Net is done with email, customers expect you have a web site with additional information. Rather than using the free site the affiliate program gives you, create your own site. Your site can tell your story, help people get to know you, tell why you support the affiliate product, then link to your affiliate member site.

There are two reasons for this. Starting prospects with your own site gives you a lot more power to sell. You can tell the story of how you used the product and succeeded (very powerful!) and display additional products or services that compliment your main affiliate offer.

Most search engines won't list a canned affiliate site, but they WILL list the original site you create. Search engines can be an immense automated source of free visitors.

That's all it takes! Do these four things 10 to 20 minutes per day and you will be well on your way to earning with affiliate programs.

Recent stats show the average person spends 20 hours per week online. If you get organized, there is no reason you can't use at least a little of your weekly Internet time to work your own small business.

About the Author
Keegan Michaels knows affiliate programs. He knows what to look
for and what pitfalls to avoid. Let him show you the roadmap to
affiliate profits. Contact him today at
mailto:keegan@affiliateteacher.com or 801-328-9006. Get Keegan's
helpful tips and Extra Money Newsletter FREE at
http://www.AffiliateTeacher.com