People tend to rush into things or, on the other hand, they sometimes complicate their lives by not knowing what they truly need and want. Choosing an affiliate program doesn't need to be difficult. You just have to know what questions should be asked and what are the preferable answers. These are the 5 simple questions a future online marketer and affiliate should ask: 

Does the program provide true value? 

This should be important (unfortunately, there are a lot of marketers who find this unimportant) because a good product reflects good on the affiliate, gives more leverage to the marketing efforts and ultimately, a product with true value is easier to sell, we feel good about offering it and we sleep like babies with a loaded bank account. 

Can the program become automated? 

In short, after a certain period of development and growth, which includes marketing and building a downline, the program should offer a level of, or complete automation. Automation of a business can give you a chance for duplication and provides you with a lot of free time to do other things besides work. Imagine having an automated business that earns you a monthly income of $3000 and having a chance to duplicate it five times. It becomes a $15000/per month business. That's an annual six figure income. Not too bad. 

Can I earn a residual income? 

Residual income (also called passive income) is income earned on an ongoing basis for effort done once in the past. That means that you get paid over and over again for something that you did only once. This is a great reason to become an online affiliate. Residual profits provide you with security and financial advancement and with it you can only move forward.  

Is it something I could relate to and promote passionately? 

Knowledge and understanding of the products you promote is essential to your online success because it provides you with the arguments you need to fall in love with the product and promote it passionately. The best affiliate programs contact you on a regular basis and give you access to all the resources you need to get to know and love your product. 

Will I receive support and help? 

This is a question you don't need to ask directly. To ensure that you are not joining a program that will enrol you and then leave you to figure out everything on your own, you must be assured that your upline in the program can become successful and can continue to be successful only if they help you to do the same. If your success depended on the success of the people that you enrolled in the program, wouldn't you do everything in your power to help them with any obstacle they might come across? Off course you would. In such a program, all your problems should be addressed and solved in a very short period. 

These are the five simple questions future affiliates need to ask before they begin their journey on the world wide web. Affiliate marketing isn't rocket science, although some will try to portray it so. There are rules and there are things that are good for the affiliate and there are those that are bad. Getting a positive answer on these five questions will certainly help you in becoming a success online. And I assure you, you can find affiliate programs who will answer all five questions with a yes. Better yet, they are right behind the corner. Good luck and enjoy the ride.