Is there some "hidden, underground, turbo-powered" secret to affiliate marketing? You know, the big one that's going to make us all millionaires by next Tuesday? Of course there isn't. There is only one affiliate marketing secret we ever have to master, and that is the secret of traffic. Once you have understood traffic, the affiliate industry belongs to you. Here are three pointers to help you understand traffic, and to help you get off to a good start.

1. What do you want to pay for traffic?

You can pay for traffic, or get it for free. If your resources are huge, you can buy a huge hunk of traffic.

(I know, I know, seems like a dumb thing to say. Stick with me; there is a point to this. Thanks!)

Free traffic is my favorite kind!

But you are not me. You may not feel that free traffic is really what you want, and that you would prefer to pay. Fair enough.

But then...

2. Decide how long are you willing to wait for traffic.

If you pay for traffic, you can have it very quickly. Today, in fact.

You do that through PPC ads on the big search engines.

Many of the (so-called) "affiliate marketing secret" books and programs sold in the "how-to" market offer better and more efficient ways to do this.

However, the fundamental strategy, in short, is...

Sign up with the search engines' various PPC programs. Decide a budget. Do keyword research and write your ads. Link to your affiliate URL. Click. Save. Now you can have all the traffic you can pay for.

The affiliate industry often encourages you to do just that. And as a strategy, it is an excellent one.

But... with PPC, we pay for our errors!

Don't care for that?

If that's the case...

3. Decide what are your long term goals.

I love free traffic. Not like. Love.

The advantage of the type of free traffic I have in mind is that it gives exposure not just to a product, but to you.

That may be of huge importance to your future. Want to be in business for a long time? Then develop your profile as an expert in your niche.

If you take away nothing else from this short article, I hope you see that the question of traffic is not just a question for today.

It's a question for tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

You have to have answers to question like: Why are you in business? What do you want out of your business? How will you know you have achieved "success"?

In articles and in forums, we promote our products, sure but we also promote ourselves.

Those are the places where people get to "meet you", find out about you, and decide whether they want to trust you.

No PPC ad will ever do that. Unless, of course, the ad is for building a list--- and that's another day's work!

The great disadvantage of articles and forums: it takes time and work to establish yourself as the "expert".

So, do you want to be a niche expert, or just make some sales and go do something else? Either is perfectly OK. But decide which you want.

And then...

...keep to your decision!

In closing: The affiliate industry is like any other. Some are in for the long haul; others are just passing through. Traffic is the key component of any marketing strategy. How to find and keep traffic is the only "affiliate marketing secret". But you've got to make up your mind what kind of traffic you want, because different kinds of traffic will lead to different kinds of businesses. Reading the latest marketing books will not help you decide. The answer lies within you.