How many times in your life have you wished that you had slowed down a little, and been more objective in planning and a little more diligent in your preparation. Well if ever there was a time worth starting it's now besides this will only take a short while and save a lot of wasted money and time later. Covering these ten points before joining an affiliate program will guide you past the warts! * Is there a fee for joining their program? Most programs are free. However there are some that require an upfront fee. Money is hard enough to come by as it is, so why give it away when you don't have to. * How often do they post checks This can be once a month or sometimes once a quarter. While on this subject , check to see if there is a minimum you must reach before getting paid and what that minimum is. If for example you live outside the US and your affiliate program pays in US$ then it pays you to only draw the funds when you have reached a high enough amount to offset the currency exchange fee in your country. * What is their ratio of Hits to orders This lets you know how hard you have to work before you will realize a sale. That is, how many potential customers do you have to send them before a sale is generated * Do they have a suitable referral tracking system and for how long do your referrals remain yours in the system? Lets face it once you've sent a referral through to your affiliates site you want to be sure that every effort has been made by that vendor to ensure you of the credit for a sale for as long as is possible. Lots of people do comparison-shopping and might return to place their order with your affiliate some weeks or a month later. Do you still get credited for the sale? * Detailed statistics should be available 24/7. You need to be able to check and see at any time of day or night how many impressions or hits your vendor is receiving from your efforts. This helps you see if your methods are effective, or need to be changed. An impression is when someone views your banner or text link and a hit is when they actually click on the banner or textlink. * Does the affiliate program also pay you for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? If the program you are in has a fairly low hit to sales ratio then you need to be getting commission for the impressions and hits as well, to offset the low hit sales ratio. * Who is the online retailer? Know who you are dealing with, are they an established company who will be around for many years to come or has nobody ever heard of them. Google them, email them with a couple of questions, basically get a feel of how effectively they deal with you. * Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? Are you only paid for the sales that are made directly by you or do you also get paid a commission when your sponsored affiliates make a sale? * Beware of gifts and offers of free reports at the vendors site to join the vendors email list because often your affiliate links are not included . * Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? Understanding how your commission works is very important. The industry average for a sale is between 25% - 75% for downloadable products and between 5% - 25% for other programs. For hits the rate stands at .01% - .05% It is worth spending the time doing a little due diligence before jumping in boots and all. Once you feel satisfied and ready to go with your chosen affiliate, test the product on a background page to see if they earn generous commissions before giving them a site of their own. SUMMARY CONCLUSION / Bridge the gap from body to resource box by ending with a promise, how easy or how enjoyable it is Once you've done your homework you can focus all your efforts on getting traffic, knowing that your ducks are all in a row. If you're still feeling a bit shaky to go it alone, check out our reviews of the best step by step affiliate programs on the net