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There are a number of ways that you can leverage a popular website to generate cash.  The two most popular methods are CPC (cost per click, like AdSense) and affiliate schemes. 

But there is a key difference between CPC and affiliate schemes - with CPC you get paid when someone clicks on an ad, whereas with a affiliate scheme the person clicking on the link actually has to buy something for you to get paid.  That’s a huge difference.

Here are the top 7 affiliate mistakes that web entrepreneurs make:

1. Think that tricks that work for CPC work for affiliate schemes
   They are completely different (think chalk and cheese or apples and oranges).  Tricks that work for increasing CPC revenues rarely work for affiliate schemes.
2. Your content is what attracts visitors!
   You need content that’s relevant and specific to the products that you are offering via affiliate schemes.  If you are trying to sell pet food, then make sure that your articles relate to pets and pet food.
3. Never rely on the sales copy that the affiliates provide
   Most of the sales copy that I’ve seen offered for use to affiliates is, well, pretty awful.  Plan on rewriting the copy or coming up with original copy (if you aren’t allowed to do this then the copy is either very good or the company selling the product or service is naive).
4. Use images!
   Images attract the eye.  Make sure that you use images wherever possible as this will draw the visitor’s eye to what you are trying to sell without you having to make the ad too obvious.
5. Be careful about pitching two or more products against each other
   If you offer people a choice of two or more things you are also introducing another unwanted choice into their minds - the choice not to buy.  Let’s go back to the pet food example.  If you’ve written an article on what to look for in the best pet food and you then offer purchase options, you’re giving the reader too much to think about.  Rather than trusting you to list the best pet food possible, you’re causing them to think and ask the question “well, which one of these products on offer IS the best?”  This will cost you sales!
6. All ads, no content!
   There are some people who still think that you can make money with no real content.  While some people do manage to pull off this trick, it’s far from guaranteed and you are far more likely to fail than succeed.  Remember that it is content that attracts visitors and this then leads them to the ads.  Ad copy is not, as a rule, content and you will have a harder time convincing visitors that they have a need in their life that requires filling.
7. Offer honest advice and good products
   Don’t sell shoddy products.  Don’t lie or cheat or try to be deceptive.  What is almost as important as making a sale is getting your visitors to trust you.  If they don’t trust you, you’ve lost a potential future sale. Build trust and rapport with your visitors and there’s a chance that they’ll revisit or tell their friends about you.  If they feel that you are trying to cheat them or swindle, at best they’re not going to come back.  At worse, they tell their friends …